Aircraft: Luscombe 8E. Injuries: 2 Minor. Location: West Bend, Wis. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The pilot was attempting to take off from a grass 1,500-foot runway. The airplane lifted off, but the pilot felt it was not climbing fast enough to clear power lines at the end of the runway, so he aborted the takeoff and […]
General Aviation
Progress comes at a cost
At this very moment there is a team of highly skilled professionals who are out of sight and largely out of mind, yet they have been tasked with solving an almost unimaginably difficult puzzle. They work for the NTSB and their charge is to figure out exactly what went wrong last week aboard SpaceShipTwo, the […]
USA Today fires latest salvo in anti-GA campaign
WASHINGTON, D.C. — USA TODAY, one of the Gannett publications, recently carried another article about general aviation safety, which brought quick rebuttals from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). USA TODAY carried a three-part series this past June titled “Unfit for Flight.” The latest single article, published […]
GA advocacy groups respond to USA Today article
In response to USA Today’s latest piece about fires in general aviation aircraft, two of GA’s most powerful advocacy groups, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association released statements blasting what they call the “sensationalistic article.” This from GAMA’s President Pete Bunce: “Once again, USA Today’s Thomas Frank has not […]
Research could revolutionize monitoring of aircraft health
The National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University is assisting the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on research involving a new NASA-developed wireless sensor technology that could revolutionize aircraft health monitoring. NIAR is working with NIA and NASA engineers to conduct analysis and simulation […]
CAF Dixie Wing to host Veterans Day open house
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. — On Saturday, Nov. 8, veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be honored at Peachtree City’s 2014 Veterans Day Observance hosted by the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) Dixie Wing. The program will be held during the flying museum’s fourth annual Veterans Day Open House, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. The open […]
E6B Circular Flight Computer debuts
New from ASA is the E6B Circular Flight Computer. Pilots can use the calculator side to perform time, speed, distance, rate, fuel consumption, altitude, airspeed, air temperature, and pressure pattern calculations. Use the wind side for addition and subtraction problems, as well as solving for true wind, winds in flight, true course and ground speed, […]
Twin crashes after maintenance
Aircraft: Cessna 310. Injuries: 2 Fatal. Location: Stotts City, Mo. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: The right engine of the twin Cessna had recently undergone extensive maintenance. The pilot and the pilot-rated passenger originally planned to make several circuits in the traffic pattern to test the right engine, then fly the airplane to a nearby airport. However, […]
Bob Hoover honored
The National Business Aviation Association convention draws aviation’s elite and honors a few each year. This time, heartfelt kudos were laid on Bob Hoover as NBAA presented him its Meritorious Service to Aviation Award, its highest honor. A five-minute video included tributes from Clay Lacy, Harrison Ford, astronaut Gene Cernan and many others to explain why. […]