Browsing articles in "Skymates Blog"
Tecnam USA CEO Phil Solomon thinks he sees the beginnings of a problem for general aviation, and we may all be a part of it. Solomon believes he's watching a transformation take place in aviation. It's starting at the grass roots level and extending all the way to the FAA. And each level plays off the other for an overall negative effect. As Solomon describes it, this transformation begins with the desire for lower fuel costs but ends as a long term detrimental impact on general aviation. After hearing his concerns and experiences we went out in the world to learn if, or how, other people were affected. This is what we found.
Of eighty men, three of the four surviving members of Doolittle's Raiders, all now living their ninth decade, met publicly -- and, they say, for the final time -- during the week of April 15, at Eglin Air Force base, to commemorate the 71st anniversary of their April 18, 1942, one-way mission to bomb Japan. The three members present were, 97-year-old retired Col. Richard Cole; 91-year-old Staff Sergeant David Thatcher; and 93-year-old retired Lt. Col. Edward Saylor. The fourth surviving member, 93-year-old Lt. Col. Robert Hite was unable to attend. All of the men had trained for the mission at Eglin in the winter of 1942. And this year Cole was afforded a flight (and reportedly flew a good portion of it, including the landing) in a B-25 owned by Larry Kelley. The men say they toast each year to the comrades who shared their mission and have since passed. But they have decided a special toast will now come sooner than originally planned.
Making a difference one teenager at a time.
Cessna has again cut back production of its light jets including the Mustang, CJ2, CJ3 and CJ4, potentially by up to 30 percent, citing a first quarter loss and weak sales. In June of 2010, the company briefly stalled production of the Citation Mustang largely as a result of issues in the supply chain. At the time the company also said sales had been softer than expected. This time, the company is entering the second quarter fresh off an $8 million loss suffered in the first quarter. The Wichita Eagle reported that during a conference call with analysts, Wednesday, Textron CEO Scott Donnelly speculated that small business owners were putting off purchases due to concerns over higher taxes and uncertainty about the direction of the economy. But there were additional complications in the small business jet market.
>>> AVWEB FUEL FINDERCURRENT PRICE FOR 100LL: $6.03 (down 2¢ from last week)CURRENT PRICE FOR JET A: $5.55 (down 4¢ from last week)Fuel prices provided weekly by AirNav, based on prices from the past 2 weeks. Changes are relative to last week's prices. /TEXT_ONLY-->AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Kimble County Airport (KJCT) in Junction, Texas.AVweb reader Sid Tolchin learned the value of a friendly face on his recent stopover at JCT:During a long flight in a small experimental plane from San Diego to New Orleans, almost any out-of-the-ordinary stop is a pleasure. This one was different. Billy Davis lives on the airport and was outside in gusting winds to help me tie down. He suggested I stay because of the weather and the lateness of the day before proceeding to New Orleans. After being certain that the aircraft was safely parked, he called the motel, recommended a good place to eat, and drove me to the Best Western, where they honored his recommendation with a discount. The short trip was filled with his stories.Keep those nominations coming. For complete contest rules, click here.AVweb is actively seeking out the best FBOs in the country and another one, submitted by you, will be spotlighted here next Monday!
It appears the FAA is backtracking on an earlier directive that forbade at least some of its FAA Safety Team (FAAST) representatives from talking about pending tower closures. On Wednesday the FAAST Safety Team issued a general note of advice about operating at non-towered airports (the FAAST Team doesn't like the term "uncontrolled") and touched on all the points covered by myriad other sources on the topic since the closures became a real possibility. Closures of 149 towers were supposed to start April 7 but on April 5 the FAA delayed that until at least June 15 citing the spate of legal challenges to the closures. Also on April 5, a regional FAAST assistant manager on the East Coast told his safety team that any discussion of tower closures was off limits.
It's been 25 years since Flight Design started delivering airplanes, and they celebrated with a sold-out special edition. AVweb's Mary Grady talked to Flight Design's John Gilmore about the new model based on the limited-edition aircraft.
This is no flight simulator. Fight for your life and work your way from a piston fighter to a jet in the game previewed at Sun 'n Fun. AVweb's Mary Grady found out more about the game's pending release.
The USDA is extending for five years a 2010-2012 program that joins the FAA with partners from the commercial aviation segment to develop biofuels for the aviation industry. Participants include the USDA, the FAA, Boeing and a trade group called Airlines for America. The program will focus on evaluating feedstock and supply chains with the goal of creating a viable domestically produced drop-in replacement for Jet-A derived from renewable sources. As forproduction, the USDA says thecoalition hopes to support the annual production of one billion gallons of drop-in aviation biofuel by 2018. The program is not without its critics.
FAA Administrator Michael Huerta says Boeing "has completed all required tests and analysis" of fixes for battery problems suffered by its 787 Dreamliner, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, but no decision had yet been made to clear the jet for flight. Huerta also noted that the FAA has not yet determined whether it will allow the airliner to fly over-water routes beyond three hours' flight time from a suitable landing site. Regulators grounded the jet in mid-January after two of the jets experienced battery fires. The events have levied new scrutiny on the FAA's certification process.
