A familiar growl will return to the skies over Yellowknife in Canada's Northwest Territories Wednesday as the iconic Buffalo Airways returns to the air. The cargo and passenger carrier, made famous by the reality TV series Ice Pilots NWT, was grounded six weeks ago by Transport Canada over safety and administrative concerns. More
Bad Elf has canceled its Kickstarter funding campaign to launch an ADS-B tablet system for $299. The company hoped to raise $500,000 to get the units to market but the campaign stalled at about $230,000. More
Boeing and Airbus reported upbeat year-end results recently, with both companies saying they delivered the most airliners ever in 2015 — a total of 762 for Boeing, and 635 for Airbus. "Global passenger traffic in most key regions is increasing," said Randy Tinseth, a Boeing VP for marketing. "Our customers continue to perform well in the marketplace." However, Boeing also said last week new orders for 2015 totaled 768, about half as many as 2014, when the company took in a record 1,432 orders. More
Veterans of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, now in their 80s and 90s, are widely honored in the aviation world, but now they are taking up a new fight for equality — seeking the right to be interred at Arlington National Cemetery. A bill introduced in Congress this week aims to secure that option for the WASP. The legislation would overturn a recent decision by the Secretary of the Army rescinding inurnment eligibility for WASP pilots, which they have had since 2002. More
Under a new rule released today by the FAA, student pilots will no longer get their student pilot certificate from an aviation medical examiner. Instead, they can apply in person at a FSDO, through a designated pilot examiner, with a Part 141 flight school or a CFI. The TSA will vet the application, and then a plastic certificate will be sent to the student by the Civil Aviation Registry. Earlier proposals to charge a $22 fee and require a photo have been withdrawn. Student pilots still will have to visit an AME to acquire a separate medical certificate. The new rule takes effect April 1. More
A Maine pilot whose airplane went missing 43 years ago now will be the focus of a new search, mounted by a group of volunteer emergency responders and students in a local aviation Explorers post. Lewis Hogan Jr., age 28, was flying a brand-new Citabria on May 2, 1972, from Kennebunk to Augusta, when he disappeared, according to the Bangor Daily News. Search crews never found any trace of the plane or the pilot. More
Flight instructors conducting GA flight reviews and instrument proficiency checks are being directed to make sure pilots can hand fly the aircraft well enough to get themselves out of trouble. More
The FAA isn't doing enough to ensure pilots can actually fly well enough to take over if aircraft flight management systems fail, according to a report obtained by The Associated Press. More
Pilot groups in Canada and the U.S. are hoping the FAA backtracks quickly on a NOTAM posted Jan. 1 that is causing major inconvenience for some Canadian pilots and operators. More
A signal-jamming system to deter unwanted drone flights was unveiled this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Developed by Airbus Defense and Space, the Smart Responsive Jamming Technology can disable signals between a drone and its operator or, in some cases, jam its navigation system. More
Manned autonomous drones are by no means hopeless fantasy. But they succeed not by following the laws of physics, but of money. More
 | ||
 | ||
 | ||
Day or night, rain or shine, AVweb readers always come through with breathtaking photos from and of airplanes. Laurence Balter of Kihei, HI kicks off our final installment of 2015 with a shot from the Molokai Cliffs of Hawaii. Click through for more pics.
