Mark Baker, 55, a native of Minnesota and a long-time GA pilot, has been named by AOPA as the next president and CEO, taking over from Craig Fuller. "Mark brings 35 years of involvement in the GA community as a pilot, and decades of experience in leadership positions in the home-improvement industry, such as Scotts Miracle-Gro Company and The Home Depot," said Bill Trimble, AOPA's chairman of the board of trustees, on Tuesday afternoon. Baker has been flying since his twenties, AOPA said, and has logged more than 7,500 hours in the air. His favorite airplane is his Piper Super Cub. “Many of my happiest moments have been spent flying and sharing my passion for aviation with others," Baker said in Tuesday's news release. "I am committed to the priorities of the membership and will ensure that AOPA’s focus remains on carrying out our mission of protecting the freedom to fly." Read More

A B-1B Lancer, the Cold War-era swing-wing bomber, crashed in a remote part of southeastern Montana on Monday, but all four crew members ejected. The four were taken to local hospitals but all are expected to survive, officials said. The bomber, which was destroyed, was one of about 60 still in the U.S. Air Force fleet, and was worth about $283 million. Photos of the crash site show a massive charred area with no apparent aircraft parts visible, according to The Associated Press. The flight was a routine training mission out of South Dakota's Ellsworth Air Force Base, according to U.S. Air Force officials. Read More

In a letter sent to distributors last week (see link below), Continental Motors aimed to ease concerns about the FAA's recently proposed airworthiness directive for ECi cylinders, noting that "no Continental Motors factory-new/rebuilt engines or parts are affected." Continental said it has never used the ECi cylinders, so owners "can be confident that no AEC [Airmotive Engineering Corp., a sister company of ECI] or ECi cylinder(s) has ever shipped from Continental Motors on engines or aftermarket spare parts." However, if aftermarket cylinders were installed after engine shipment from the factory, verification with ECi should be made, the company said. The FAA said its proposed directive could affect up to 6,000 Continental engines. Read More

The National Association of Flight Instructors will hold a one-hour webinar tonight (Aug. 21) at 7 p.m. Central on the topic of attracting new students. The webinar will be hosted by NAFI Chairman Bob Meder and it's a continuation of the series of monthly webinars held by NAFI on topics of concern to those in the flight education business. "We'll be talking about how we can do better at attracting new students," said Meder. Read More

Twin Otters are nothing new in the Canadian North but a California company has supplied an Alberta company with a new version of the venerable design. G-Sky Aviation of Fort McMurray recently took delivery of a IKHANA RWMI DHC-6-200HG Twin Otter. The aircraft is a top-to-bottom rebuild and modification of a de Havilland DHC-6-200 that gives it increased payload and modernization throughout. Read More

There's a need for affordable audio system upgrades for basic aircraft. PS Engineering attempts to answer the call with the PAR200 -- a three-in-one system that combines an advanced audio panel, a stereo intercom, and a remote comm radio. In this video, Aviation Consumer's Larry Anglisano takes a look at the unit during it's introduction at AirVenture 2013 at Oshkosh. Read More

As the quest for a replacement for 100LL drags into its third decade, our sister publication Aviation Consumer, is seeking opinions from owners, pilots and aircraft operators on how you think the process is going. The FAA has established a special office devoted to a replacement for 100LL and piston fuel in general. We would like to know if you've followed the process and if so, what you think of it. And how about mogas? We have some questions on that, too. Read More

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