Any pilot, mechanic or owner who ever cursed their local Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) will have a reason to celebrate this weekend when the FAA officially disbands the regionally structured Flight Standards Service (FSS). Starting on Monday, the FSS will be based around four functional areas—Air Carrier Safety Assurance, General Aviation Safety Assurance, Safety Standard, and Foundational Business. More
The FAA has made operational changes at San Francisco International Airport in response to last month’s aborted landing by an Air Canada A320, the Bay Area News Group reported on Tuesday. The FAA no longer allows visual approaches for aircraft approaching SFO at night with an adjacent parallel runway closed, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor told the News Group. “When these conditions prevail, our controllers issue pilots Instrument Landing System approaches or satellite-based approaches, which help pilots line up for the correct runway,” Gregor said. More
If you’re planning to fly toward the path of totality to view Monday’s coming solar eclipse, you won’t be alone. The FAA says several airports located in the path said they are expecting “a significant increase” in traffic before and during the eclipse. Many of these airports are non-towered and have limited capacity to accommodate an increase in traffic, the FAA says. The FAA offers some tips to fly safe in the path of the eclipse. More
August is traditionally vacation month for many U.S. families, so in case you find yourself with some extra time or maybe a rainy day at the beach, you can be prepared by downloading a broad selection of aviation-themed e-books for free, courtesy of NASA. The books include historical accounts of the development of unique aircraft like the U-2 spy plane and the F-16XL fighter jet; a comprehensive history of NASA research planes; the X-31 experimental aircraft; or the F-18, which was flown to test “aeroelastic” wings. More
Doc, the beautifully restored B-29 based in Wichita, made a lot of new friends last month with a full week of appearances and flights at EAA AirVenture — so Doc’s Friends, the nonprofit group that supports the project, is making the most of that, with the launch this week of a new Kickstarter campaign to raise money for the airplane’s permanent hangar, which will also serve as an exhibition and education space. The team has about 30 days to raise $100,000. More
The San Jose Mercury News, one of the first news outlets to report on the story of the Air Canada near-miss in San Francisco last month, said in an editorial this week that the FAA has “hindered the investigation” of the event by “dragging their feet in the aftermath.” As a result, “key evidence from the cockpit voice recorder was erased and the pilots were never tested for drugs or alcohol,” wrote the newspaper’s editorial board. More
AOPA will back off on using Canada as a flawed example of privatized air traffic control after its Canadian counterpart protested AOPA's "lack of understanding of the situation in Canada." More
Members of Congress are back in their home districts this month, leaving Washington quiet and empty, but that doesn’t mean the efforts of general aviation lobbyists who oppose ATC privatization are on hold. “The GA community can’t let its guard down,” said Mark Baker, president of AOPA. Baker and other GA leaders said the August recess provides an opportunity for pilots to contact their representatives while they’re at home and let them know how they feel about efforts to privatize the air traffic control system. More
Piston airplane sales are up for the second quarter of 2017, compared to the previous year, ending a three-year slide, according to General Aviation Manufacturers Association data. In the first half of the year, airframers delivered 468 piston airplanes—265 in the second quarter alone—up 5.6% from the first half of 2016 during which 443 piston airplanes were delivered to customers. More
Sean Tucker, who announced his retirement from solo air show demonstrations earlier this year, let slip a few additional details about his plans for a formation aerobatic team during an interview with AOPA during AirVenture 2017. The acclaimed aerobatic star said he’ll start with a five-ship aerobatic team that he hopes to grow to seven airplanes. More
The SF50 Vision Jet does just what Cirrus says it would. Buyers, I'm sure, will swoon. But what's next? More
AirVenture was such a spectacle this year that the flood of really good photos from the event have overwhelmed us a bit. But Randy Dufault's image of the B-1 sums up the theme of the air show pretty perfectly. Very nice, Randy.
