When a developer started eyeing a piece of property for a housing development less than a mile from Centennial Airport (APA) in Centennial, Colo., just outside Denver, it wasn’t just the aviation community that raised the alarm. The business community and local homeowners association raised the cries of opposition, as well. The proposal was to […]
Airport vs. an old-growth forest: Which will be left standing?
Every pilot thinks that his airport is special. Sky Harbor Airport (KDYT) in Duluth, Minn., is special for several reasons, or so say pilots, the people who live near the airport and the government agencies that are charged with managing and protecting not only the airport, but the surrounding area. Sky Harbor Airport, as the […]
Cirrus facing wrongful death lawsuit in Lidle crash
An attorney representing the families of New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and flight instructor Tyler Stanger, who died in the crash of the Cirrus SR20 in Manhattan, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Cirrus Design Corp. The complaint alleges product liability, negligence and breach of warranty against Cirrus. Teledyne, Hartzell Propeller, S-Tec, Honeywell […]
Restoring a legend: Lost for decades, this Boeing 40 will take to the air next year
Aviation is filled with legends about airplane crashes. One of the more enduring tales out of southern Oregon is the one about a Boeing 40C, loaded with diamonds, that crashed on a mountain. Allegedly, the wreckage was never found. The story has been told for generations around campfires, kitchen tables and in tree houses. But […]
SPECIAL REPORT: Restorations
There is a special fascination to old machinery, and particularly that which has been restored to its original working condition. Unlike static displays, working machines let us hear, smell, touch and feel the strength, the beauty, the inventiveness of mechanical things that did the work of the nation in bygone times. Aircraft restorers know the […]
Relief in sight for vintage aircraft owners: Proposal would release dataneeded to maintain airworthiness
One of the challenges of owning a vintage aircraft is getting the information needed to do required maintenance. This is especially true of so-called “orphaned” aircraft — those no longer in production or supported by a factory. For years, aviation advocacy groups, such as the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and the Vintage Aircraft Association (VAA), […]
Jacksonville anti-airplane ordinance to be revised: Pilots to work with councilman to rework law
A showing by members of the Experimental Aircraft Association during a Feb. 27 meeting of the Jacksonville, Fla., City Council has prompted the councilman who penned Ordinance 2006-543-E to rework the measure. The ordinance, which was adopted last summer, bars anyone from building, repairing, testing, operating, modifying, or altering flying craft or airboats anywhere on […]
PBY in Lake Mead now open to divers
Divers who enjoy exploring submerged airplane wrecks have a new target in Lake Mead, Nevada. The National Park Service (NPS) has released the location of a submerged PBY Catalina. The plane sits in two sections approximately 190 feet below the surface in the Boulder Basin Area of the lake. Because of the depth it is […]
Washington’s Blaine Municipal Airport to close: Lack of funds for master plan cited as main reason
Usually the creation of a master plan is thought of as a tool to help protect an airport. But as airport officials at Blaine Municipal Airport/Dierks Field (4W6) in Blaine, Wash., have learned, a master plan — or rather a lack of federal funding for one — can lead to an airport closing. “The issue […]