Since its inception in 2007, more than 2,000 pilots have received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award from the FAA. The award, which recognizes 50 years of accident-free flying, consolidated several similar pilot awards, such as the Golden Eagle Award, that had been presented by various Flight Standards District Offices over the years. The award […]
FAA
New PMAs for Lamar Technologies
Lamar Technologies has new PMAs for pre-1996 Cessna single engine aircraft. Due to high demand for Original Equipment 14 and 28 volt regulators, the company PMA’d both the DGR3 and DGR6 regulators it supplies Cessna. The regulators fit Cessna 150 thru Cessna 210 series aircraft and are available worldwide through aviation distributors, according to company […]
The FAR/AIM in Plain English
Now at Aircraft Spruce is a new book, “The FAR/AIM In Plain English,” which omits everything that you don’t need to know for your sport or private pilot certificate. The balance of the traditional FAR/AIM reference book has been translated into plain conversational English that pilots and student pilots can apply to their everyday flying, company officials said. Aircraft […]
Trilateration: A must for NextGen and ADS-B
By JEFFREY BOCCACCIO. This is the seventh in a series of articles looking at the impact of NextGen on GA pilots. Last post we discussed where GPS came from and how its implementation was successfully completed by using ground base pseudolites. We also reviewed how triangulation was used for navigation. Triangulation basically emulates what we […]
FAA proposes to raise pilot qualification standards
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FAA has proposed to substantially raise the qualification requirements for first officers who fly for U.S. passenger and cargo airlines. The proposed rule would require first officers to hold an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate, requiring 1,500 hours of flight time. Currently, first officers are required to have only a commercial […]
General aviation user fee civility
User fees have reared their head in President Obama’s fiscal year 2013 proposed budget. Longtime General Aviation News columnist Charles Spence wrote about a letter 100 mayors sent to President Obama regarding the budget’s potential $100-per-flight fee. The comments that follow are interesting. Commenter “gbin” says: “I wonder how many of the mayors who signed […]
GAO: NextGen over budget and behind schedule
WASHINGTON, D.C. — After causing the FAA to limp along on 23 temporary funding extensions, Congress finally passed a four-year authorization last month. A question now facing FAA watchers is: Will this steadier funding mean a smoothing of the turbulence the agency has seen in developing the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen)? A report […]
FAASTeam approves latest CFI forum
The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) recently delivered another in its series of 12 Seminar-in-a-Box products to the FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam), this one focusing on Takeoff and Initial Climb. The seminars are designed to facilitate discussion among instructors, examiners, and FAASTeam members on topics related to flight training and accident prevention, as […]
FAA bill allows fuel reimbursement for volunteer pilots
Buried in the long-term authorization for the FAA is a provision that will make pilots who fly charitable medical flights happy. The provision allows a pilot to accept reimbursement from a volunteer pilot organization for the fuel costs associated with a flight to provide transportation for an individual or organ for medical purposes. The bill […]