Jay Carter Hints At Dramatic Demo Flight Ahead

There's an old saying which holds, "you can tell a lot about a man by the company he keeps." If that wisdom can be extended to businesses, Carter Aviation Technologies is in great company as it pursues development of its next-generation Personal Air Vehicle (PAV) prototype.

Want A Coke? That'll Be Two Bucks, Please

As the airline industry continues to be dominated by high fuel prices and passengers face a multitude of fees and extra charges, US Airways management recently made the announcement to charge for non-alcoholic beverages in flight... a decision that isn't sitting well with the airline's employees, on the front lines of an increasingly ridiculous fight.

EAA Developing Prize To Promote Innovation, Competition For Electric LSA

AirVenture attendees packed into Forum 7 Thursday afternoon to hear an expert panel talk about progress in developing electric aircraft. Panelists included David Palombo, with AVEOX, an expert on brushless electric motors and controllers, Pete Buck and John Monnett of Sonex, Dr. Morton Grosser, an independent Director, technology consultant and venture capital investor in Silicon Valley, Randy Fishman, President of Electric Aircraft Corp., and Erik Lindbergh, a commercial pilot, flight instructor, and grandson of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. The panel was led by Craig Willen, a Lifetime member of EAA and committee representative leading EAA's Electric Aircraft initiatives.

Plane Believed To Be On Demonstration Flight

Two men onboard a homebuilt Velocity 173RG were killed Thursday when their plane nosed in on takeoff from Runway 13 at St. Augustine/St. Johns County Airport (SGJ) in Florida.

A (Truly) Personal Air Vehicle, With Carter Aviation Technologies' Jay Carter, Jr.

ANN Daily Touch N Go: 08.01.08 (ANN's Short-Form Daily News Program) ANN Daily Aero-Briefing: 08.01.08 (ANN's Long-Form Daily News Program) ANN Special Feature -- A (Truly) Personal Air Vehicle: 08.01.08 (ANN Special Report, with Carter Aviation Technologies President and Chie

Many Pilots Could Benefit

From my experience, nothing irritates busy controllers more than having to repeat themselves... especially at the Class B airports that have a large volume of traffic. We generally grump off-mike about paying better attention up there, but it could very well be a hearing problem.

Welcome to Aero-TV's Daily Update from EAA AirVenture Oshkosh for Thursday, July 31st, 2008.

2008 has already been a year filled with innovation in the cockpit.]Avidyne chose AirVenture to show off its new Enhanced Vision and Synthetic Vision upgrades for its Entegra system, now featuring 15-inch displays. Garmin has been waiting for FAA approval to turn its G600 avionics system loose in the retrofit market. At AirVenture, the company was able to announce approval to install the system in 785 different aircraft makes and models.

Heads For Deployment With Carrier Strike Group

Lockheed Martin recently completed its initial deliveries of aircraft to the US Navy's first operational MH-60R helicopter maritime strike squadron, the HSM-71 Raptors, ensuring the squadron is ready for its deployment with an aircraft carrier strike group. The San Diego-based pilot and crew departed with the aircraft July 24 for the three-day journey home from Owego, NY.

AirVenture 2008 Celebrates 50th Anniversary Of Nanchang CJ-6

One of the longest-produced aircraft models in history, the Nanchang CJ-6, is celebrating its 50th anniversary Oshkosh 2008. The RedStar Pilot's Association, the owners' group for the Chinese-built military trainer aircraft, organized the Oshkosh activities in honor of the golden anniversary with cooperation of EAA's Warbirds of America.

Sturgell Makes His First Oshkosh Appearance As Administrator

He came, and he talked... and he left many still unsure of what kind of FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell will turn out to be, should he be eventually confirmed for the job he now tenuously holds with the qualifier "Acting" in front of his title.

New Rules May Help Edge Out Northrop Grumman/EADS

Lawmakers who supported Boeing's bid to build a new fleet of Air Force refueling tankers advanced a plan in Congress that would block the Defense Department from deviating from any of its original specifications in vetting new tanker proposals. The measure also would bar the Pentagon from giving extra credit to any proposal that exceeds the Air Force's minimum requirements for the tanker -- including its size and how much fuel it can deliver to planes in midair.

Big Plans For Small Glass Panels

Homebuilt and LSA 'glass cockpit' provider Dynon Avionics provided an early glimpse of its next generation glass-cockpit EFIS technology at AirVenture 2008 this week. This new system is slated to be released in phases starting next year, and will offer the complete, full-panel integration that has formerly only been found in the most expensive glass cockpit solutions.

Will Be Exclusive Automotive Partner For Annual Event

On Thursday. Ford Motor Company and the Experimental Aircraft Association announced an extension through 2011 of the automobile manufacturer's role as exclusive automotive partner of the world's largest annual aviation event, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.

AAI Acquisition Also Announces New CEO

AAI Acquisition -- the Russian-backed successor to the former Adam Aircraft Industries -- announced Thursday at AirVenture 2008 it plans to resume efforts to certify the A700 twin-turbofan, very-light jet... at the expense of the A500 piston twin.

That's No Typo, Klyde...

Two-Stroke Diesels To Be Tested In LSAs

Powerplant Developments Ltd. (PPD) President and CEO Tim Archer announced at AirVenture 2008 that a Memorandum of Understanding was signed just days ago with Italian aircraft manufacturer Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecnam S.r.l. Under the terms of their MOU, PPD will supply one pre-ASTM certificated Gemini 100 100HP engine for testing on a Tecnam P92 Eaglet LSA.

ANN Chats With Helo Pilot Charles 'Chuck' Aaron

Every story has a beginning... so what makes legendary helicopter pilot Charles "Chuck" Aaron's so special? Well, Chuck will go down in the history books as the first pilot to get his aerobatic certificate in a helicopter, the Red Bull BO-105 CBS made by Eurocopter/Messerschmitt Boelkow Blohm (MBB).

Over 250 Residents, Vactioners Rescued From Dolly's Wrath

New Mexico Army National Guard aviators put their hoist training to the test not once, not twice, but 57 times July 27 after Tropical Depression Dolly caused flooding in the high desert resort community of Ruidoso, NM. By the end of the mission, the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crews had picked up more than 250 residents and vacationers.

Agency Expands Spacecraft's Mission

NASA announced Thursday that laboratory tests aboard its Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander's robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples.

Plans To Branch Out To Flight Schools

Light sport aircraft manufacturer X-Air announced Thursday the addition of Terry Brewer as the Flight Training Program Manager. Brewer was the architect of the flight-training regime for Columbia Aircraft (now Cessna), which for its time was the most strident in the industry providing both standardization and FITS approval.

Aero-Linx!

This page is a tribute to the Apollo Lunar Modules (LM), the vehicles that landed men on the moon and returned them to lunar orbit.

Aero-Terms!

A system for communication between crew members of an aircraft. Interphone communications are normally conducted using the same microphone and earphone speakers used for radio communications. A selector switch is positioned in such a way that the interphone signals do not enter the radio transmitter circuits.

"As you know, we've got a proposed policy change for homebuilts. It's come to our attention that some companies may be skirting the letter of the law by selling a kit that requires nothing more than two turns of a screwdriver. For safety's sake, we just can't allow that. It's not right, and it circumvents the very safeguards that are put in place to protect everyone in the system. When we say that '51 percent of the plane has to be put together by the builder and not the kit maker,' we mean it. In my opinion, 51 percent is appropriate. The aim here of the policy change isn't to punish. It's for your safety and for the integrity of the system."

Source: FAA Acting Administrator Robert Sturgell, speaking Thursday at the EAA's annual "Meet The Adm