United Aviation “Alphabets” Push Back on New FAA Restrictions

In a June 4th letter from the FAA, a new policy was announced by the FAA aligning the recent Warbird Adventures decision with 91.319 and defining flight instruction as “carrying persons or property for compensation or hire.” This reverses historic FAA guidance and also 8900.1 which defines flight instruction as “educational.”

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There is another fight brewing over a GA airport -- this time, in Utah. The Ogden Regional Airport Association was brought back to life to start a series of legal and class action efforts against Ogden Airport and City officials that seem intent on changing rules and jacking up rates with great frequency and severity. A lawsuit has just been filed. ORAA is protesting changes in hangar leases and prices, and the rules under which they work with the pilot/owners. The organization believes that it is t

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A recent court decision has upheld the FAA’s questionable “cease and desist” order against “Warbird Adventures.” This ruling lets stand an interpretation that threatens the historic role of CFIs as “educators” and will have a negative effect on all flight training (and aviation safety). This action has left CFIs confused and at risk from the greater future liability of “flying for hire,” along with potential regulatory and medical consequences. The Society of A

Former Methods Often Caused Decompression And Barotrauma Sickness

The Naval Aviation Training Systems and Ranges program office (PMA-205) Normobaric Hypoxia Trainer (NHT) team recently designed, delivered, installed, and began support of the NHT at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, the first trainer of its kind eliminating common hypoxia training injuries. The legacy Low Pressure Chamber trainer used in hypoxia training for pilots and aircrew often caused decompression and barotrauma sickness, the leading causal factors for training injuries in the Naval Aviation Survival Training Program (NASTP). The NHT team, made up of an expert group of research engineers and scientists, looking to mitigate those injuries, developed the NHT concept.

Active Winglet Equipped Cessna Flight from Maine to Florida Claims Speed Record

Tamarack Aerospace has reported that NAA has recognized Nicholas Guida, CEO and Co-Founder of Tamarack Aerospace, and J. Wickham Zimmerman, 30-year pilot, for US National Record Aeroplanes Class C-1.e, Group III Speed Over a Recognized Course record. The elapsed time of the record nonstop January 26 flight was four hours, 35 minutes, and 11 seconds in a Cessna 525 Citation (N44VS). The Active Winglet transformed aircraft travelled 1,386 miles and used a total of 2,610 pounds of fuel. This record flight was part of the “Fly-Off” between Tamarack Active Winglets  and a flat wing Cessna (N741CC) from Portland, ME to Palm Beach, FL.

Students May Be Eligible For Merit-Based Financing

Coast Flight Training has announced a new program designed to help close the aviation skills gap by making flight training more affordable. Through a partnership with Meritize, pilots-in-training will now be eligible for merit-based financing, which can in many cases reward individual borrowers for their past educational and military experiences. "As air travel begins to accelerate and pilot demographics shift, our industry needs to use every tool in its arsenal to expand access to commercial aviation careers—and remove the financial barriers to flight education and training is a critical component of that mission," said Bryan W. Simmons, President of Coast Flight and a former Navy Flight Sc

Union Claims That They Are Helping To Level The Playing Field

Nearly 100 pilot volunteers from ALPA are meeting with federal lawmakers and staff during the Association’s 2021 Legislative Summit to discuss the importance of preventing foreign airline business schemes that undermine labor rights, safety, and the competitiveness of the U.S. airline industry. By encouraging lawmakers to pass the bipartisan Fair and Open Skies Act (H.R. 3095), ALPA pilots claim that they are helping to level the playing field and keep our skies safe.

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Halo has placed a firm order for 200 Eve Urban Air Mobility vehicles -- making it the launch customer for this aircraft. The electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft have an expected delivery date in 2026. One hundred of the vehicles will be used for operations in the United States and 100 will operate in the United Kingdom. In addition, Halo announced the alignment of U.K.-based Halo Aviation Ltd. (Halo) and U.S.-based Associated Aircraft Group (AAG) under the Halo brand. Both companies had be

Witness Observed The Airplane In A Spiral Descent And That It “May Have Been Missing A Wing”

On May 28, 2021, about 1048 eastern daylight time, a Lancair Evolution airplane, N515DL, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near McDermott, Ohio. The private pilot and passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. A review of preliminary air traffic control (ATC) information revealed the airplane departed about 1014 from Bellefontaine Regional Airport (EDJ), Bellefontaine, Ohio on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan, with a destination of Charleston International Airport (CHS), Charleston, South Carolina.

AD 2021-11-02 Requires Revising The Existing AFM And Adding Airplanes To The Applicability

The FAA is superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2019-22-07, which applied to all MHI RJ Aviation ULC Model CL-600-2B19 (Regional Jet Series 100 & 440) airplanes, Model CL-600-2C10 (Regional Jet Series 700, 701 & 702) airplanes, Model CL-600-2D15 (Regional Jet Series 705) airplanes, Model CL-600-2D24 (Regional Jet Series 900) airplanes, and Model CL-600-2E25 (Regional Jet Series 1000) airplanes. AD 2019-22-07 required revising the existing airplane flight manual (AFM) to include a limitation and an abnormal operating procedure for the Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS). This AD requires revising the existing AFM and adding airplanes to the app

Aero Linx: United States Ultralight Association USUA is the organization that the FAA, the media, and other organizations look to when it comes to ultralight issues. When an ultralight accident or incident happens in the USA, we are the ones that explain to the media the rules, the safety consciousness of pilots, and the freedom of flight.

Procedure Turn The maneuver prescribed when it is necessary to reverse direction to establish an aircraft on the intermediate approach segment or final approach course. The outbound course, direction of turn, distance within which the turn must be completed, and minimum altitude are specified in the procedure. However, unless otherwise restricted, the point at which the turn may be commenced and the type and rate of turn are left to the discretion of the pilot.

"This new policy would also prevent flight instruction in *all* experimental aircraft without a Letter of Deviation Authority (LODA). The additional downstream legal consequences of this FAA policy reversal are also frightening in terms of medical requirements and liability for CFIs. This new FAA policy is based on the Gregory Morris Legal Interpretation from 2014 and is opposed by a consortium of professional aviation groups (including SAFE)." Source: From a report by the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators following some questionable and potentailly disastrous decision making by the FAA.