Scary Photos Show That Someone Was Watching Out For These Folks... We reported (last Saturday) on the amazing crash that severely damaged two of the Trojan Phlyers AirShow and Race Team's T-28s when a Piper Apache lost an engine, grazed a hangar on the way down, and impacted among the aforementioned Trojans. Incredibly, the occupants of the Apache survived and when you look at the photos below, you'll have to admit that someone's rabbit's foot was working over time. Still unknown, though, is who is going to fix the innocent T-28s that were taken out... one of them virtually destroyed. We'll kee

As a direct result of pressure from AOPA, the FAA has lowered the altitude of a moored balloon experiment and raised the safety level for pilots operating in the Lancaster, Pa., area. AOPA sent a scathing letter to the FAA just before New Years over a Millersville University experiment that involved a moored balloon at 3,600' MSL, above the minimum obstacle clearance altitude (MOCA) for several Victor airways in that area. Notice of the experiment was published only 10 days before the experiment was set to begin, and the public comment period didn't end until after the experiment was scheduled to be complete. A new NOTAM issued Thursday lowers the balloon's permitted altitude to 2,600' MSL, and raises the MOCA and minimum en route altitudes (MEAs) for those airways to 3,700'

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Careers in Aviation Inc. will revisit aviation's early days by sponsoring a national barnstorming tour with a difference. In 1926, not long after the Wright brothers' first flight, John Paul Riddle, one of the school's founders, was giving aerial joyrides in Jennys and Wacos to drum up business for his fledgling flying business in Cincinnati, Ohio. On Jan. 24, Jamail Larkins, a 19-year-old aviation business student at Embry-Riddle's Daytona Beach, Fla., campus, will update that tradition when he begins a 20-city national tour piloting a new Cirrus SR20 aircraft. His mission: get youngsters in middle schools and high schools along the way thinking about careers in aviation. Embry-Riddle's partner in the tour is Careers in Aviation, an

Environmental Tectonics Corporation has received FAA  approval of their GAT-II General Aviation Trainer by the FAA as a Level II Flight Training Device. Representatives of the Baltimore Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), Glen Burnie, Maryland, and from the FAA National Simulator Program Office, Atlanta, Georgia, completed an evaluation of the GAT-II, which was delivered to Frederick Flight Center, Frederick, Maryland. The GAT-II was evaluated to Level II Standards as outlined in Advisory Circular (AC) 120-45A, Airplane Flight Training Device Qualification, and is approved for use by Frederick Flight Center for training, testing or checking of maneuvers, procedures, or crewmember functions listed in the Practical Test Standards for a Level II Flight Training Device

VIP Restrictions Announced NOTAM: 4/0280 Issued: 01/12/2004 20:27 Effective: 01/13/2004 22:25 - 01/14/2004 03:30 State: OR Facility: ZSE - SEATTLE (ARTCC),AUBURN,WA. Type: VIP Description: PORTLAND, OREGON, JANUARY 13, 2004 LOCAL.

VIP Restrictions Announced NOTAM: 4/0285 Issued: 01/12/2004 20:48 Effective: 01/13/2004 18:40 - 01/13/2004 19:30 State: WA Facility: ZSE - SEATTLE (ARTCC),AUBURN,WA. Type: Description: SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, JANUARY 13, 2004 LOCAL.

TFR Issued Due To Blasting Hazard NOTAM: 4/0288 Issued: 01/12/2004 21:33 Effective: 01/13/2004 17:30 - 01/13/2004 18:45 State: MN Facility: ZMP - MINNEAPOLIS (ARTCC),MN. Type: HAZARDS Description: ELY, MN.

AOPA has weighed in on a story we reported here several days ago... Danbury, Conn., mayor Mark Boughton says he wants to protect the community's vibrant general aviation airport, Danbury Municipal (DXR). In a meeting with AOPA Northeast Regional Representative Craig Dotlo, Boughton said he not only wants to maintain the airport, he wants to increase its profitability. Recent reports that the city refused to fund its portion of a project to cut down trees that could pose a safety hazard concerned AOPA. The FAA had threatened to displace the landing threshold on the airport's longest runway by nearly 1,000' unless the tre

Are You Ready For Some Football (and Restrictions?) The FAA has issued a Special Traffic Management Program (STMP) in conjunction with the Super Bowl that will affect 10 airports in the Houston, TX area from January 28 to February 3. The FAA strongly recommends that operators contact the fixed base operator they plan on using for information on parking and reservations for ramp space. The acquisition of an arrival reservation does not guarantee that parking will be available at the airports controlled by the reservation program. Operators should plan alternates in the event parking becomes unavailable at their airport of intended landing. Additionally; NBAA tells us that there is a solid chance that a number of TFRs may come into being