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Greetings A.O. Readers - Let us know here. Last week we asked: Where have you flown out of the Continental US? Canada, Mexico, Europe, the Virgin Islands? Let us know here. A quick note for our members: We are actively soliciting members to post their fall and winter fly-ins on our site, click here to post yours. Don't forget we are always looking for Pilot, What's Your Story? submissions. Please find your questionnaire to fill out here. Until next week - fly often, fly safe, give flights to those who have never taken to the skies, and help General Aviation live on. |
 THIS WEEK'S FEATURED ARTICLE: Pilot, What's Your Story? CLICK HERE This month we meet Steve, a Sport Pilot out of Florida, who was a lot of fun to get to know. |
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 LOCKEY AIRPORT HANGAR KEYLESS LOCK AVAILABLE AT AIRCRAFT SPRUCE The Lockey Airport Hangar Keyless Lock is a maximum security deadbolt with a thumb-turn for exit and entry. Requires no drilling during installation and is used on any door requiring deadbolt security. Finishes include Antique Brass, Bright Brass, Satin Chrome, Satin Nickel, Jet Black, White, Oil Rubbed Bronze, and Bright Chrome. Dimensions: 4-7/8" H x 1-7/16" W x 1-3/4" D, total coverage w/ trim plates: 5-5/8" x 2-1/2". Call 1-877-4SPRUCE or visit www.aircraftspruce.com
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It's time to post your fall and winter fly-ins and pancake breakfasts. Only events posted on our site make it into this e-newsletter, so post yours today!
Sebring US Sport Aviation Expo
January 19-22, 2012 Sebring Regional Airport in Sebring, FL Sport pilots have all the fun. There will be Light Sport Aircraft on display, demonstrations, forums, food, entertainment and much more. For more information visit: http://sport-aviation-expo.com/ Get your local fly in
listed here by simply adding your
event on www.AircraftOwner.com |
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 CHECK OUT OUR MOST RECENT DUATS E-BRIEF NEWSLETTER HERE! Get free and immediate access to FAA approved information including updated weather briefings, plain language text weather, flight plan filing, multiple pilot & aircraft profiles, stored routes, and much more. Click HERE for free access and information on advanced software features.
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Torrance's Robinson Helicopter marks delivery of 10,000th chopper By Nick Green | dailybreeze.com With sales taking off again as the recession eases and employment following suit at its Torrance factory, Robinson Helicopter Co. on Thursday marked the delivery of its 10,000th chopper. "Ten thousand is an awful lot of helicopters," said company founder Frank Robinson. The company, which sells more helicopters than any other manufacturer in the world, was founded in 1979. And unlike its competitors, it has never taken a dime of government money or relied on military orders, Robinson said. A Brazilian helicopter dealership will take possession of ship No. 10,000, company officials said. Hundreds of employees patiently lined up to receive a blue T-shirt commemorating the milestone as they snacked on hors d'oeuvres. The company recently increased weekly production of its three models to 10 per week and needs to produce an additional five more weekly to keep pace with orders, said President Kurt Robinson. "We've been hiring eight to 12 (new) employees every week," he said. The company has hired more than 200 new workers since January, bringing its workforce to more than 1,100. Robinson has orders for 350 of its new R66 turbine model, which means all ships manufactured through April are already spoken for. The five-seater R66 is the biggest, fastest and most expensive helicopter the company has ever built; it sells for about $800,000. |
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Burt Rutan's boat-plane retirement project By Jeff Hecht | www.newscientist.com Bored in retirement, legendary aerospace engineer Burt Rutan is working on a new project, a high-speed winged boat that can double as a seaplane, so he can fly between lakes and rivers near his new home in Coeur d'Alene, a lakeside resort in northern Idaho. Famed for designing a series of innovative aircraft and spacecraft, Rutan began building planes of his own design in the late 1960s while working as a project engineer for the US Air Force. He founded Scaled Composites in Mojave, California in 1982, where he became famous for designing Voyager, the first plane to fly around the world without refuelling in 1986. More recently, Rutan designed a flying car, which got off the ground for the first time in July. However, his crowning achievement was SpaceShipOne, which in 2004 became the first privately funded craft to fly a human into space. A follow-on design, SpaceShipTwo, is intended to carry six space tourists to altitudes of about 120 kilometres, but so far has only glided in the air. Having sold Scaled Composites to Northrop Grumman, Rutan retired in April, although his flying car design remains in development. But he isn't done yet - he has his sights set on designing a short-takeoff and landing (STOL) plane. "Getting out and exploring little lakes and rivers in a STOL seaplane is a fantasy, I think, for a pilot," he told the Experimental Aircraft Association. But when Burt Rutan says "seaplane", you know he's not thinking of the propeller-powered pontoon planes that have been flown for decades. Instead, his plans draw inspiration from large wing Russian ships or "ekranoplans" built during the Cold War (see below). Essentially boats with wings and aircraft engines, they could rise up to 20 or 30 metres above the water. Rutan is thinking of a much smaller wing-boat that could reach high speeds in boat-mode on the water then take off and fly. |
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Goodyear donates historic blimp gondola to Smithsonian By Jim Mackinnon | Beacon Journal Another piece of Goodyear’s airship history is headed to the Smithsonian. A six-person gondola first attached to a Goodyear blimp in 1934 and finally retired in 1986 trucked out Tuesday morning on the back of a big flatbed from Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.’s Wingfoot airship base in Portage County. Destination: The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. The donated gondola will be placed near another historic Goodyear airship artifact, a lifeboat that is the sole remaining piece from the ill-fated 1911 Akron airship that the tire maker gave to the museum last year. (The museum is also home to the gondola of the Goodyear blimp Pilgrim.) This particular gondola, also called a control car and given the designation C-49, played a role in pop culture from 1975 to 1986 when it was part of the Goodyear airship Columbia based in California. Actor Richard Chamberlain, impersonator Rich Little and actress and Laugh-In television comedy show regular Jo Anne Worley flew in the Columbia. The Columbia had a starring role in the 1977 thriller Black Sunday and also was used for — either to film aerial scenes or appeared in — Disney’s Flight of the Navigator and Condorman and Oh, God! Book II, among other movies. The blimp provided aerial coverage for four Super Bowls and two World Series, Rose Bowl games and parades and the 1984 summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. |
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1973 Cessna 182P. |
2001 Piper Archer III. |
1982 Cessna Skylane. |
1980 Sabreliner 65. |
1960 Piper Tri-Pacer 160. |
1968 PA-30B Twin Comanche. |
1974 PIPER |
 2006 Raven I - SN 1555. |
2006 LSA Sky Arrow |
