Tuesday, July 08, 2014

Incident occurred July 08, 2014 at Sawyer International Airport (KSAW), Marquette, Michigan

K.I. SAWYER -- Crews at Sawyer International Airport had quite the scare late Tuesday afternoon.

At 5:20p.m., an Air National Guard KC135 Refueling airplane made an emergency landing at Sawyer International Airport.   "It was just a minor hydraulic issue. Of course caution is the lead reason we went all out with the fire trucks," said Duane Duray, Sawyer International Airport Manager.

As soon as it rolled onto the tarmac, the aircraft was greeted by about a dozen fire trucks, ambulances, and police.

"We're fortunate that we didn't have an accident occur. The aircraft came in, landed safely. A lot more hustle and bustle going with other responding agencies. It was good to see they were all able to make it out and have a better ending than a big fire crash," said John Rowe, Firefighting Training Officer for Sawyer International Airport.

Story and Photos:   http://www.uppermichiganssource.com

Kennedy Airport runway turtles

NEW YORK (MYFOXNY) - Tens of thousands of the diamondback terrapins live in Jamaica Bay. This is the time of year some of them wind up on the runway at Kennedy Airport.

In June 2011, 100 turtles wound up on Runway 4L, causing major delays. But the diamondback terrapins continue to show up at the airport every year around this time when they make their way out of Jamaica Bay in search of place to lay their eggs. The sandy area of the outskirts of the runway right next to the water has proven a popular spot.

The Port Authority recently installed miles of black plastic tubing along the base of the airports fence, but a couple of hundred turtles have still managed to get over so far this year, like the ones removed by port authority biologists last month.

Read more here:  http://www.my9nj.com


 My9 New Jersey

Maine man wants Federal Aviation Administration to change UAV regulations

NORWAY, Maine —A Norway man is leading a petition, asking the Federal Aviation Administration to change its newest interpretation regarding UAVs or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

Many people confuse UAVs with drones, according to Edward Lyons of Norway.

Lyons is the CEO of FPV America, a company that works with UAVs or multi-rotor copters.

He said rules enforced by the FAA in late June have shut down his business before it was really able to take off.

UAVs are different than drones because a drone is used for military tactical purposes for surveillance and war. Lyons said UAVs are consumer electronics available widely to anybody.

The FAA published a Federal Register notice on its interpretation of special rules for model aircraft that were instated in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012.

Basically, it specified that UAV fliers can't make money off of their copters, can't let their copters out of their line of sight, and those flying the copters would have to call their local airport tower to let them know they'd be flying them.
 

Full story and video: http://www.wmtw.com

Abandoned aircraft up for auction

Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) on Tuesday said that 12 aircraft that are left unattended at the General Aviation area of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport will be auctioned off to clear the area.

MIAA General Manager Jose Angel Honrado said the vintage planes must be removed within 30 days or the owners will be charged P31.54 per square meter every month.

“Our primary purpose is to clear the aviation area of these junk aircraft so we can use the area for other purposes,” he said. “We don’t want GenAv to be a dump.”

Ma.Perla Dumo, MIAA legal division head said “if no one claims or we will place them into  auction”.

The list of abandoned aircraft includes five McDonnell Douglas DC-9s with the last known registered owner as Orion; Antonov AN-26B, reportedly owned by Mosphil Aero; three McDonnell DC-3s, owned by Gemino Pilapil, Jacob S. Lim, and Max Manning, respectively; Cessna 150, owned by Fredelito Juane; Grumman America AA-IA Yankee; and a Super Constellation, owned by William Crawford.


Source Article:  http://manilastandardtoday.com

Fear of flying: Federal Aviation Administration rule-making scares modelers

FORT WORTH — Darrell Abby carefully wipes down the fuselage of his Curtiss P-40 Warhawk for its first flight of the day.

He checks the flaps, wiggles the rudder, pumps in gas and monitors the air pressure for the landing gear. Then he pulls on a grey heavy work glove before spinning the propeller to start the engine.

While Abby’s warbird has a wingspan of 86 inches — the real deal is 37 feet — the pre-flight checks he performs mimic those taken by a pilot before crawling into a cockpit.

“We’re very big on safety,” said Abby, a 66-year-old retired Delta Air Lines pilot at a “fly-in” of model aircraft buffs in Fort Worth on Saturday. “In my opinion, these things are like a real airplane.”

So it should come as no surprise that Abby and other hobbyists are in a four-foot hover over the FAA’s recent efforts to clarify its rules for flying model aircraft in the wake of some recent incidents involving small remote-controlled aircraft, commonly referred to as drones.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com


 

The Federal Aviation Administration Is Deciding If Planesharing Apps Are Legal

The Federal Aviation Administration is formally deliberating on whether amateur pilots can use apps and websites to trade extra seats on flights they’ve planned in exchange for gas money. Amateur pilots aren’t allowed to profit from flying passengers, but several startups like Flytenow have set up private plane ridesharing sites, akin to Zimride for the sky.

Now, one startup called AirPooler has submitted an official request for legal interpretation to clear up the grey area, and confirms the FAA is expected to take a stance within its traditional 120 day window to respond. Until then, AirPooler has ceased listing flights on its site. The FAA didn’t return a request for comment, which is somewhat expected as I’m told it’s unlikely to discuss details of on-going deliberations.

AirPooler‘s attorney Rebecca MacPherson, who is highly qualified to comment since she was the former FAA assistant chief counsel, tells me “This is an issue that the FAA is very uncomfortable with because they’re worried about abuses. They’re looking at what restraints they could put on the response to make sure there’s a minimum number of bad actors in the marketplace.”

Read more here:  http://techcrunch.com

Czech aviation industry making a comeback

News appeared recently about important investment into the Czech aviation industry. Czech aircraft manufacturer Evektor got a significant investment when a Malaysian investor decided to put in about 4 billion Kč. This is an illustration of the Czech current aviation industry: stable growth and hopeful expectations for the future.

 Evektor is famous for its small sports aircraft. Since 2011 they have been developing a promising project, the twin-engine transport aircraft EV-55 Outback for nine passengers or an equivalent amount of cargo. The new investment, which was the result of two years of negotiations, can help to complete this project. This story illustrates the tendency of the Czech aviation industry today – a gradual, steady and hopeful growth.

In the past the Czech Republic had a strong aviation industry. There were many successful projects: licensed production of Soviet supersonic MiG fighters, training aircraft called Dolphin and Albatross, the globally used transport L 410.

Read more: http://new.praguepost.com

Federal Aviation Administration regulations thwart model airplane hobbyists

Opinion/Letters to the Editor •  Jim Petro

Read the released FAA document? This adds to banning of model flying at national parks and within 30 miles of the president. All by this presidency. A congressional bill protects the hobby of model airplanes, but the FAA challenges Congress's authority.

Per the document:


    Pages 8-9: FPV (first-person view) hobby flying is banned entirely.
    Page 11: Anyone not licensed under a nationwide community-based organization is flying a hobby model aircraft illegally, anywhere.
    Page 17: All regulations will be applied to model airplane flying.

Model aircraft and smartphone camera technology are the same. Want privacy ensured? Enact government rule to smash the phone's camera lens.

There are not enough new licensed pilots replacing aging airline pilots. That leaves two choices; hire foreigners or convert planes into big drones. Doesn't this all go back to model airplanes creating career pilots?

- Jim Petro, Gary


Source:   http://www.nwitimes.com

Federal Aviation Administration investigating drone-shot video of fireworks over West Palm Beach

WEST PALM BEACH —   A man who flew a drone into a fireworks show over West Palm Beach and captured stunning video that went viral over the weekend might have to answer to federal investigators.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the video is “under investigation.”

“The FAA is looking into multiple incidents in which unmanned aircraft flew into fireworks displays to determine if there was any violation of federal regulations or airspace restrictions,” the agency said in a statement to The Palm Beach Post.

Punishments can include “a verbal warning and an order to stop the operation and civil penalties,” the FAA said.

A man named “Jos Stiglingh” uploaded his now-infamous 4-minute feature to YouTube on May 13. The video gained global exposure over the Fourth of July holiday after GoPro uploaded a snippet of it and promoted it on its YouTube page on the afternoon of July 4.

Full story and comments:  http://www.palmbeachpost.com

Aerial banners leads into a war of words

The battle to keep aerial advertising out of Oahu has turned into a war of words. 

KHON2 was the first to air this story after a viewer notified us through our Report It feature on our website. Aerial Banners North flew its plane yesterday with a banner that read, “Can’t we get along.”

The mayor calls it a poke in the eyes of all Oahu residents.

In the meantime, the Federal Aviation Administration has now changed its stance and is siding with the city on the issue.

KHON2 has been digging into the story for the past week.

Full Story, Video and Comments:  http://khon2.com