Remember the old days, back when people had little respect for business airplanes simply because they knew next to nothing about them? Those were the good old days until the guys from the motor companies jumped on their airplanes in Detroit to head for Washington to beg for cash. That was a PR blunder for [...]

Manufacturers of light-sport aircraft have not escaped the recession. According to several reports, this segment of the aviation industry has not been hit as hard as the manufacturers of heavier general aviation airplanes and the LSA fleet grew by 35 percent in 2008. In his year-end report, Dan Johnson, chairman of the Light Aircraft Manufacturers [...]

Although the challenge arrived in a private e-mail a few minutes ago, one Jetwhine reader demanded in no uncertain terms that a simple video about the death of an old airline to strengthen another is only part of the tale. What about the companies that came before Northwest I was asked? OK, here’s the deal. [...]

For anyone who ever built model airplanes using a spray gun or just an aerosol can, this is all going to seem pretty familiar. To everyone else, this clip is simply one step – although a very visible one – in the process of airline evolution. Enjoy. And so long Northwest Airlines. It was nice [...]

Showered daily with foul news about the economy overall–and aviation in particular–I wasn’t looking forward to talking with a dozen avionics shops across the country for a magazine assignment. Hearing bad news first hand would be slightly more painful than getting soap in your eyes. Imagine my surprise to learn that business, overall, isn’t that [...]

I have the good fortune to be one of the aviation resources some media folks call upon to translate complex aviation babble into language even my 14-year old daughter can understand. We don’t have too many good-news stories in the airline industry these days and certainly never any that connect large airplanes and water in [...]

Designing, testing, certifying, and producing a new aircraft engine is never an easy process. A sour economy that sends investors into hiding just makes the process that more challenging. But the three-cylinder, six piston diesel/Jet A  Gemini 100 (see Gemini Diesel Engine Attracts Industry’s Eye) is gaining on that goal, says Tim Archer, president of [...]

After just digging out from under 10 inches of lake effect snow in Chicago, I walked in to find these great shots from a Jetwhine reader. Thanks Alan J. They reminded me of a time when an instructor once encouraged me to try landing a Cessna 150 so softly that we would not even know [...]

It’s another frosty night in Chicago, but I stayed at work late to write because the issue of who will become the next FAA Administrator is really gnawing at me. Like the November election, this administrator choice is going to be an important one because it’s high time we called the agency what it truly [...]

Reveling in good news is how I always try to start the new year, but finding it in aviation has been a challenge in the relentless headwind of layoffs, furloughs, shutdowns, and bankruptcy filings. But I did find some, in my own backyard, at OSH, better known as Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Across [...]