Ya Wanna Land? That'll Be $20! ANN has received a number of complaints in the last few days describing the "exorbitant" new landing fees enacted by the Catalina Conservancy that controls the once popular Catalina Airport. The airport, which has been a popular "100 Dollar Hamburger" destination (there is a restaurant near the airport with pretty good '$120' burgers...), is located in the center of the Island, at 1602 feet elevation. It hosts a single 3250 foot runway and is managed by The Catalina Island Conservancy. Built in 1946, the airport was constructed to improve access to the island, which was formerly accessible only by boats and amphibious aircraft. The runway was constructed by blowing up two local mountains and using "200,000 truckloads of r

Methinks We're About To Get Screwed... Again Tuesday night's promos for the Wednesday edition of CBS's much-maligned (for good reason) Evening News is carrying a story on GA Airport Security and it does NOT look good. One of the text promos starts out, "There are thousands of general aviation airstrips around the country with little or no security. How can that be after 9-11? We'll have the story on Wednesday's CBS Evening News." There is also a video promo on the CBS Evening news site. The promo starts with what appears to be a Cessna 172 flying into the center of the screen with the header "Garage For Your Plane?" It then segues into, "But What About Local Airport Security?" Uh oh... It gets worse. The next sound byte is particularly w

AOPA and the T-34 Association are telling the FAA that the proposed timeframe for owners of Beechcraft T-34 Mentors to comply with an airworthiness concern is too short and needs to be extended. The FAA issued an Airworthiness Concern Sheet (ACS) following a recent fatal T-34 accident involving a wing-spar failure. The FAA also issued Flight Standards Information Bulletin FSAW 03-11, Special Inspection for T-34 Mentor Aircraft, which requires each flight standards district office to inspect every T-34 in its district for compliance with an earlier wing spar airworthiness directive (2001-13-18), annual or 100-hour inspection, and general aircraft condition. The FAA also intends to require owners to comply with Raytheon Service Bulletin SB57-3329. But doing so could mean owners woul

The NTSB recommends that the FAA: Require that Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-60 series engine starter-generators be electrically isolated from the rest of the engine. (A-03-58) Require that Pilatus PC-12 and PC-12/45 airplanes up to serial number (SN) 231 be equipped with a central advisory and warning system that will display engine magnetic chip detector warnings during all phases of flight. (A-03-59) Require on Pilatus PC-12 and PC-12/45 airplanes the installation of a magnetic chip detector, in accordance with Pilatus Service Bulletin No. 79-005, or an equivalent device, in the accessory gear box oil-drain to monitor the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67B engine's entire oil system, as soon as the necessary parts become available. (A-03-60)

Another VIP TFR NOTAM:  4/0302 Issued: 01/13/2004 17:00 Effective: 01/14/2004 05:10 - 01/15/2004 19:05 State: CA Facility: ZLA - LOS ANGELES (ARTCC)PALMDALE, CA. Type: VIP Description: FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, JANUARY 13-15, 2004 LOCAL

I continue to be amazed at all the ways the intensely rugged little R-22 (file photo, below) is being worked throughout the world.... but herding cattle? This, I gotta see... DESCRIPTION A MESQUITE HELICOPTER SERVICE, N7061V, ROBINSON R-22 ROTORCRAFT, WHILE HERDING CATTLE, TAIL ROTOR STRUCK A TREE AND THE AIRCRAFT CRASHED, NO INJURIES REPORTED, 10 MILES SOUTH OF ENCINO, TX

PC Aviator Inc, has released its MegaScenery USA 2004 Volume 2: New York, a high-resolution photorealistic scenery for Microsoft’s Flight Simulator 2004, featuring New York city and 22,000 square miles of surrounding area. MegaScenery USA Volume 2: New York is the second title in the MegaScenery series and features some of the USA’s (and the world’s) busiest airspace, and the world’s biggest metropolis New York City and surrounding areas including areas of New York State, New Jersey and Connecticut. Created from 5 meter per pixel satellite imagery, MegaScenery New York captures the true essence of this area of North Eastern United States. Flight simulator pilots can now cruise the skies above New York city (The Big Apple), plus an extensive 22,000 squ