Entries from September 2010 ↓

The TBM 850 single-engine turboprop and TBGT piston singles produced by Daher Socata may get a stablemate if the company’s evaluation of what was Grob Aerospace’s SPn business jet grows roots. The SPn had earned more than 100 orders before development stopped, and before a 2006 crash killed Grob’s chief SPn test pilot, Gerard Guillaumaud, during a demonstration flight of a prototype. The project continued after that episode, but Grob Aerospace announced its insolvency in 2008 following repeated delays in the jet’s flight-test program. Socata’s interest in the jet reportedly could evolve into an all-composite twin-engine business jet program for itself, derived from the SPn platform.

The FAA will provide four projects with grants as part of the NASA reauthorization bill and a federal effort to ensure the U.S. “remains the world leader in space development and exploration,” according to FAA administrator Randy Babbitt. The projects will direct funding to the New Mexico Spaceport Authority for automated weather observation; the Alaska Aerospace Corporation for a rocket motor storage facility; the East Kern Disctict in Mojave, Calif., for an emergency response vehicle; and the Hacksonville Airport Authority in Florida, to devise a master plan for a spaceport at Cecil Field. The grants range from about $40,000 to nearly $105,000 and are part of the NASA reauthorization bill, which backs commercial crew and cargo programs with $1.6 billion. The FAA’s own reauthorization bill on September 24 was substituted with another three-month extension (the 16th, we think … if you’re still counting).

When you are restoring a vintage aircraft, it can be quite a challenge to meet self-imposed deadlines. Presley Melton of North Little Rock, Ark., knows this only too well as the owner of a 1943 Howard DGA-15P.

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===> Posted on September 30, 2010 by Meg Godlewski. No comments. © GAN 2010