Airborne 08.23.17: ANN’s ‘Best SportPlanes', Zenith's Eclipse, KSMO 2023
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Also: First US-Built A320, True Blue Power, Sonic Boom, Signature-CAF, Boeing Helena, USAF Combat Rescue, Atlantic Aviation This year’s selection of the best SportPlanes of 2017 remains a pretty intriguing pursuit -- and much busier than we expected. Previous list assignments established that aircraft by Progressive Aerodyne, The Airplane Factory, Kitfox, Van's and Sonex were early leaders for the list. Other have now qualified -- one of the foremost of which is the Zenith CH750 series, especially with the advent of the enlarged Super Duty airframe and the availability of the outrageously cool UnPanel... The total solar eclipse that passed across America Monday was truly a sight to behold. And what better way to witness this historical event than to view it from the air? Zenith Aircraft pilot Roger Dubbert went flying in the new Zenith STOL CH 750 Super Duty (with the Avilution UnPanel display) to experience the total solar eclipse that passed over the Zenith Aircraft factory in Mexico, Missouri at 13:13 Monday. The FAA has rejected an appeal by Santa Monica city leaders to push up the closing date of Santa Monica Airport (KSMO), citing AIP grants the city accepted back in 2003. The ruling came from Eduardo A. Angeles, the FAA’s associate administrator for airports. He upheld the decision made by Byron K. Huffman, acting director of the agency’s Office of Airport Compliance. Huffman said that the city accepted an AIP grant of $240,600 in August of 2003, and grant terms normally expire 20 years after they are accepted. That would put the earliest possible closing date of KSMO at August, 2023. The ruling came in response to a complaint filed by airport tenants and many national aviation groups fighting to keep the airport open. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne!!!
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