The U.S. government has paid $261,000 to pull a long-retired Lockheed JetStar from an Arizona boneyard and repaint it for static display. As you might have guessed this isn't just any JetStar, nor is it just any paint job. The JetStar was used to shuttle former President Lyndon Johnson between Washington and his ranch in the Texas Hill Country. The shiny new-looking 13-seat aircraft will be put on permanent display at the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park at Johnson's ranch near Stonewall, Texas. The official dedication is Aug. 27.
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The President is going on vacation, and that means 10 days of disruption for the busy GA operations around Martha's Vineyard. Temporary flight restrictions (PDF) go into effect Thursday but, as of late Tuesday, the FAA didn't know exactly when. The agency is warning pilots to check NOTAMs before flying in the area at any time beginning Thursday. That's advice a floatplane pilot flying in the Seattle area could apparently have used Tuesday as he blundered into a TFR around Boeing Field for the president's whistlestop visit to the city. The Associated Press quoted Laura Joseph, a passenger on a Cessna 180 flown by Lee Daily, as saying the pilot was unaware of the TFR and landed at a seaplane base on Lake Washington that was within the TFR. While TFR violations go largely unnoticed these days, everyone in Greater Seattle heard about this one.
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The pilot profession and aviation in general has taken some knocks in the past couple of years but industry officials say the future is bright for those who want a career in the cockpit. FltOps.com is holding its annual Global Pilot Career Conference and Job Fair Aug. 28 at the Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway hotel, and hundreds of young people looking to break into the business and more experienced pilots looking for a change are expected to attend. There will also be at least eight air carriers who are actively recruiting in attendance and accepting resumes. A number of flight training institutions will also be on hand.
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Embraer Aircraft will take the home field advantage Thursday and unveil the first Legacy 650 business jet at the seventh Latin America Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition in Sao Paulo. The reveal will happen at 1 p.m. on the first day of LABACE. The event, which has grown steadily in importance over its brief history as South America becomes a mainstay market for aviation, runs until Aug. 14 at Congonhas Airport. A media briefing will be held the day before outlining the progress of the program. The 650 is an updated and beefed-up version of the Embraer 600 and offers a 500-nautical mile increase in range over the 600. Most other business aircraft manufacturers will be at the show.
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