Finding a reliable and skilled paint shop is a daunting challenge for many aircraft owners. If you've had your aircraft painted within the past few years, the editors at "Aviation Consumer" magazine want to know about your experience. Please take this brief survey, and the staff will report on the results in an upcoming issue of "Aviation Consumer."

Landmark Aviation announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Ross Aviation, a network of fixed based operations located throughout the United States. The acquisition, which is subject to satisfaction of closing conditions, is expected to close during the second half of 2014.

In 1968, the Cardinal looked sleek and new. Four decades later, a fresh refurb keeps it looking that way.

Our survey of the news of the week uncovered two new releases; Conklin and de Decker's latest Aircraft Cost Evaluator and ASA's upgraded aviation dictionary app as well as the identity of this year's winners of the EAA/Daher-Socata scholarships and details of the first California Pilot Safety Tour.

A trip to the airport doesn't have to just be for pilots -- SocialFlight's listings include lots of opportunities to bring in new people and kids for an introduction to the diverse world of aviation. In Wisconsin, the Wausau Downtown Airport is hosting a Pilot for a Day event on Saturday. The curious can sign up for three hours of ground school and a chance to schedule a hands-on lesson in the airplane. In Texas, EAA's B-17G Flying Fortress will stop in Arlington next Tuesday, April 29, to sell rides and tours to all comers.

Not unexpectedly, just over a month after buying Beech Aircraft, Textron announced 750 job cuts at that company and at its Cessna division, according to the Washington Post.

A nonprofit organization that claims to have coordinated more than 1,400 aerial searches and found more than 300 missing persons using model aircraft equipped with a camera is suing the FAA over the FAA's definition of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

A Comp Air 8 aircraft carrying skydivers crashed in Finland on Sunday afternoon, killing eight people. The pilot and two skydivers were able to parachute to safety. The airplane was at about 10,000 feet when something went wrong -- some witnesses said parts of the aircraft appeared to detach before it began to descend, other reports cited possible engine trouble. The aircraft descended in a spin, according to witnesses, and was destroyed by fire on impact. "By Finnish standards, this is the most serious flight accident in decades," Ismo Aaltonen, an investigator with Finland's Safety Investigation Authority, said in a news conference.

Capt. Gregory McWherter, who served as Blue Angels commanding officer for two tours from 2008-10 and 2011-12, has been relieved of his duties due to "initial findings of an ongoing investigation into recent allegations of misconduct and an inappropriate command climate" at the Blue Angels during his command, the Navy said on Friday. McWherter had been serving as the executive officer of Naval Base Coronado in San Diego since last November.

NBAA has updated its guidelines for crew rest in business aviation and the new suggested limits reflect recent advances in scientific knowledge about how human beings react to and recover from fatigue.

Powering Imagination, a new project developed by Erik Lindbergh, announced this week it is partnering up with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to expand research into the development of electric propulsion systems for aircraft. As part of the partnership, students and faculty at the ERAU campus in Daytona Beach, Fla., will convert a Diamond HK36 motorglider to electric power. The airplane will be used jointly by both projects to "accelerate the growth of the electric flight industry," according to Lindbergh's news release.

The original owners of synthetic vision pioneer Chelton Flight Systems are now part of a group that has assumed control of the company and autopilot maker S-TEC Corporation.

The FAA has delayed for a year the implementation of much of its revision of rules governing helicopter operations to allow operators, and itself, time to adopt the many changes. The final rule was published Feb. 21 and was to take effect on Tuesday but it was apparently too soon for all involved.

Over the North Pacific in the middle of the night, we were catching up to a slower aircraft below us as we were coming up to a position-report waypoint. We listened out on the HF, and it was a MAC flight. He was obviously listening out as we gave our position report, and, shortly after, he came up on the air-to-air frequency. ... He asked: "Hey, what kind of an aircraft do you have with such a small amount of fuel?" ... We replied: "It's an A340 metric airplane, and the fuel is in kilograms." ... He said: "Oh. Now that makes sense." -- David Lamb, via e-mail

The first of six sites around the country for aerial testing of unmanned aircraft systems is now operational, the FAA said on Monday. Flight testing will begin at the North Dakota site the week of May 5. Data collected will "lay the groundwork for reducing risks and ensuring continued safe operations of UAS," said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. "We believe the test site programs will be extremely valuable to integrating unmanned aircraft [into the National Airspace System] and fostering America's leadership in advancing this technology."