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."

Gulfstream set the tone for the Asian Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition Tuesday with the formal announcement of a $3 billion, 60-plane deal to supply G280, G450, G550 and G650 aircraft to Minsheng Financial Leasing.

Police in Springfield, Ohio, said a drone operator who was shooting video of a car crash on Saturday refused to give way to an approaching medical helicopter, and arrested him on a felony charge of obstructing official business. Authorities said firefighters and a sheriff's deputy both asked Kele Stanley to stop flying the drone because the helicopter was coming and he refused, according to The Associated Press. Stanley denies the charges and said he would have landed immediately if he knew the helicopter was en route.

Greater China's business aviation fleet almost doubled to 371 aircraft from 2011 to 2013 but even that world-leading growth rate has been severely hampered by government and regulatory roadblocks, according to a leading Asian aviation company.

Ten World War II veterans, age 89 and up, all of them former B-17 crewmembers, went for a flight in EAA's Boeing B-17G Aluminum Overcast on Monday afternoon, in Oshkosh, Wis. Chris Henry, who helps coordinate the annual B-17 tour for EAA, came up with the idea. He called it a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. "A plane that was built for war has brought these veterans and families together for such a special occasion," he said. "It's very gratifying to be able to help make this happen."

Even though the rules aren't published yet, streamlined cert is already being embraced.

ADS-B is now installed nationwide, the FAA said on Monday, although services won't be available at all air traffic facilities until 2019. "The installation of this radio network clears the way for air traffic controllers to begin using ADS-B to separate equipped aircraft nationwide," said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta in a statement. "It will also provide pilots flying aircraft equipped with the proper avionics with traffic information, weather data and other flight information." Of the 230 air traffic facilities across the country, 100 are currently using ADS-B to separate traffic, according to the FAA.

Years ago, working in the Delta radio shop, I had a VHF receiver tuned to an ATL tower frequency. Tower had an Eastern DC-9 go around twice. The second time, the DC-9 responded: "We can do this all afternoon if you like, but in a little while we are going to have to land and refuel." -- Lewis Linson, via e-mail

Textron Aviation doesn't agree but AOPA apparently thinks the Cessna 152 may be the trainer of the future and it has embarked on a "non-profit" project to see if it's right. AOPA Monday confirmed widespread rumors that it's refurbishing "several" 152s (we've heard three) by an undisclosed shop to see if affordable training aircraft can be pulled from the existing fleet and presumably have at least some of the modern bells and whistles available in modern aircraft.

The first autonomous combat drone for carrier operations is the winner of the 2013 Collier Trophy. The National Aeronautic Association bestowed what many consider aviation's top prize to the Northrop Grumman X-47B.

GAMA's Pete Bunce says EASA is moving so fast with regulatory reforms that it may have to slow down so the FAA can catch up.

Textron AirLand, LLC, a joint venture between Textron and AirLand Enterprises, LLC, announced that its prototype Scorpion has completed 50 hours of flight time since the start of flight testing in December 2013, including a recent demonstration of low-speed handling in formation with a Cessna 182.

The Balloon Federation of America is rejecting an NTSB recommendation that the FAA assume direct oversight of commercial balloon ride operations. Last week the NTSB recommended the FAA require all fly-for-hire balloon operations be covered by a Letter of Authorization as a means to improve safety.

The app revision adds chart coverage for Europe and weather coverage for Europe and Australia.

The Air Line Pilots Association is stepping to the defense of two pilots fired by their airline after they got lost over the barrens of the Canadian Arctic. ALPA says First Air "rushed to judgment" in firing the experienced pilots. First Air, which serves remote communities throughout the Arctic with gravel-runway-adapted Boeing 737-200s, said the pilots didn't follow the airline's navigation procedures when they wandered more than 150 miles off course on a flight from Iqualuit to Rankin Inlet.