Mark Phelps

The U.S. Air Force is officially on board the iPad bandwagon, with a $9.36 million contract for up to 18,000 of the Apple tablets. Between savings on printing and distributing charts and aircraft manuals, coupled with fuel savings, the Air Force Mobility Command estimates the iPads will save $5.7 million per year over the next […]

The promise of carbon fiber’s great strength and low weight has never been fully realized, at least when compared with aluminum. But a research project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology may be on the verge of a breakthrough that could deliver on that potential. It has long been known that carbon fibers coated with […]

It can be tough to get a flying club off the ground, and that’s why a group known as Ground Effect Advisors is addressing the problem. Today, GEA announced that Zachary Piech of Wilmington, North Carolina has won $3,500 in donated products and services to help launch his flying club, Cape Fear Flyers. GEA will […]

Back in another era when flying was expensive and only the very wealthy could afford Wacos, Stinsons and Travel Airs, a new class of low-cost, low-power airplanes lowered the financial bar for aircraft ownership. With newly developed engines in the 50 hp range, lightweight Cubs, Taylorcrafts and Aeroncas brought flying within range of a whole […]

In a logical extension of the “those things just about fly themselves” line of thinking, a European study is exploring the possibility of single-pilot airline operations. Launched in January, the $40 million, 42-month research project is called ACROSS, an acronym for “Advanced Cockpit for Reduction of Stress (and workload).” The research is funded, in part, […]

The Nextant 400XTi, Nextant Aerospace’s remanufactured business jet, was on display at this week’s EBACE show in Geneva, and the company came away with orders for three to be used as air ambulances in India. In addition, Aviators (the name of the Indian company) will become the exclusive sales agent for Nextant in India. The […]

Did you ever wish you could record your flights so you could show your non-flying friends how great they are? Or show your hot pilot friends how good your landings really are? Maybe you’re a student (or on a recurrent training flight – in which case, you’re a student, like it or not) and would […]

Cessna CEO Scott Ernest updated the European market on Cessna’s current business state during the EBACE show in Geneva. Since it’s primarily a business aviation venue, he started with a report on the developmental jets in the company design pipeline. He said, “The Garmin 3000-equipped Citation M2 is right on track,” adding that the new […]

The U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center is warning that solar X-flares could disrupt satellite communications systems next week, including GPS and ADS-B signals. A series of X-flares emanated from the sun this week, but Earth escaped the direct impact of the flares. Experts are concerned that next week’s flares could be more problematic. X-flares are […]

Oshkosh, Wisconsin-based kit manufacturer Sonex has taken an NTSB recommendation to heart by developing a transition training program for pilots who are building Sonex kits or purchasing airplanes completed by someone else. The NTSB released results last year of a study showing that type-specific training in amateur-built aircraft could improve safety in that segment. Sonex […]