Mark Phelps

Though his racing suit is devoid of sponsors’ patches, Jeff Bloch has built 13 racers over the years — but none quite like this one. The shiny aluminum race “car” is actually the fuselage of a 1956 Cessna 310 light twin, mated to the chassis of a 1987 Toyota minivan. Bloch (known as “Speedycop”) and […]

Aviation enthusiasts have been opening the video link of “Lainey’s First Airplane Ride” like it was money from home. While it’s tough to match the infectious enthusiasm of a six-year-old, try this one on for size. Born a few years before Lainey — in 1950 — Livingston Taylor is an accomplished singer-songwriter and professor at […]

Four men, including two inmates, face some two dozen charges in connection with a daring helicopter prison escape from the Saint-Jérôme Detention Centre about 20 miles northwest of Montreal. On Sunday, two accomplices posed as tourists and chartered a Robinson R44 helicopter from Mont Tremblant, about 30 miles north of the prison. After takeoff, they […]

In the current economy, when any industry comes under negative public scrutiny, one surefire reaction from proponents is to promise it will create new jobs. Apparently to counter growing negative publicity over the increase use of drones, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) has done exactly that, releasing a study – one it […]

Able Flight is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping wounded veterans and other disabled people learn to fly. Sennheiser, Embraer and Signature Flight Support are sponsoring a benefit evening for Able Flight on Saturday April 20 at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida, near Orlando. Guests will be able to tour Kermit Weeks’ aviation […]

If this catches on, there will be jokes about adding a line on fuel order forms: “Do you want fries with that?” Last week, four members of the Paramus (New Jersey) Flying Club flew a Cessna 182 from Rhode Island to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, using a 50-50 mix of biofuel and jet-A. The biofuel, […]

From virtual flight to reality, eight students and their science teachers will travel to the Glasair factory to build a pair of Sportsman kit planes. The General Aviation Manufacturers Association is teaming with BuildAPlane to conduct a nationwide competition for the slots. Teams of students can compete by designing their own aircraft, using free “Fly […]

At this week’s Heli-Expo show in Las Vegas, AgustaWestland introduced an unmanned “technology demonstrator” version of an electric-powered tiltrotor. Far from ready for production, the “Project Zero” aircraft was fabricated and flown in six months by the Italian company’s Advanced Concepts Group. Though no plans for a manned version were mentioned in the company press […]

The old show-biz phrase “Break a leg” isn’t so funny for New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman. The 45-year-old fractured his right leg and dislocated his ankle on Monday on a tandem parachute jump with the U.S. Army Golden Knights display team. The accident happened on Cashman’s second jump of the day, in support […]

The Solar Impulse has arrived from Switzerland at Moffett Field, California — though not under its own solar power. The revolutionary airplane arrived in a crate, and the Solar Impulse team is now working to reassemble it for a planned four-stop flight across the United States this summer. The Solar Impulse has a 205-foot wingspan, […]