Mark Phelps

Citing an increasing accident rate among air-ambulance operators over the past decade or so, on Tuesday the FAA proposed new, stricter regulations for all helicopter operators. EMS and air ambulance flights combine several risk elements, including critical missions likely to take place in poor weather, financial pressure for private companies to fly missions when their […]

“Now, the sky is no longer the limit,” exclaimed Virgin Galactic’s Sir Richard Branson with his customary overflowing enthusiasm. He spoke Sunday at the Mojave (California) Air and Space Port on the occasion of the first free flight of VSS Enterprise (nee SpaceShipTwo), the commercial spacecraft designed to take fare-paying passengers to the edge of […]

The National Business Aviation Association takes center stage next week at the Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta. For three days (Oct. 19-21) more than 25,000 business aviation professionals and many others will congregate for more than 100 seminars, classes, forums and other educational events. Attendees will walk the display halls to take in […]

Veteran combat airmen based in England during World War II understood the need to be prepared for the worst. Crash landing or bailing out over enemy territory meant a long hike home, at best. So they gave careful thought to carrying whatever it might take to find their way back to friendly territory. Without anyone […]

A Gulfstream IV ran off the end of Runway 6 at Teterboro (New Jersey) Airport last Friday. But unlike a Challenger on an aborted takeoff in 2005, the Gulfstream stopped short of the airport fence. The Challenger from five years ago plowed through the fence, across a busy highway and embedded itself in a warehouse. […]

A new smartphone application has aviation security experts chilled. Available through UK software company Pinkfroot, the Plane Finder AR (for “augmented reality”) app allows the user to simply point a camera phone at an aircraft — on the ground or in the air — and access its broadcast ADS-B data, including tail number, altitude, speed, […]

A The Wichita Eagle is reporting that the state of Kansas has agreed to financial incentives that would keep “the vast majority” of Hawker Beechcraft Corp. (HBC) jobs in Wichita. The deal is contingent on the company reaching an agreement with its employees’ union. Earlier reports indicated HBC was seriously considering moving, along with 6,000 […]

Of course, icing is possible year round — even at Bonanza altitudes. On an August flight from Quebec a couple of years ago, I did pick up some noticeable rime icing when passing through cloud tops at 9,000 feet. But as we get to the bottom quarter of the calendar, icing becomes more of a […]

Robert Goyer has assumed the lead position at Flying Magazine, replacing Michael Maya Charles as Editor-In-Chief. Maya Charles, who replaced J. Mac McClellan at the top spot in July, is expected to return to his original interests as an aviation writer and photographer. Goyer has been with Flying since 1994, most recently as executive editor. […]

Last week, Eurocopter took the wraps off its developmental X3 helicopter, with a claimed top speed of 220 knots. The “speed barrier” for conventionally designed rotorcraft has always been defined by the speed differential between the advancing rotor blade(s) set off by that of the retreating blade(s). The faster the aircraft flies, the greater the […]