Pia Bergqvist

A rare all-female crew from the 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron (EARS) recently completed an aerial refueling flight in a KC-10 Extender over southwest Asia. “It wasn’t about doing a ‘first,’ although this is rare,” said Lt. Jen Carter, KC-10 pilot in the 908th EARS. “We usually have no more than two females on any […]

Five days of wind tunnel testing for the Stratos 714 very light personal jet (VLPJ) have been completed at the University of Washington Aeronautical Laboratory (UWAL) in Seattle, Washington. More than 90 tests were conducted on a one-fifth-scale aluminum, polycarbonate and composite model of the single-engine jet design.** ** Engineers are still analyzing the data […]

When I was learning to fly, I had a wonderful flight instructor. He was great at teaching ground school, explaining what was going on in the cockpit and talking me through each maneuver. There was only one problem. He talked too much. He talked so much that during my first solo, the strangest sensation was […]

(September 2011) _The recently released _Together We Fly, Voices from the DC-3 by Julie Boatman Filucci is a collection of stories from a variety of people who were touched by Donald Douglas’ hugely successful design. The focus of the book is “why the DC-3 meant so much to so many and why it changed the […]

Are touch-and-goes a good idea during flight training? William F. Ball_ has been an active flight instructor for 30 years and a designated pilot examiner (DPE) for 21 years. He conducts testing and certification activities for all FAA certificates and ratings. He has given more than 8,000 hours of flight instruction and is currently an […]

The incredibly popular PA-28 Cherokee line was launched in 1961, but the 180 horsepower engine was not introduced until the 1963 models. This configuration was later to become the Piper PA-28-180 and PA-28-181 Archer. While the Cherokee 180 model underwent various upgrades through the years, its basic design has remained remarkably unchanged — a tribute […]

Two Weeks to Taxi was kicked off in late 2005. The program began in 2004 where only the airframe was completed in 18 days. But the program quickly evolved, and through an ingenious feat of organization and efficiency, customers can now come to the factory and get their airplanes ready to taxi during a quick […]

If you spend a day at the airport in Mojave, California, chances are good that you’ll see some special airplanes and helicopters rolling out from the National Test Pilot School, located adjacent to the control tower. To provide a wide range of aircraft for its students while keeping the cost of aircraft acquisition reasonable, NTPS […]

The FAA has awarded supplemental type certification for the Hawker 800XPR. The STC, available exclusively from Hawker Beechcraft Global Customer Support (GCS), is an upgrade package for the 800XP that includes Honeywell‘s TFE731-50R engines and Hawker winglets. Honeywell’s TFE731-50R engines are capable of producing 5,000 pounds of thrust, but have been flat rated to 4,660 […]

Cessna has delivered its 100th 162 Skycatcher to Sporty’s. The airplane is the 2012 Sporty’s Sweepstakes prize and will be delivered to a Sporty’s Pilot Shop customer at the company’s annual fly-in next May. “We are thrilled that Cessna reserved this milestone Skycatcher for Sporty’s Sweepstakes,” says Sporty’s president and CEO Michael Wolf. The two-place […]