Pia Bergqvist

Cold and flu season is upon us and many of you may be suffering with severe coughing or sneezing both day and night. Winter is also the time of year that presents the least times available for flying, with cruddy weather conditions being the norm. But if you get one of those rare, CAVU days, […]

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2016) this week in Las Vegas, a Chinese company named EHang introduced the first publicly announced unmanned aircraft designed to carry a passenger. The company calls its Ehang 184 an Autonomous Aerial Vehicle, or AAV for short, and it is designed for short hops at low altitudes. The all-electric […]

About a year ago, car service giant Uber began offering on-demand helicopter rides occasionally at certain locations around the country. This week the service, named UberChopper, is available in Las Vegas as part of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2016) through local helicopter operator Maverick Helicopters. You may imagine yourself traveling on an UberChopper from […]

The FAA has completed the beta test phase of its UAS operations app B4UFLY, which aims to educate operators about where they can and cannot fly their unmanned aircraft. The app can now be downloaded from the iTunes store and Google for use on a variety of smartphones and tablets. While any mode of the […]

Last week the Museum of Flying at Santa Monica Airport celebrated the 80th anniversary of the first flight of the Douglas DC-3, a flight that took off from SMO on December 17, 1935. A ceremony was held at the newly renovated DC-3 monument right outside the main entrance to the museum. The monument was first […]

The drone industry is booming and small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) may become one of the most popular Christmas presents this year. Yesterday the FAA’s new drone registration rules kicked in, requiring all people flying an sUAS between 0.55 lbs and 55 lbs to register their aircraft. If you are flying a heavier drone or […]

If you’ve been looking for an airplane that fits a tight budget, the Merlin PSA may be just what you need. Lakeland, Florida-based Aeromarine LSA says the one-seat Experimental Amateur-Built (A-EB) airplane can be put together at the company’s facilities in about two weeks at the very light price point of $34,900. After that, all […]

The Senate has passed the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 (PBR2), moving the much-anticipated third-class FAA medical reform bill one step closer to reality. The news came only days after the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation approved the bill. The new medical requirements, should the bill pass the House, would ensure most pilots […]

A sad accident happened at the Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, India, that should remind us all about the dangers of getting too close to an operating aircraft engine. An Air India employee was sucked into the engine of an Airbus A319 and died from the injuries sustained from the spinning jet-engine blades. According […]

The National Park Service conducted a series of tests last week to determine the amount of noise produced by electric-powered aircraft and compared them to the noise levels produced by conventional aircraft. Aero Electric Aircraft Corporation’s Sun Flyer overflew the Centennial Airport (KAPA) just south of Denver while representatives from the National Park Service gathered […]