Pia Bergqvist

It has been more than three decades since the first certified composite airplane, the Windecker Eagle, last took to the skies. But last week the restored single-engine retractable flew for the first time since an extensive restoration project began. Test pilot Len Fox was at the controls when the airplane lifted off Runway 28 at […]

It was a beautiful day. Light winds. Clear skies. Towering, snowcapped Rocky Mountain peaks surrounded the 9,000-foot runway at Eagle, Colorado, from which I was about to depart. I was at the controls of a Pilatus PC-12, a sizable single-engine turboprop built to carry thousands of pounds of people or gear. Today we were light. […]

Laughter, tears and many standing ovations filled one of HondaJet’s hangars at its headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina, as a huge crowd of onlookers celebrated the FAA type certification of the light jet. HondaJet employees and suppliers; federal, state, and city government officials; and media watched as a humbled Michimasa Fujino, president and CEO of […]

Former aerobatic champion and Red Bull Air Race winner Mike Mangold died over the weekend when his single-engine Aero L-39 crashed shortly after takeoff from the Apple Valley Airport (APV) in California. The FAA and NTSB are investigating the cause of the crash. To say that Mangold was an accomplished pilot is an understatement. He […]

The FAI World Air Games, essentially the Olympics of aerial sports conducted every four years in different parts of the world, are now in their second week in Dubai where the powered and glider aerobatic champions were crowned over the weekend. At the top of the podium for powered aerobatics was French pilot Olivier Masurel, […]

A loss-of-power incident is generally a survivable event as long as you keep your wits about you. One thing that could mean the difference between life and death is whether you leave the retractable gear up or down as you reach the point of your forced landing. While you and your airplane would be best […]

Robinson’s turbine-powered five-seat R66 helicopter has passed testing required by the FAA and Transport Canada to fly in snow conditions. Flying in falling or blowing snow has been prohibited per the R66 Pilot’s Operating Handbook, but with this recent successful test the restriction has been lifted. To qualify, the R66 had to perform in some […]

Before people were fortunate enough to have access to powered airplanes, pilots supported their flying addictions by taking off in basic open gliders. Even after the event of powered flight, people would fly gliders as it was a less expensive way to take to the skies. And the peace and quiet of powerless flight is […]

JetBlue Airways is considering a new training program to get pilots ready for the copilot and captain’s seats. The program would take pilot candidates with no previous experience and train them to become competent airline pilots. Rather than training in smaller, cost-effecting airplanes, most of the flight training would focus on airline related tasks, such […]

Space Center Houston is getting ready to open a whole new section called Independence Plaza. The interactive exhibit features a shuttle replica mounted atop the first shuttle carrier aircraft (SCA), NASA 905 — a modified Boeing 747. Visitors can go into the shuttle replica, which has been named Independence, and the SCA, which completed 223 […]