Rob Mark

Skydiving operators would like to carry as many people aloft for a single jump as possible—while observing the aircraft’s weight limits. However, the FAA has issued an important safety alert for pilots—20013—warning operators of a possibly overlooked hazard when using aircraft that are certified with two control wheels, such as single-engine Cessnas. In most skydiving […]

Cirrus Aircraft’s new VisionAir program plans to make the ownership of a new single-engine Vision Jet a complete turnkey operation designed especially for people who might be new to owning a turbine aircraft, or might not even be pilots. But VisionAir is more than simply covering the tricky parts of aircraft ownership like maintenance and […]

When Southwest Airlines reported its quarterly earnings last week, the company included a $428 million payment received from Boeing to cover a variety of ongoing issues surrounding the grounded 737 MAX aircraft. The MAX has been grounded since March 2019 following two accidents, one in 2018, the other in 2019. Southwest had already accepted delivery […]

Virgin Galactic Holdings on August 3 announced—in collaboration with Rolls-Royce as the powerplant provider—the creation of a new Mach 3 commercial aircraft. Virgin Galactic Holdings includes a spaceship manufacturing arm. There’s no small amount of irony that Virgin Galactic made its announcement of its futuristic travel machine within hours of sister Virgin empire organization, Virgin […]

When aviation aficionados around the world learned in May that AirVenture 2020 was cancelled, it sent an anxiety-fueled shock wave through the industry that confirmed the COVID-19 virus was going to be with us at least through the summer months. What would the tens of thousands of people who normally trek to Oshkosh do with […]

As infections from the COVID-19 virus continue to climb just about everywhere on Earth, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) last week shared some more unexpected news that’s affecting some US pilots traveling abroad through Hong Kong, which FedEx uses as a major hub. In a news release, ALPA said, “Recently, three COVID-19 positive asymptomatic […]

Hondo, Texas-based Texas Aircraft Manufacturing and British lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery technology company OXIS Energy, said they are jointly developing a high-wing, two-seat, all metal, fully-electric aircraft dubbed the eColt based on Texas Aircraft’s Colt S-LSA. In a news release, Texas Aircraft said, “The eColt will fill a growing demand for ecologically-friendly flight training airplanes, as […]

If you’ve ever flown into AirVenture, you understand well that it can be an emotional rollercoaster of excitement, fear and awe all rolled into just the leg from the Fisk reporting point until turning off the runway into the grass after landing. Each year the control tower at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh helps turn […]

In the early hours of August 19, 2019, a tropical wave appeared off the west coast of Africa. A few days later, it began showing signs of organization and cyclonic movement inside a small low-pressure area. By August 24, the system had grown large enough to qualify as an official tropical depression centered about 700 […]

French aircraft maker Daher says new TBM 940s rolling off the assembly line in Tarbes, France, will now be equipped with the HomeSafe system, which allows the aircraft to automatically locate a suitable airport and conduct an instrument approach to a safe landing should the pilot become incapacitated. The new HomeSafe system—that simultaneously received both […]