Rob Mark

The Senate today confirmed Elaine Chao to be the next Secretary of Transportation. President Donald Trump nominated Chao on Nov. 29. She appeared shortly thereafter before a hearing of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to consider her nomination. In the weeks ahead, Chao will become immersed in the congressional focus on infrastructure […]

One of the aviation industry’s most popular podcasts, The Airplane Geeks, last week welcomed Flying magazine Editor-in-Chief Steve Pope to the show. Pope spent an hour engaging with the Geeks’ hosts, fueling passionate discussions about industry topics like United Airlines’ recent computer problems, tracking passengers moving through the airport, the search for MH370, ADS-B-capable satellites, […]

The U.S. Helicopter Safety Team, a collaborative effort of government and industry leaders focused on improving helicopter safety, this week announced 17 educational classes to run during the upcoming Heli-Expo in Dallas March 6-9. The USHST says the bumper list of educational seminars at Heli-Expo represents the largest number of individual workshops the group has […]

Gulfstream Aerospace and the Swiss Fédération Aéronautique Internationale confirmed last week the Savannah, Georgia, aircraft builder’s G280 super-midsize business jet set another FAI-sanctioned world speed record, this one between McClellan-Palomar Airport (CRQ) in Carlsbad, California, and Kona International Airport (HKO) in Kalaoa on the far west edge of the big island of Hawaii. The G280 […]

More than two dozen aircraft models across a wide range of aircraft builders, including Beechcraft, Grumman, Maule and Mooney, are now eligible to install Dynon flight displays, thanks to the supplemental type certificate created by the Experimental Aircraft Association in partnership with Dynon and the FAA. The number of Cessna and Piper aircraft eligible for […]

Action cameras, such as Garmin’s Virb Ultra 30, are all the rage today, when flight plans often include recording some of the in-flight action. Garmin hopes a new bundle of accessories specially designed for aviators will make shooting stunning HD footage easier than with earlier-generation cameras. The aviation package includes a stereo headset audio cable […]

The National Transportation Safety Board last week published its preliminary report — essentially a list of the facts gathered to this point — about the December 29, 2016, crash into Lake Erie of a Cessna Citation CJ4. The Part 91-operated jet disappeared into the dark waters of the lake about a minute after departing Cleveland’s […]

Think about all of the decisions a pilot makes every moment he or she is in command — choices that must fit together just so to ensure a safe flight. Sometimes the choices are simple, like correcting for a gusty crosswind in a light trainer. Other times they’re considerably more challenging, like successfully controlling an […]

Airbus, maker of airliners like the mammoth A380, also sees a market for smaller autonomous flying taxis using vertical takeoff and landing capabilities for short trips around big urban centers. The Airbus VTOL craft, carrying just a single person, would use environmentally friendly electric motors to spin the aircraft’s eight propellers. The eight propellers also […]

No matter where you look inside the U.S. Air Force, the shortage of pilots is an issue. For years it looked as if the shortage only affected the fighter pilot ranks, but even the supply of aviators for the Air Force’s transport arm, the Air Mobility Command, is running dry, according to the Air Force […]