Stephen Pope

Robinson Helicopter Co. is introducing glass cockpit choices for the R22, R44 and R66 models based around an Aspen Avionics EFIS package paired with optional Garmin GTN 600/700 touch-screen navigators. The basic cockpit includes an Aspen primary flight display and multifunction display that interface with several optional components, including Garmin GTR 225B comm radio, GMA […]

The latest software update for Garmin’s G500 and G600 cockpits is now available and includes a number features that are specific to certain airframes and installations. Here’s a rundown of all the changes, available now as a free software upgrade: · With the latest software, Garmin says many TBM 700/850 models with a G600 flight […]

The FAA’s recent announcement that it is going to make the installation of angle-of-attack indicators in light general aviation airplanes as easy as possible is an incredible development. Why would the FAA reduce the certification barriers of a flight-critical instrumentation system? The answer is simple: AOA indicators are long overdue in general aviation airplanes, and […]

Dusty Crophopper and his flying friends are returning to the big screen this summer in a sequel to the hit Disney movie Planes. This time Dusty shifts gears from air racing to aerial firefighting in Planes: Fire & Rescue. In the sequel, due to hit theaters July 18, Dusty joins forces with veteran fire and […]

Pilots have been grumbling about a variety of new FAA policies of late, but not this one. The agency yesterday introduced guidance for makers and installers of angle of attack (AOA) indicators aimed at streamlining the approval process and in turn making it simpler and less expensive to add the safety devices to small airplanes. […]

Talk about a contact high. Pop star Justin Bieber allegedly filled the cabin of his chartered Gulfstream IV with so much pot smoke that the pilots had to don their oxygen masks for fear of breathing in the thick haze. And the troubled teen could get a lot more than a slap on the wrist […]

Some intriguing names are on the short list for the 2013 Robert J. Collier Trophy after the National Aeronautic Association this week announced a field of nine contenders for the coveted prize. The nominees include Pratt & Whitney’s PurePower geared turbofan engine, the P-8A Poseidon airplane in development by Boeing for the U.S. Navy, the […]

When Felix Baumgartner stepped out of his Red Bull capsule and began his record freefall 24 miles above the planet, we collectively held our breath. Within 42 seconds, the intrepid adventurer had reached a top speed of 843.6 miles per hour, becoming the first human to break the speed of sound without flying in a […]

Ice fishermen on Mille Lacs Lake in Minnesota will have to find a new way to quench their thirst after the FAA recently put the kibosh on beer delivery by drone. Local brewery Lakemaid had been testing a drone delivery system to airlift cases of beer to ice-fishing shacks on the lake north of Minneapolis […]

A Rockwell 690C Commander on its second approach to Nashville’s John C. Tune Airport early Monday evening crashed next to a packed YMCA, killing all four people on board. Nobody on the ground was hurt. The Aero Commander, N840V, had departed Great Bend Municipal Airport in Kansas for the planned 2 hour, 15 minute flight, […]