Search Results for: Lockheed

It’s easy to forget one of the reasons I became an airline pilot in this age of aviation technology that includes FMS, RVSM, ADS-B, RNAV/RNP, ACARS, VNAV and CAT III, plus the effects of 9/11, bankruptcy, retirement plan terminations, contentious contract negotiations and the normal stresses of a professional aviation career. Not that I completely […]

Watch out, Aerion. There may be some competition in the development of supersonic passenger airplanes in the not so distant future. NASA announced yesterday that it has awarded a $20 million contract to Lockheed Martin for the primary design of a commercially viable supersonic flight demonstrator aircraft. The ultimate goal is to produce a supersonic […]

The mako shark may not be the biggest, but it is the fastest and one of the most ferocious of all the shark species. Capable of traveling as fast as 60 mph over sustained distances, the mako has been known to spring surprise attacks on humans, though it doesn’t prefer human flesh. Its favorite food […]

While manned airplanes have been used to analyze hurricanes there are times when conditions are simply too severe for safe flight. These are perfect opportunities to launch an unmanned aircraft system. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is using a light UAS called Coyote for the job. Coyote is launched from a tube attached to […]

After over 18 years in development, Honda Aircrafts first airplane, a twin-engine single-pilot light jet, received FAA certification in December. When the FAA opened their drone registry in December, they succeeded in getting plenty of media attention, but they had less success getting the entire user community on board. In November, the SkiGull, Burt Rutans 47th (and last, he said) aircraft design flew for the first time, from a lake in Idaho. The one-of-a-kind two-seat seaplane is equipped to land on water, runways or snow. Private pilots can let their friends chip in for gas under the FAAs rules, but that doesnt mean they can advertise online to fill empty seats on a private plane and cost-share, the FAA has said. JetBlue announced in November it plans an ab-initio training program for its Embraer SA E190 crews.

The NTSB says general aviations loss-of-control accident rate is too high, and held a day-long Humans and Hardware forum on the issue in October, in Washington, D.C. As the FAA worked last year to develop new rules governing the use of small drones in the National Airspace System, a Google executive said the company plans to launch commercial drone home deliveries in 2017. NBAA called its 2015 convention, held in November in Las Vegas, enormously successful on a business and community level. A group of NASA engineers and private-sector partners working in California is creating an X-Plane demonstrator, based on a Tecnam 2006T, that they hope will prove the efficiency of using an array of small electric-powered propellers for general aviation aircraft. The nonprofit group working to get the B-29 Doc back in the air exceeded their Kickstarter goal, raising $159,151 from 1,007 backers, and said they now have the funds they need to complete the flight-test program. And Jet Pack Aviation, of Australia, introduced its lightweight jetpack with a flyby of the Statue of Liberty.

Many voices crowded the advisory frequency as I approached Paso Robles, but by the time I was on the 45 the other pilots had landed and silence reigned. I landed long on 19, turned off at the end, and found a parking spot at the end of a long line of visitors to the annual […]

I’m not proud to say it, but last winter got the best of this northern aviator. The face-numbing cold and monochromatic gloom wore at me until I just couldn’t take it anymore. The breaking point came on a brutally raw January morning as I attempted to preheat and start my Piper Pacer after it sat […]

Transport Canada has grounded Buffalo Airways, the Northwest Territories airline made famous for the past six seasons on TV’s “Ice Pilot NWT.” In a press release, the regulator said it is suspending Buffalo Airways operating certificate because of its “poor safety record.” The suspension took effect Monday at 11:59 p.m. “The department will not allow […]

Lockheed Martin’s Flight Service Stations are still open, but the services for pre-flight briefing and cockpit assistance are dwindling fast. The FSS now pushes for more pilot self-assistance as it is gradually being replaced by digital applications.