Search Results for: Lockheed

The Los Angeles basin stretches a hundred miles from the sparkling Pacific to the scrub-brush slopes of San Jacinto Peak. This sprawling plain of concrete and stucco is further bounded by the San Gabriel Mountains to the north and the Santa Anas to the south; these ramparts encompass 18 million souls and all the associated […]

We now have approved technical and operational standards for ADS-B equipment-but dont get too excited. This really means (among other things) that manufacturers can now move forward to develop conforming ADS-B hardware. The FAAs final rule on what will be required for GA equipage to fly in controlled airspace isnt due until April of this year. Compliance isnt required for another decade-provided the system is up and running by then.

The FAA handed over another $356 million to Lockheed Martin along with a three-year contract extension for running our automated flight service system. Lockheed Martin took over the AFSS function in 2005 and says the net result of the changes over the past five years is better, more efficient service, despite slashing the number of flight service stations and staff. Said Jim Derr, Lockheed Martin Flight Service Program Director, We are excited to have the opportunity to continue providing the most accurate and reliable flight service briefings available. We noted he didnt say, useful.

In October, Gulfstream announced it will add two new wide-cabin business jets to its line: the Gulfstream G500 and G600. The first G500 is already built, and taxied to the unveiling event in Savannah, Georgia. The company also revealed a 70-foot-long mockup of the G600, which it displayed a week later at the NBAA convention. Both jets carry up to 19 passengers in extra-wide cabins, and both can fly up to Mach 0.925, the same top speed as Gulfstreams G650 and G650ER. The cockpits feature active control sidesticks and touchscreen avionics. The G500 will start deliveries in 2018, with the G600 to follow a year later, the company said.

Generally I steer way clear of temporary flight restrictions, which means that I’m grounded any time the president is in town. And generally when the president is in town, I am aware of it days in advance. But recently, when President Obama was visiting the Los Angeles area, I had no idea until I was […]

Check out the 25 coolest aircraft according to Flying magazine’s editors.

It was late afternoon and time to fly home after a productive business meeting. Before heading to the airport, the pilot called Flight Service. Most of the significant weather was along a cold front just to the north of his east-west proposed route. The briefer mentioned some light snow showers were showing up on radar near the front. There were a few pilot reports of light to moderate icing, but all of them were associated with the weather to the north. The briefer alerted the pilot to an AIRMET for IFR conditions and mountain obscuration along a portion of his proposed route, but as of yet no en route advisories for structural icing had been issued.

We bought ice and Styrofoam chests at a Family Dollar store after leaving the Bourgeois Meat Market in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and packed them with crawfish boudin (sausage), headcheese and beef jerky. The boudin and headcheese (sounds gross but this stuff is a scrumptious pâté kind of thing) would be OK for a long time but […]

Fascination with creating the fastest airplanes has existed since the dawn of aviation. The first air races sprung up as early as 1909 and speed records quickly reached new highs, pushing aerodynamic engineers to reduce drag. As engine technology advanced, aircraft were designed around these new power plants, and over time the introduction of wind […]

Around 1950 the Air Force decided it needed a new trainer airplane. As you know, the Beech T-34 was the winner. My story comes from one of the airplanes that did not win. The Temco T-35 Buckaroo was a spinoff of the Globe Swift. Saudi Arabia ordered about 15 of the T-35As, armed, to be […]