Search Results for: Lockheed

The National Aeronautic Association announced on Tuesday that the team behind the Mars Curiosity Rover will be awarded the 2012 Robert J. Collier Trophy. The award was given “…in recognition of the extraordinary achievements of successfully landing Curiosity on Mars, advancing the nation’s technological and engineering capabilities and significantly improving humanity’s understanding of ancient Martian […]

A half-inch-long crack in a turbine engine blade prompted the Pentagon to ground the fleet of 51 Lockheed Martin F-35 fighters on Friday, the latest black eye for the troubled and oft-delayed military jet program. Engineers at Pratt & Whitney planned to conduct a detailed examination of the turbine blade on the F135 engine as […]

A history of Collier awards for achievements that didn’t work out as planned. Plus, a look at this year’s nominations and a chance to vote for your favorite.

The Collier Trophy honors the outstanding achievement in aerospace during the previous year, and 2012, as you’ll see from these nominees, was a year of innovation for the ages. Also, a look at Collier awards for achievements that didn’t work out as planned.

The National Aeronautic Association has announced the finalists for the 2012 Collier Trophy, the industry’s highest honor, which recognizes the top achievement in aerospace during the previous year. While the committee has had some glaring misses in recent years, recognizing airplanes that would struggle to certification in at least two cases, the nominees this year […]

Airplane lovers looking for a new event to attend this summer can now mark their calendars for “The Gathering of Warbirds and Legends.” This inaugural event, scheduled to take place August 1-4 in Topeka, Kansas, is expected to become an annual gathering where historical airplanes, still in airworthy condition, will be on display. While “The […]

These Chinese aircraft look familiar, but they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

A new search and rescue (SAR) program called Enhanced Special Reporting Service (eSRS) is being tested in Alaska. The program uses GPS tracking devices in an effort to reduce SAR response times. Pilots on a VFR flight plan using GPS tracking devices such as SPOT and Spidertracks can participate in the program and additional devices […]

As more and more technology is welcomed into our formerly round-dial cockpits, many pilots have expressed growing frustration over the lingering need to do some things the old-fashioned way. In the new, high-tech cockpit, flat-panel screens, all-electronic flight instruments and portable, tablet-size computers with built-in GPS dominate our must-have lists. Along the way, these much-welcomed advances have helped simplify the pre-flight planning task. But much of the information we need for every flight remains stuck in the abbreviated, ALL CAPS format used when DC-3s and J3 Cubs were the cat’s meow. The notice to airmen (Notam) function is perhaps the best/worst example of how international regulatory agencies have failed leveraging new technologies to improve dissemination of flight-critical information. But now, thanks to an unlikely set of circumstances, an overhaul of the Notam system is underway. Here’s what’s going on, why and what you can expect.

Thursday, October 11, 2012, a floatplane capsizes in Glen Lake, New York. The two pilots that were in the aircraft escaped without injury. The local emergency services were activated. After ensuring the safety of the pilots, a volunteer dive team decided that they would flip the aircraft back over. After attempting unsuccessfully for many hours, […]