Search Results for: general aviation inc

Back in 1997, Steve Jobs challenged the world to “Think Different,” as he and his team of engineers invented a line of desktop computers that turned the industry on its head. Jobs was not only an engineer, he was a visionary, able to marry his intense quest for innovation with forward-thinking creativity. Great engineers can […]

If you’ve ever attended the Stihl National Championship Air Races at the Reno-Stead Airport west of Reno, Nevada, you know the event brands itself as “the fastest motorsport on earth,” with the slogan “fly low, fly fast, turn left.” Low and slow has never factored into the equation since the races began decades ago. But […]

The path to becoming a professional pilot has evolved a lot in the past eight years, following the implementation of new regulations and testing guidance governing how pilots of transport-category aircraft obtain certification. While it’s possible to fly professionally with a certificate for commercial single-engine operations, most pilots intending to fly for the airlines, commuter […]

More than 72 years have passed since the Cessna 172 first appeared on engineering drawing boards in Kansas, and the airplane still figures into the training plan for many pilots who learn to fly around the world. While the powerplant options continue to evolve, with the JT-A burning Jet-A, and an electric-powered version in the […]

The Citation Jet Pilots Association met in Colorado Springs, Colorado, this past September, and I went to see what it was all about. With a recently purchased 19-year-old CJ1 in our hangar, we finally qualified for membership. Going required a certain suspension of skepticism on my part. I am not a natural joiner of groups. […]

No one embraces the winter quite like those of us from northern climes—and those who live topside of the US-Canada border perhaps most of all. Rather than cursing the snow and short days, certain pilots revel instead in the transformation that snow makes, turning a lake or river into a runway, and eliciting engine performance […]

Harbour Air flew a De Havilland Beaver on floats on pure electric power for the first time in early December as the first step in its program to fully electrify its fleet of historic seaplanes. The Vancouver-based airline serves dozens of communities off British Columbia’s west coast and most of its flights are 30 minutes or less so the company believes new advances in battery technology will enable it to safely carry out the dozens of commercial passenger flights it operates every day. The December flight was a demonstration of the motor in a plane near its gross weight with batteries and lasted about 15 minutes. CEO Greg McDougall lifted the almost-70-year-old airframe off the Fraser River and later reported that it flew like a Beaver. He said newer, lighter batteries that are becoming available will allow room for passengers and cargo and the savings on maintenance and downtime will ultimately pay off.

Everyone talks about the weather but no one ever does anything about it. (Stop me if youve heard that before.) The same could be said about managing the risk of general aviation. We-both this magazine and the industry as a whole-spend a lot of time preaching to pilots about the mechanics of understanding weather forecasts, determining if the aircraft is capable, and making honest evaluations of our own performance in considering how and when to conduct a flight. But once we identify the need to mitigate a risk, we sometimes have little space left over to describe the tools we can use. Lets try to fix that.

It’s a rare pilot indeed who learns to fly in a single-engine airplane and never dreams of jumping into a larger, sleeker machine that carries more people, flies faster and farther, and of course, is outfitted with all the latest electronic navigation and communications gear. For pilots able to climb that ownership ladder—often men and […]

The annual Helicopter Association International Heli-Expo will take place in Anaheim, California, from January 27 to 30, 2020. Several new aircraft, plus avionics and other features, are set to debut at the show, which covers more than 1 million square feet of space and 700-plus exhibits. The event kicks off on January 27 with pre-show […]