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Diamond Aircrafts single-engine turboprop prototype completed its maiden flight in January, in Austria. The DA50-JP7 seats seven and is powered by a fuel-efficient Ukrainian-built 465 hp AI-450S engine. Diamond plans to also offer a Tundra version of the aircraft, featuring beefed-up wheels and landing gear. Certification is expected in the second half of 2016. Also in January, Nextant Aerospace announced the first test flight of its remanufactured G90XT design. The project, which launched about a year ago, matches a refurbished King Air C90A with the new GE H75 engine, a Garmin G1000 cockpit, electronic engine controls, dual-zone air conditioning, and many more upgrades. Certification and first delivery are expected in the second quarter of this year.

Research by the General Aviation Joint Steering Committee, a group chartered by the FAA to improve GA safety, attributed 40 percent of fatal GA accidents to loss of control in flight. That is more than the next six causes, combined. Many of these accidents resulted from inadvertent stalls and spins. The groups top recommendation for improving safety was installing AOA indicators in GA airplanes.

When it comes to flying a wing, only one thing matters-angle of attack (AOA). For airplanes, we add power to that wing and get performance. While power is accurately displayed via engine instruments, AOA is an enigma fleetingly glimpsed through airspeed and attitude. The books state that airplanes can stall at any attitude, yet our training confuses that information. Practicing stalls at one G teaches us that stalls occur when a certain attitude is reached. The results are troubling.

But, just slapping an AOA indicator on the glareshield wont magically solve these problems and make you a better or safer pilot. Strategic planning and tactical techniques enable AOA systems to effectively battle lift.

After we’ve been flying for a while as pilots, things get a lot easier. Our hands and eyes begin to go to the right places in the cockpit naturally, and the body just knows how much response the airplane will make to each control movement. We become comfortable with aviation communications. We get to know […]

Bizjet rivals Gulfstream and Embraer are squaring off for aviation’s most coveted prize: the Collier Trophy, which recognizes the greatest annual achievement in aerospace in America. The 2014 award pits the Gulfstream G650 against the Embraer Legacy 500, two of the latest fly-by-wire jets to enter the market. The G650 was a Collier Trophy finalist […]

“Gentlemen, start your engines!” The crowd cheered as Mitchell Municipal Airport reverberated with the sound of 50 piston power plants rumbling to life. Dozens of slick homebuilt airplanes with flashy paint jobs and neatly applied race numbers taxied in a long line to the runway. “Race 38, cleared for takeoff,” boomed the loudspeaker, and a […]

While spending time in transit, whether on a general aviation airplane or a commercial airliner, an increasing number of people are expecting to add to their potential productivity by having the availability of Wi-Fi. As a result, Routehappy, a company that provides information about airline services, has added new data regarding the availability and quality […]

Todays market-leading EFB software offers a much richer feature set than was available even two years ago. One of the driving factors is improved, faster hardware from the usual suspects in smartphones and tablets-Moores Law in action. Another is ADS-B INs free traffic and weather data, which has helped drive the EFB-app market. A third is increased availability and use of electronic attitude and heading reference systems (AHRS), which leverage the miniaturization and proliferation of related sensors developed for the commercial semi-conductor market. These are the same sensors that have revolutionized the drone or unmanned aerial vehicle market, a whole nuther topic. And developers keep coming up with innovative software.

Alone, I stood in the cordoned area looking at the remains of an F-16s left main gear wheel rim. A whirlwind Safety Investigation Board notice two days before placed me in this hangar with a table full of junk; a damaged F-16 sat behind me on jacks. Quietly, I contemplated the pieces, methodically shifting broken metal on a table until I had a deformed, but complete, F-16 main gear rim. Within an hours time, Id arranged the tire bits around the junk rim. Three days ago these were in airworthy condition.

Nearly two years have passed since Aviation Safety introduced the concept of gadget flight rules (GFR) in the December 2013 issue. The original article examined using non-certified gadgets-personal electronic devices running appropriate software-to salvage a flight when your certified instruments fail. The conclusion was, yes, gadgets can provide backup, but the user must understand the novel ways they can help or hinder flight safety. Put another way, gadgets are only as good as our ability to use them; a safe pilot must know and understand their capabilities and limitations as well.

I read Zero-Zero Departures in your December 2014 issue with great interest. Like the author, I have heard over the years many of the same comments about zero-zero departures. They are risky, stupid, crazy, a death-wish, etc. While most of these comments largely are overstatement, unlike the author, I do agree with the naysayers: A zero-zero departure is riskier than a missed approach. The risk is in the first 200 feet the author with a wave of his pen dismisses.