Muslims have Mecca, Jews have the Western Wall and Christians have the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The aviator’s holy site is First Flight Airport (KFFA) containing the Wright Brothers Memorial. The memorial is a 60-foot granite pylon sculpture sitting on a star-shaped base at the top of a lush green hill. It’s the place […]
(October 2011) Shortly after retrieving credentials at the media counter, I glanced at my BlackBerry display. The time was 0830. Good deal. I had an hour of free time to wander around the nooks and crannies of EAA AirVenture before the scheduled arrival of the 787. After concluding that I really didn’t need to agonize […]
Aviation groups have come out in unified opposition against an Obama Administration proposal to begin charging a $100-per-flight fee to corporate jets and other turbine-powered airplanes that use U.S. air traffic services. About two-thirds of the ATC system is paid for by aviation excise taxes, including taxes on airline tickets and aviation fuel. Last year […]
__One of the things I love best about airplanes is their back stories. While the **Embraer Legacy 650** is a brand-new airplane, its story stretches back 30 years to when the Brazilian company first decided to start building airliners. My personal tour of the cockpit of the Embraer Legacy 650 immediately reminded me of the […]
While the name Daher-Socata is new, the roots of the company can be traced back to the beginnings of man’s adventure with the airplane, starting 100 years ago under the name Morane-Saulnier. Over the last century, the company has developed 94 models and produced more than 17,000 aircraft. It also participated in many aviation firsts: […]
(August 2011) When the Brouhaha erupted over air traffic controllers dozing off on duty I couldn’t help wondering if it’s really important to have humans manning control towers at all hours of the day and night, even at places like Reno and Dulles. Do people have any idea how many airports routinely and safely accommodate […]
(August 2011) Just after 11 o’clock on a chilly San Francisco morning, Jan. 18, 1911, a 24-year-old civilian demonstration pilot named Eugene Ely coaxed his 50 hp Curtiss pusher biplane into the sky, made a wide circle over San Francisco Bay and set down on the deck of the anchored U.S. Navy armored cruiser USS […]
Until recently, Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs) were typically thought of as large computer devices mounted in the cockpits of high-end jets and airliners. They usually relied on a permanent mounting fixture, and needed to be hard-wired into the aircraft’s electrical system. Once installed, these EFBs provided electronic charts, moving map displays and weather in the […]
(March 2010) — The girlfriend of a student pilot, eager to see how his flying skills were coming along — he had recently soloed — arranged to accompany him and his instructor on a flight. They took off in a 172 on a beautiful June evening. She was sitting behind her boyfriend, who was in […]
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