Search Results for: wright

The practical test standards (PTS) spell out the requirements for successfully completing an FAA checkride for pilot certificates and ratings. They have been around for nearly 30 years and, while an improvement over the previous flight test guides, they did not fundamentally alter the manner in which the applicant demonstrates compliance with the regulations. The general aviation community and FAA are developing a new concept of airman testing that will be embodied in completely new airman certification standards (ACS). The ACS, when implemented, will require applicants to integrate their knowledge, skills and risk management proficiency to demonstrate to the examiner they can do more than just perform standard training procedures and maneuvers.

History is written by the victors, they say. They also say that the saddest words of tongue or pen are “It might have been!” And so, in view of the manifest sadness of history, let us pause to pay heed to what was not, and to give some honor to the vanquished. Our national love […]

It’s a debate that could ignite a feud between the North and South. This week Connecticut legislators passed a bill that includes a paragraph buried within its text stating that Gustave Whitehead and not the Wright Brothers should be recognized as the first to fly — at least north of the Tappan Zee Bridge. North […]

The crowd searched the picture perfect blue sky while in search of the planes that were somewhere above. The sound of airplanes approaching from behind caught their attention. Many turned just in time to see the three tiger-striped painted planes shoot overhead while one peeled slightly off and flew out of sight. Several people clapped, […]

A closer look at the Tiger Flight Foundation and some of their efforts to inspire and motivate the lives of youth and adults through aviation.

In a new program launched this season, Major League Baseball is donating tickets, meals and hotel rooms for wounded veterans to attend baseball games. Patient Air Lift Services (PALS), based on Long Island, New York, works with MLB.com on the “PALS for Patriots” program, arranging volunteer pilots to fly the veterans from Walter Reed Army […]

From paper charts to satellites in space, Flying’s Top 50 Navigation Innovations counts down to the single most noteworthy navigation innovation of all time.

Soon after the Wright brothers’ famous flight in 1903, the ways that we humans had previously devised to find our way around the globe proved obsolete, as, unbridled from the Earth, we flew over mountain chains and wide rivers that previously would have stopped us in our tracks. Without roads or rivers to guide us, […]

In a disturbing development in the increased focus on Gustave Whitehead possibly beating the Wright Brothers into the air by more than two years, Flying has learned that a monument to the flying pioneer in Bridgeport, Connecticut, apparently has been vandalized. Early flight enthusiast Andy Kosch heard about the damage and checked it out firsthand: […]

Each of us flies for different reasons. Many pilots started (or continue) as enthusiasts interested in airplanes as recreational machines. Others learned to fly as a prelude to a career in the cockpit. For many, aircraft primarily are a means of transportation for business or personal reasons. In fact, if I did not require an airplane for travel, I would not bother to fly any more. If you seek to use general aviation aircraft for travel, I believe a special approach to safety—implemented through targeted training and consistent flight operations—is required, especially if you are trying to meet any kind of schedule. Unfortunately, our training and operating procedures generally don’t prepare us for these flights. It is possible, however, to achieve high levels of safe utility, even with single-engine piston aircraft, if you employ a few simple techniques to achieve efficiency and reliability while managing risk.