Aviation News

Since adopting new standards of categorizing aircraft for their wake turbulence, Memphis International Airport has increased its operational capacity by an estimated 15 percent. Under a new FAA system called Recat (for “re-categorization”), the new standards refine how aircraft wake turbulence levels are categorized. This makes for significant differences in determining following distances on landing […]

If you practice the other kind of “IFR” flying (as in “I Follow Roads”) then you may have to start paying extra attention — and look out below. The Federal Highway Administration and the Georgia Department of Transportation have joined to study using drones to enhance highway safety. The pilotless vehicles would perform duties such […]

Just Aircraft out of Walhalla, South Carolina, is delivering a new short takeoff and landing version of its Highlander — the Highlander SuperStol. This new version has a modified wing design and new, beefier landing gear that allows the airplane to fly into short backcountry airstrips. Tundra tires up to 29 inches can be fitted […]

A new aircraft concept called the Aeroscraft completed what Mario Pantuso, Aeros business development, described as the “first float” this month. Pantuso said the initial flight-testing program has been conducted in a hangar and has proven the aircraft’s vertical takeoff and landing and hovering capabilities. The first flight outside the hangar is expected in the […]

Dynon Avionics has added data logging to its SkyView integrated glass panel avionics, an upgrade that allows users to record and store up to 150 hours of flight and engine data. Best of all, data logging is included in SkyView firmware Version 5.1, a free upgrade for SkyView owners. Data logging will be especially useful […]

Ecuador’s Mariscal Sucre International Airport, considered one of the most dangerous in Latin America because of its high altitude and boxed-in location in the center of crowded Quito, is closing next month to make way for a new international airport about 12 miles northeast of the city. Landing at Ecuador’s capital has long been considered […]

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said he plans to leave the Obama Administration as soon as a successor can be confirmed, a process that should take about two months. In an interview with the Associated Press, LaHood said he told President Obama a week after the November election it was time to move on but added […]

As related in the accompanying video, Gram Hill thought it would be fun to take his girlfriend for a flight last New Year’s Eve and watch the local fireworks from 1,200 feet. At around 11:15 p.m. local time, they took off from Craig Airport in his rented Cessna Skyhawk, circling his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. […]

A new look has been bestowed upon the Memphis Belle (The Movie), the B-17 Flying Fortress used as the platform for the 1990 movie Memphis Belle, a fictionalized depiction of the airplane’s final mission. The B-17 is still in service and is operated by the Liberty Foundation, which uses the airplane to educate the public […]

Viewers of Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show on Comedy Central are not accustomed to tuning in to learn about high-tech aviation developments. But in the episode linked here, Stewart conducts a lengthy (and amusing) discussion on unmanned flight with former F/A-18 Navy pilot “Missy” Cummings (callsign: “Shrew”), who is currently an associate professor of aeronautics […]