Jordan Sterrer submitted the following photo and note: “Foliage taken just south of Sebago Lake in Maine at an altitude of 2,500′ from a Cessna 172. Is there any prettier time to fly?”
The first shipboard aircraft landing and takeoff
Every time the pilot of a 16-ton F/A-18 Super Hornet plants the jet on the deck of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, an unbreakable thread of history stretches from that landing back over more than a century to the first shipboard landing.
The year was 1911. The Wright brothers’ celebrated accomplishment at Kitty Hawk was barely seven years earlier. Some observers in the U.S. Navy sensed the airplane would have a military application, but for the moment that application was largely unformed.
Airplanes and automobiles defined the new century, and those who were drawn to the mechanical marvels of either machine often crossed over and embraced the other. Eugene Ely first became a road race driver, chauffeur, and automobile salesman. When a Portland, Oregon, automobile dealer began selling Curtiss Pusher biplanes, the transition for Eugene Ely came quickly. [Read more…]
Imagining the possibilities of General Aviation in 2025
Since the basic designs of the most popular single-engine general aviation aircraft flying today are between 20 and 70 years old, the light piston-engine market segment is ripe for innovation, according to Rene Nardi, a 35-year aerospace veteran who is leading a team exploring the opportunities for revitalizing and expanding general aviation through the introduction of advanced technologies.
Nardi, who has a Ph.D. in aerospace propulsion and an MBA, shared his vision of what the next generation of light aircraft will look like during an education session, “General Aviation 2025,” at the 2018 National Business Aviation Association‘s Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) in Orlando, Florida.
Nardi predicted that disruptive automotive technologies will soon migrate to aviation, making four- to six-seat airplanes safer, simpler and more comfortable, thanks to the convergence of electrification, automation and autonomy. [Read more…]
Ranger Airfield’s Inaugural Raffle names a winner
Mark Schmid of New Jersey was the lucky winner of the inaugural Ranger Airfield Raffle when his ticket was selected on Oct. 7. He won a 1962 Cessna 150.
According to officials, 2,500 tickets were sold and more than $100,000 was raised to help preserve Ranger Antique Airfield. [Read more…]
iFly GPS adds Sketch Pad, Runway Advisor
DALLAS – Adventure Pilot’s newly released iFly GPS version 10.3 includes Sketch Mode and Runway Advisor. [Read more…]
Hands-On Aircraft Building Workshop comes to the DeLand Sport Aviation Showcase
For the first time, Zenith Aircraft Company is bringing its hands-on workshops to the DeLand Sport Aviation Showcase.
At the workshop, which runs Nov. 1-2, 2018, participants build their own Zenith Aircraft rudder assembly from a standard Zenith kit. On Nov. 3, Zenith staff and volunteers will provide hands-on projects and demonstrations at the Zenith Aircraft workshop tent at the showcase. [Read more…]
Collision with deer on takeoff damages landing gear
The pilot of the Raytheon Beech 58 reported that during takeoff, two deer ran onto the runway as the airplane became airborne and that he heard and felt one of the deer hit the left main landing gear. [Read more…]
Picture of the Day: Come on, I’m ready
Charles Marshall submitted the following photo of his Cessna 140 at his private airstrip at his farm in Missouri. “‘Come on, I’m ready’ is what my plane says to me,” he adds.
Flying the glaciers of the Rockies
By GARRETT FISHER
Sometime around the year 2000 while I was a relatively new pilot, living as a teenager in rural Upstate New York, a studious friend of mine mentioned a new scientific study that put the concept of glacial regression into the popular mainstream.
As soon as 2030, the glaciers in Glacier National Park would be gone due to continuous melting. [Read more…]
Study reveals drones pose increasing risks to aircraft
A new study from researchers at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has found that more than one in five drone flights pose a risk to manned aircraft.
From 2014 to 2018 the FAA recorded 6,117 reports of near encounters between manned and unmanned aircraft within the National Air Space.
Such close encounters are bound to increase, given the number of unregulated small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) in the air, according to the researchers. [Read more…]