When Discovery Wings went off the air earlier this year, many pilots went into mourning. Well, that can end now, because the Outdoor Channel just debuted a new show called “Wings to Adventure” that’s perfect programming for pilots. The show is the brainchild of Tom Gresham, a pilot, writer, producer and television personality who has […]
The race for sapce — in a Learjet?
What do you do with an old Learjet? If you’re George French and David Urie, you send it into orbit. French, who is president and CEO of Rocketplane Ltd., Inc. and Urie, the company’s vice president and program manager, are modifying Learjet 25 airframes as platforms for re-usable spacecraft, capable – they say – of […]
CarterCopter sets elusive record, but later crashes
During a flight test on June 17, the innovative CarterCopter unofficially broke the Mu-1 barrier — a goal that eluded rotary wing builders until that day. Mu is the ratio of the aircraft’s forward speed to its rotor tip speed. As forward speed increases, the effective airspeed over the retreating blade decreases. At Mu-1, the […]
German company unveils its light jet
Germany’s Grob Aerospace has added yet another bird to the burgeoning flock of light jets on the market. Long a builder of notably innovative airplanes, Grob caught the aviation world by surprise at the Paris Air Show in June when it sprung the brand new light twin jet on its competitors. It doesn’t have a […]
Old but good: The classics are worth considering
There are new Light Sport Aircraft and then there are classic Light Sport Aircraft. The classics aren’t truly Light Sport Aircraft, but they qualify to be flown under the companion Sport Pilot rules, while remaining certified. Once a Marine, always a Marine; once certified, always certified. (The word is, in fact, certified, not certificated, which […]
Not just another AirVenture souvenir…
Going to Oshkosh? Is buying a Lake Amphibian on your list of things to do? How about buying the entire kit and kaboodle? For the first time ever, the AirVenture grounds will be the site of an auction of all the assets of an aircraft line — the Lake Amphibian. The auction, slated for 4:30 […]
“The Aviator” director tackles Airbus
Martin Scorsese appears to have been bitten by the aviation bug. Following “The Aviator,” last year’s biopic on Howard Hughes which garnered 11 Academy Awards, Scorsese is planning to make a documentary about Airbus. The filmmaker will co-direct a feature documentary about the European company, which recently unveiled the huge A380 aircraft. His directing partner […]
To infinity and beyond!
AERA Corp., which is developing the Altairis Rocket for civilian space travel, has started selling tickets for its maiden flight, expected to lift off from Cape Canaveral in December 2006. Altairis is designed to launch six passenger astronauts and one mission commander into space and bring them safely back to Earth. But there aren’t any […]
After you Alphonse…
Reports of the Airbus A380 maiden flight have introduced a new, and exquisitely European, phrase to cockpit management: Command Sensitivity Awareness. To demonstrate their Command Sensitivity Awareness, the oh-so-politically-correct French announced that the A380’s two pilots were “alternate pilots in command and shared responsibility for the flight.” Is it, peut-etre, impossible for a Frenchman to […]