The 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship season kicks off in Abu Dhabi, UAE on March 26 and 27. Pilots navigate a low-level aerial track made up of air-filled pylons, flying at speeds reaching 230 mph while withstanding forces up to 12 Gs. Each race is a two-day competition with a Qualifying and Race […]
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ERAU seeks partners for Green Flight bid
Researchers at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University are looking for partners to join them in the Green Flight Challenge, a contest to produce and fly an aircraft that can average at least 100 mph, reach 4,000 feet, and achieve more than 200 passenger miles per gallon. Embry-Riddle is one of 18 competitors selected to take part in […]
LSA grabs 25% of GA sales
It has to get better! According to GAMA, the organization that represents the Type Certified aircraft world, “2009 worldwide shipments of general aviation airplanes declined for a second year in a row with a total of 2,276 units delivered, a 42.6% decrease over the previous year’s total of 3,967 airplanes.” However, GAMA numbers include twins […]
The surprising secret to negotiating a good hangar lease
With the possible exception of that ego-enhanced titan of real estate and self-promotion, Donald Trump, most of us don’t particularly relish the idea of sitting down to hammer out a new contract. We don’t care for the process at the car dealership, we’re skittish in the lawyer’s office where we close on our homes, and […]
Fantasy of Flight founder wins ‘Freedom of Flight’ award
Kermit Weeks, creator and founder of Fantasy of Flight in Florida, recently received the “Bob Hoover Freedom of Flight Award” at the 7th Annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards, which is often called the Academy Awards of Aviation. Other awards presented at the event were the “First Out of This World Landing and Take Off […]
Airplanes don’t kill people, people do
In his blog at the Huffington Post, Jeff Schweitzer notes that “At the very moment crazed kamikaze pilot Joseph Stack plowed his airplane into an IRS building in Austin, Texas, propaganda machinery in suspended animation instantly sprang back to life to lament the danger of small airplanes. Hysterical comparisons to 9/11 were immediately bandied about […]
Something new: Fly a Hang ‘Copter
I readily admit to being a hang glider pilot at heart. After flying several hundred airplanes, I still consider flying a hang glider to be perhaps THE purest way to fly. I’ve always said that if I could just snap my fingers and be in the air — oh, that it was so simple and […]
The year of engagement
It takes more than alphabet groups speaking up to teach opinion leaders and decision makers about GA — it takes each pilot and aircraft owner stepping up and becoming actively engaged with their community leaders. “As I see it, some of the top issues for the coming year and beyond must include protecting our nation’s […]
Flight Design unveils upgraded LSA
Flight Design unveiled an upgraded model of its CTLS Light Sport Aircraft at the U.S. Aviation Expo in Sebring, Florida, late last month. The deluxe CTLS comes with with a loaded instrument panel, a longer engine life, and an upgraded interior treatment, according to company officials. “Visitors to our exhibit space at Sebring 2010 were […]