Forget about the business jet as a sign of affluence. Today the well-heeled are pursuing dreams of space. Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos has plans to build a rocketship complex in south Seattle to support his new aerospace venture, Blue Origin. The Seattle location will house the design and construction teams. Launch site of the reusable […]
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Sopwith Camel shunned by bidders
The Sopwith Camel is perhaps the most famous Allied airplane of World War I. During the war approximately 5,490 of them were built, yet less than half a dozen still exist. Only one is airworthy and it recently went up for sale on eBay. The California-based seller proudly noted that the plane is an authentic […]
Wild horses – Cessna’s Mustang gallops towards certification
Several companies competing for the personal jet market are turning the downwind leg toward certification. One of those is Cessna, known for its piston-powered trainers and Citation business jets. In 2002 the company announced it was entering the Very Light Jet race with the Citation Mustang. The road to certification is often filled with challenges […]
“Flight from Fear”: A novel look at the WASP
It has been 60 years since World War II ended, yet some people still believe the only women to have contact with military aircraft were the “Janes that built the planes” and Rosie the Riveter. Author Sarah Byrn Rickman is helping educate these people through her books about women who flew for Uncle Sam during […]
Lycoming recalls more crankshafts
Lycoming is recalling 391 crankshafts which, it suspects, may suffer from the same metallurgical problem that affected hundreds of others the company has already replaced. “It’s not a new problem,” said Ian Walsh, Lycoming’s general manager. “It’s the same type of problem – subsurface defects – that we had before.” All of the suspect shafts […]
Eclipse vs. Mustang
As certification draws ever nearer for the first Very Light Jets, an unofficial race between the Eclipse 500 and Cessna Mustang is being watched closely by VLJ enthusiasts. Eclipse, first in the field and creator of the VLJ concept, has suffered several certification setbacks over the years, the most recent delay caused by a key […]
‘Wings Field Autobiography’
Charlie Spence, who covers the Washington, D.C. scene for General Aviation News, grew up in a close relationship to Wings Field, as did this reviewer. Wings Field, a short distance from Philadelphia at Ambler, Pa., is where the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) got its start in 1939 and where many a Philadelphia-area pilot […]
Pilot in a week?
Can you become a pilot in a week? Just ask Davin Coburn, a science editor at “Popular Mechanics,” who started his flying lessons at Mid-Atlantic Sports Planes (MASPL) in Alexandria, Va., with one objective in mind: to complete the Sport Pilot flight requirements and take his check ride in a week. He succeeded. One week […]
New books about the great American warplanes is well worth the price
There are a lot of books about military airplanes on the market, but somehow that market never becomes saturated. There always are those among us who never get enough. One of the newest, “Combat: The Great American Warplanes” by Jim Wilson, is more than a picture book, delving into such historic questions as why the […]