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 […]
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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 […]
The race for space, Part 2
The race for space has trickled down to — of all things — a trailer park in the Mojave Desert. Kayo’s Trailer Park, right next to Mojave Airport — the scene of SpaceShipOne’s successful flights into space — has a new name: Spaceport RV Park. Originally built in the 1940s to tap into the new […]
Wal-Mart heir dies in ultralight crash
Billionaire John T. Walton, an heir to the Wal-Mart fortune, died June 27 when his ultralight crashed shortly after takeoff from the Jackson Hole Airport (JAC) Grand Teton National Park, in Wyoming. He was 58. John Walton was the second son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and served on the board of directors of the […]
Missing L-39 found
An L-39 that went missing while on a flight from Seattle to Lewiston, Idaho, in 2004 has been found. Hikers found the wreckage in mountainous terrain in eastern Washington several weeks ago, but did not immediately notify authorities because they thought it was an old crash. According to a preliminary report from the National Transportation […]
NASCAR sets sights on land next to Bremerton, Wash., airport
Bremerton International Airport (PWT) in Bremerton, Wash., may soon have a new neighbor: a NASCAR speedway. International Speedway Corp. has secured an option to buy land near the airport for a track. The land is private property and covered with woods and brush. PWT, a non-towered airport, is a few miles west of Seattle in […]
EAA chapter plans Corporate Aviation Museum in Iowa
When you think of corporate aviation, you probably don’t think of Newton, Iowa, as its birthplace. You should, says Drew Schumann, an amateur historian and president of EAA Chapter 456, which is based there. “Newton was the home of the first business aircraft, a 1929 TravelAir 6000 B built by Walter Beech for Henry Ogg, […]