Sennheiser will withdraw from the pilots’ headset business beginning March 2016. The company will fulfill all obligations for servicing and spare parts as a result of sales guarantees. Headsets for the air traffic control (ATC) sector are not affected by this decision, according to company officials. “Our decision to leave the pilots’ headset sector was not […]
AOPA launches Pro Pilot membership
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) has introduced Pro Pilot, a new level of membership available exclusively to professional pilots. For $21.99 a month, Pro Pilot provides services and protections to professional pilots whose livelihood depends on maintaining their pilot certificate and medical certification. “AOPA’s Pro Pilot is specifically tailored to the needs of professional pilots,” […]
Retired NASA pilot inducted into Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame
RICHMOND, Va. — A retired NASA pilot who has the distinction of being the only person in the world to have flown and tested both the Concorde and Russian TU-144 supersonic transports has been inducted into the Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame. Robert A. Rivers spent 14 years, from 1990 to 2004, as a research pilot at NASA’s […]
Latest version of Pilotbrief Optima released
Weather Services International (WSI), a division of The Weather Company, recently launched a new version of Pilotbrief Optima for iPad, which includes weather enhancements, as well as usability and performance fixes. Now available as an in-flight briefing experience, the latest release — version 2.10 — runs faster and smoother while continuing to provide the weather, airport, and flight information that […]
Raisbeck now taking orders for King Air 350 props
SEATTLE — Both of Raisbeck Engineering’s newly designed propeller models for the King Air 350 have been released for customer orders. Both propellers, manufactured by Hartzell Propeller, incorporate swept-blade technology, so important in quieting cabin and cockpit noise levels, according to Raisbeck officials. The Aluminum Swept 4-Blade Propellers (above, left) will begin deliveries in January 2016, and […]
Hole in runway creates rough stop
The Aviat Aircraft A1B pilot reported that after touchdown on a grass airstrip in LaGrange, Wyo., the landing roll was normal for about 100 feet, but then the plane came to an abrupt stop, like it had hit something. It nosed over, substantially damaging the rudder and wings and minor injuries to the pilot. The […]
Send us your pictures
Our December issues will feature The Year in Pictures and we want to run the best shots from 2015 from our readers. Email your photo — and be sure to include specifics like where it was taken, the plane description, and the full name of anyone in the photo — to Editor Janice Wood. Note: Please send the largest file size […]
Pictures of the day: Flying low and slow to track wildlife
GALLATIN VALLEY, Mont. — Jim Ortman takes off frequently with a government biologist in an Aviat Husky for the kind of flights most pilots only get to dream about. An ATP rated pilot with nearly 19,000 hours logged in everything from bush planes to 747s, Ortman is comfortable flying low and slow over the Rocky […]
Can I have your autograph?
Hanging just above the desk in my office is a lithograph called “The Dealer.” The artist’s signature is included just below his mustachioed nose. It’s a self-portrait of Kurt Vonnegut, a profoundly influential writer who did more than anyone else to push me in the direction of the literary arts. Beside it is a thank-you […]