AirBuoyant is offering its prototype flying platform, the VertiPod 2 (N6172N, formerly the PAM 100B Individual Lifting Vehicle), for sale. With its contra-rotating rotors below the pilot and a new protective pilot’s “cage” installed, the twin-engine VP2 is ready for flight or further development, according to officials with the Anderson, Indiana-based company. With some 200 […]
Weldcraft offers gas lenses
Weldcraft now offers multiple styles of precision-machined gas lenses,which help to optimize shielding gas coverage and help ensure consistent, quality TIG welding performance, according to company officials. With styles available for both its WP Series and Crafter Series air- and water-cooled TIG torches, Weldcraft’s gas lenses also dissipate heat for longer, trouble-free performance. Weldcraft offers […]
2011 FAR/AIM Series now available
ASA’s 2011 FAR/AIM Series is now available. Both the FAR for Flight Crew and FAR for Aviation Maintenance Technicians are currently available. The FAR/AIM book will be available Sept. 15. ASA consolidates the FAA regulations and procedures into three reference books with information pertinent to pilots, flight crew, and aviation maintenance technicians (AMTs). In all […]
Lednicer joins Raisbeck Engineering
Computational Fluid Dynamics guru David Lednicer has joined Raisbeck Engineering’s aircraft design team. He previously held a similar position at AMI (Analytical Methods, Inc), where he worked more than 20 years. Prior to AMI, he was an aerodynamicist at Sikorsky Aircraft for over five years, and a consultant to Scaled Composites and Beech Aircraft at […]
VFR flight into IMC kills pilot
This September 2008 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others. Aircraft: Pitts S-1D. Injuries: 1 Fatal. Location: Ridgely, Maryland. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: The private pilot bought the homebuilt aircraft in 2006. Soon […]
Three years + 120 hours = a new pilot
Many teens heading into their senior year of high school consider themselves lucky if they have a driver’s license. Austin Rennard of Santa Rosa, California, heads back to class in possession of a private pilot’s license. In January 2009 we introduced you to 16-year-old Rennard who, at the time, was flying a Zodiac XL across […]
Homecoming for first Colonial Skimmer
John Staber, who spent 11 years painstakingly restoring the first Colonial Skimmer C-1, flew it to Sanford Regional Airport (SFM) in Maine earlier this month to show off the plane to her designer and builder, David B. Thurston, and to Jack Tarbox, who was chief engineer for Colonial Aircraft Corporation in Sanford. The plane was […]
NextGen demonstrated
U.S. Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.) and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University showcased for Florida local and state officials and the media one of the first working demonstrations of state of the art NextGen air traffic control technology on Thursday, Sept. 9. NextGen is the national program, led by the FAA, designed to transform and modernize the […]
Not sure what NextGen is?
While a lot has been said about the Next General Air Traffic Control system, also known as NextGen, there may be some pilots who aren’t sure what it is. A “laymen’s explanation” was just released from U.S. Rep. John Mica’s office, which notes that NextGen is an umbrella term for the ongoing, wide-ranging transformation of […]