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 […]
More airports to get recovery act grants
The FAA recently selected five additional airport projects for funding, paid for with $9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds that became available because of low bids on airport projects nationwide. “Earlier ARRA projects came in under budget and these savings can now be applied to other projects,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary […]
NASA hosts green aviation summit
NASA has a “critical responsibility” to the flying public to develop environmentally responsible solutions to the nation’s most pressing aviation problems, Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. said Wednesday, Sept. 8. Addressing the Green Aviation Summit at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Bolden said air travel is one of the safest modes of transportation and vital to […]
PennDOT holds aviation art contest
PennDOT invites young artists to express their creativity through its annual aviation art contest, sponsored by the department’s Bureau of Aviation. “We’ve been very pleased with the participation and creativity students showed in this contest in the past,” said PennDOT Secretary Allen Biehler. “Aviation supports thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania, so we’re glad that kids […]