The FAA announced on Monday (Jan. 30) it has added 11 airports to the list of destinations that offer Optimized Profile Descents (OPDs). The procedure enables landing aircraft to maintain a constant descent profile, rather than the traditional “stair-step” format. By eliminating the need to repeatedly descend, then power up to level off (frequently several […]
During the EAA’s Homebuilder’s Week series of seminars, Van’s Aircraft offered an update on the high-wing RV-15’s development, which has been fairly quiet since the airplane’s thunderous reveal at AirVenture last year. Van’s VP Greg Hughes outlined some significant changes to the airplane as the result of the extensive and detailed flight-test program. (The whole seminar is posted to […]
“Sometime in the very near future, airplanes for two and airplanes for two hundred will fly anywhere in the country every day.” So predicted Georgian Ben T. Epps in 1910. The first to fly an aircraft in the state (in 1907, four years after the Wright Brothers), Epps went on to design and build six […]
The first “scratch-built” Enstrom helicopter since new company ownership has flown. “This aircraft wasn’t an unfinished left-over airframe,” said Enstrom, “but was built using components procured, machined, fabricated, and assembled onsite.” A new-build Rolls-Royce 250 C20w turboshaft-powered Enstrom 480B took to the skies just eight months after musical-equipment mogul (and Enstrom helicopter owner) Chuck Surack’s […]
A district court with jurisdiction in Larimer County, Colorado, has filed misdemeanor charges against a then-34-year-old flight instructor who crashed a Cessna 172 on Sept. 11, 2022, after allegedly buzzing two boats on the Horsetooth Reservoir near Fort Collins, Colorado. The pilot, Ahmed El-Kaddah, issued a statement citing mechanical problems during a non-instructional sightseeing flight, […]
The pilot of a Lancair IV-P was injured when the aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Connecticut’s Hartford-Brainard Airport (HFD) on Saturday. The pilot, who was reportedly ejected from the aircraft, was the only person onboard. According to officials, he was taken to a local hospital with burns and a possible fracture but was responsive. […]
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Boeing a $2.3 billion contract for 15 additional KC-46A Pegasus tanker aircraft. Boeing delivered the first KC-46As to the Air Force in 2019 and the aircraft was approved for global operations last year. According to Boeing, 128 Pegasus tankers are currently on contract with the Air Force with 68 […]
A Zenith CH 750 Cruzer kit aircraft powered by an electric motor has completed its first flight at England’s Old Buckenham Aerodrome (EGSV). The CH 750 was built and flown by U.K.-based nonprofit organization NUNCATS, which partnered with kit manufacturer Zenith Aircraft Company and several investors for the project. According to Zenith, the flight is […]
The Government Accountability Office says the FAA is dragging its feet on integrating drones into the National Airspace System and confounding industry efforts to get their businesses off the ground. In a report published last week, the GAO says the agency needs to step up its efforts to create a comprehensive strategy for drones to […]
Researchers at MIT have done some tinkering and may have revolutionized propeller design. Almost on a scientific whim, a team at the Lincoln Laboratory whipped up a few batches of “toroidal” propellers for a drone on a 3D printer and discovered they were not only much quieter than the OEM props but they put out […]
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