Flight Planning

As the government shutdown grinds on with no end in sight, calls from the aviation industry to restore funding are getting more strident and the system is starting to show some strain. Possibly the biggest concern is the furloughing of 3,000 “safety specialists,” who support air traffic control functions. Another concern is that virtually all […]

A meticulously rebuilt prototype of the P-82 Twin Mustang, designated the XP-82, became the only flying version of the type on New Year’s Eve but it wasn’t supposed to work out that way. Test pilot Ray Fowler was conducting the latest of a series of high-speed taxi tests at the XP-82 Prototype Project’s home base […]

Michel spent 10 days at Mario Zucchelli Station in Antarctica. The team of scientists and station staff were very supportive and helped him remove the skis from the RV-8, plan the rest of the flight, and offered friendship, a bed, and good food. Even from 10,000 miles away, Michel still found time to update the […]

Imagine you live close to a major airport, and since NextGen has changed many air routes in the last few years, a lot more noisy airplanes fly right over your house. Now it’s easy for those citizens to file a noise complaint — instead of facing hours of paperwork, they can just push a button […]

Flying is peaceful, the engine droning, wind whistling, your mind roaming to different thoughts as it gives birth to a new perspective. You reach out for your thermos to sip some hot coffee—but it’s not hot anymore. You start feeling cold, alone, and want to talk to someone, but you can’t. You fear that your […]

Purdue University’s Research Foundation is helping two Purdue alumni develop and market a new aviation communications simulator aimed at helping new pilots (or rusty old pilots) master radios skills and phraseology. PlaneEnglish has been developed by Muharrem Mane, a graduate of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Eren Hadimioglu, from the School of Aviation […]

Have you ever wanted to fly around the world? Just imagine the organizational nightmare of it: You would need to book dozens of flights and land in many foreign countries, each with its own language, laws, rules, customs, and regulations. Add to that the dreaded idea of extended traveling with strangers to stranger lands. And […]