Learn to Fly

FAA Approves Ultralight VTOL First of all, the FAA does NOT “approve” ultralight vehicles. The letter shown only states that in the FAA’s opinion, the craft appears to meet part 103 requirements. It either meets part 103 or it doesn’t. If it does, then the FAA is out of the picture. Mel Asberry Motorcycle gear […]

It’s been hard to miss that things are changing in our industry and that pilot training is much a part of that shift. I escaped my office long enough to attend the University Aviation Association’s (UAA) 71st annual Collegiate Aviation Conference last week and talking with representatives from schools both large and small helped verify […]

While getting ready for my commercial checkride I was practicing intensively with daily flights of at least a couple of hours. Due to the time constraints and availability of school aircraft, I was flying during the same hours of the day so I got to work with the same Boston approach controller. Once on a […]

From the curious headline file: Crash Pilot Had Certificate Revoked. We published that last week atop a story describing the fatal crash of a Cessna 335 in which it was revealed that the owner/pilot had apparently been flying without a pilot certificate for 21 years, having lost it by revocation. A curious headline generated an […]

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Gaetz Aerospace Institute will be expanding its concurrent enrollment program offering accelerated science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) courses for high school students to schools in Ohio and Louisiana this year. The program allows students to get both high school and college credit for successfully completed classes. Available courses include aeronautical science, […]

No matter how much we who carp continue to carp, certain aviation themes will never change. It’s karma—what happens to pilots happens because we made it so. An unchangeable percentage of aircraft will run out of gas or slide sideways off runways in the mildest of crosswinds, and—unrelated to safety but irksome—82 percent of our […]

I’m not sure I know where to look when seeking wisdom about things aeronautical, but I know two places not to look: the YouTube comments section and the dreary carnage of the NTSB database. But wisdom is different than inspiration and the latter can be found in both those sources. Scrolling through the comment field […]

High school classes in the U.S. can now sign up to compete in the 2019 Aviation Design Challenge, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association has announced.The annual competition aims to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)education by offering an aviationcurriculum and a virtual fly-off. “This will be our seventh consecutive year hosting this life-changing competition,and […]

Forget that shiny new octocopter, a Bay-area startup wants to make your Cessna 172 autonomous. XWing says it has created “plug and play” software that can make most light aircraft fly autonomously. Details on how it works have not been released but the technology will revolve around “sensing, reasoning and control,” according to aviation tech […]