Modern Aviation
An era from 1991 to the present marked by achievements in air and space flight, including unmanned aerial vehicles and the International Space Station
The End of the Plain Plane
When wild liveries and outrageous uniforms were the norm.
February 09, 2012 |
By Rebecca Maksel
Hollywood Air
The first Hollywood movie showcasing airline travel, Three Guys Named Mike, came out in 1951.
January 19, 2012 |
By Rebecca Maksel
From Point A to Point A
Twenty-five years ago, Burt Rutan’s Voyager became the first aircraft to make an around-the-world flight without refueling.
January 2012 |
By George C. Larson, Member, NAA
The Kids Are Trying to Crash
Remote-control models face off in the Extreme Flight Championships.
January 2012 |
By Preston Lerner
Pointer and Shooter
To nail the air-to-air shot, pilot and photographer have to work together like, well, this pair.
January 2012 |
By Debbie Gary
No Way to Treat a Hero
Would Chesley Sullenberger really want to be FAA Administrator?
December 12, 2011 |
By George Larson
Stay Tuned
A new emergency warning system will be tested on Wednesday -- 60 years after another radio network warned Americans of Cold War air raids.
November 07, 2011 |
By Roger Mola
Remembering 9/11 at American History
Each day this week until September 11, the National Museum of American History is displaying artifacts recovered from the horrific crash of United Airlines Flight 93 a decade ago...
September 07, 2011 |
By Roger Mola
Distance Runners
Unmanned aerial vehicles redefine the term "nonstop flight."
September 2011 |
By Michael Milstein
Coming Extractions
The Army’s CH-47 Chinook helicopter has flown a stunning but standard maneuver—the aft-wheel pinnacle landing—since 1962. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the move has reached its peak. This month as many as 5,000 pairs of boots will leave the ground, with a goal to extract 33,000 by next September. Many will exit the same way they [...]
August 10, 2011 |
By Roger Mola
F-16s Don’t Think You’re Cute
As reported on AOL: “Myrtle Rose, a 75-year-old grandmother of nine and pilot, was intercepted by two F-16 fighter jets over suburban Illinois on Thursday when her small airplane crossed into airspace that had been restricted because of President Obama’s arrival in the Windy City.” A few days later, AvWeb reported that Rose’ first thought upon [...]
August 09, 2011 |
By Pat Trenner
Rural Airport Subsidies: How Far Is Too Far?
As the crow flies, the Hagerstown Regional Airport (HGR) in Maryland is 64 miles from the much busier runways of Baltimore Washington International (BWI), to its east. How far a drive is it, though? And more importantly, how far is it in political terms? Under the Essential Air Service program enacted in 1978, federal subsidies [...]
August 08, 2011 |
By Roger Mola
D.B. Cooper (Still) Missing
After investigating a thousand suspects since a person who called himself (or herself) D.B. Cooper skyjacked a Boeing 727 on November 24, 1971, the FBI thought it finally had a “credible” tip. Until last night, that is, when CBS News reported that the Cooper lead had fizzled and the FBI was expected to formally rule [...]
August 02, 2011 |
By Roger Mola
A & S Interview: Ron Davies
A former museum curator of air transport rallies for high-speed rail.
August 2011 |
By Pat Trenner
Print Your Own Airplane
According to some tech-watchers, 3-D printing will be the Next Big Thing. Load a bunch of raw material into your home mini-factory, download a 3-D CAD file, fire up the machine, and voilà, out comes a replacement part for your refrigerator or a copy of your door key (running to the hardware store is so [...]
July 29, 2011 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Saving Gas Over the Top
An Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker may haul more than 31,000 gallons to refuel other aircraft, but for long-haul missions, it needs to watch every drop of its own fuel. That’s why, when a KC-135 crew flew from Washington state to Kyrgyzstan over the North Pole last month, the Air Force brass was pumped. It wasn’t [...]
July 28, 2011 |
By Roger Mola
Stop That Stick Figure
The Transportation Security Administration has finally faced the naked truth. After the agency’s advanced imaging technology (AIT) airport scanners stirred controversy by exposing too much of a passenger’s human form, the TSA will switch to new software that makes the images less realistic. Screening agents—who had been isolated in a remote closet to view the [...]
July 25, 2011 |
By Roger Mola
Rutan’s Last Project: What The…?
Today I read, with some head-scratching, about Burt Rutan’s latest creation, a “roadable aircraft” called Bipod. Flying cars have been built, flown, driven, and failed to sell since dinosaurs roamed the earth, yet here was the monumentally gifted designer and his company, Scaled Composites, introducing a particularly homely vehicle (twin fuselages simply make it twice [...]
July 19, 2011 |
By Pat Trenner
The Not-So-Friendly Skies
Escalating baggage fees. No more in-flight meals. Delayed flights. Loud cell-phone talkers. And let’s not forget the drunks. It may be that intoxicated passengers are the most dangerous of all. AvWeb recently reported that drunk passengers caused the crash of a Cessna 185 in 2010. (“The [Transportation Safety Board] postulates that a rear-seat passenger pushed [...]
July 14, 2011 |
By Rebecca Maksel
