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
"Roger, Roger. What's our Vector, Victor?"
Proceed direct to National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. The 1980 movie, "Airplane!" is one of 25 films judged to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically" significant and therefore added to the Film Registry in 2010. The spoof of 1957's "Zero Hour" was named number 10 on the Amer...
December 29, 2010 |
By Pat Trenner
Concorde: Flying Supersonic
For 27 years, the Concorde carried passengers across the Atlantic Ocean at twice the speed of sound, on the very edge of space. A flight from New York to London took a mere 3 ½ hours; the supersonic aircraft flew so high and so fast that American spyplanes were ordered to stay out of the Concorde’s...
December 27, 2010 |
By Rebecca Maksel
Engine Hiccups
Here's some interesting video taken by a passenger aboard the Quantas A380 that had a Trent 900 engine blow shortly after taking off on a flight from Singapore to Sydney on November 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4Pv9u_yHwIAnd later, the landing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EimwaGXr6p0&f...
November 23, 2010 |
By Mike Klesius
The Autobots Are Coming!
The defense research agency DARPA recently selected six companies to participate in a year-long program to transform a Humvee-like vehicle into an aircraft. Lockheed Martin and AAI Corporation are asked to supply something that can “avoid traditional and asymmetrical threats while avoiding road ...
October 25, 2010 |
By Rebecca Maksel
For Sale: Potential Speed
Project 100 Communications is selling the car that Steve Fossett had hoped would set a land speed record. "Over $4 million is invested in this project," says the sales brochure, which translates: No aluminum wheel kickers.The vehicle is based on racing legend Craig Breedlove's late 1990s Spirit of ...
October 20, 2010 |
By Pat Trenner
Product Placement Worth its Salt
Of all the high-end executive transports to choose from -- Gulfstream, Lear, Cessna Citation, Beech Super King Air, Sikorsky, Eurocopter -- Sony opted for the Piaggio Avanti for its summer blockbuster, "Salt," starring Angelina Jolie as a battering ram.The catfish-shaped turboprop makes a cameo app...
July 29, 2010 |
By Pat Trenner
The Sun Also Sets
...which is why any solar-powered airplane designed to circle the globe has to be able to fly at night, too.Switzerland's Solar Impulse team checked that off their to-do list yesterday.Next up in 2012: an Atlantic crossing in a more advanced prototype to be built next year.
July 09, 2010 |
By Tony Reichhardt
The Last Gunslinger
The F-15C is the only dedicated dogfighter left in the U.S. military fleet. Why isn't the Air Force replacing it?
July 2010 |
By Michael Behar
Tribute to an Aviation Journalist
If you read airplane magazines, you've seen Howard Levy's photographs.
July 2010 |
By The Editors
Holiday Sampler
For the Memorial Day weekend, an assortment of news from the world of air and space:► The field of hypersonic flight has a new record: The Air Force's X-51A Waverider reached Mach 5 in a 200-second scramjet engine burn over the Pacific on Wednesday. Video below:► What looked at first like a sma...
May 28, 2010 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Why They Stopped Flying
The risk to airplanes from the recent eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland was more than just the danger of jet engines shutting down in flight. The ash could also have led to long-term damage that's harder to spot. After a NASA DC-8 flew through a volcanic ash cloud in 2000, researchers...
May 27, 2010 |
By Tony Reichhardt
A&S Interview: Ray Puffer
The former Air Force historian asks, "Can anyone dispute that I had the most interesting job in the entire Air Force?"
May 2010 |
By Perry Turner
Grab the Airplane and Go
How to repossess an airliner without getting shot, or thrown in jail, or beat up, or slammed into a wall, or...
May 2010 |
By Stephen Joiner
Super Fly: Celebrities and Airplanes
Kitty Kelley's recent tell-all biography of Oprah Winfrey revealed that the talk-show diva owns a $47 million Bombardier BD-700 Global Express high-speed jet. According to biographer Kelley, when Winfrey upgraded from a $40 million Gulfstream in 2006, she also spent $1 million refurbishing her hang...
April 30, 2010 |
By Rebecca Maksel
