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 Perfect Airplane
Fast, green, and quiet. Come on, brainiacs, you can do it.
September 2009 |
By Ed Regis
A&S Interview: Esther Dyson
Handicapping the space tourism market.
September 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Back across the water
Weather permitting, a World War II-era B25D Mitchell bomber nicknamed "Grumpy" will take off tomorrow from Duxford, England and retrace (in reverse) the historic lend-lease route by which U.S. airplanes were delivered to Europe in the 1940s. The airplane, which saw its first duty with the Royal ...
August 28, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Virtual Blue Yonder
You might have the right stuff to be a Blue Angel pilot: a computer and a broadband connection. That's what the Virtual Blue Angels use to fly formation and dazzle online crowds.Established five years ago by former (and real) Marine Corps pilot Bob "Kato" Tyler, currently the number four (slot) vir...
August 20, 2009 |
By Mike Klesius
Let's Fly the Hudson Corridor
After the August 8 mid-air collision of a sightseeing helicopter and a Piper Lance over New York City that killed nine people, politicians have been calling for a shut-down or at least a vigorous revamping of the Hudson Corridor, the Visual Flight Rules scenic route up and down the Hudson River. Wh...
August 13, 2009 |
By Pat Trenner
Dog Is My Co-pilot
Debi Boies had finally found the perfect Doberman. Unfortunately, the rescue dog was in Florida, and Boies couldn’t figure out an easy way to get him to her home in South Carolina. Based on her experience with a Doberman rescue group, she knew the animal would have to be transported by car, chang...
August 04, 2009 |
By Rebecca Maksel
Costly photos of Air Force One
Back in April, the White House thought it would be a good idea to take new photos of the President's airplane, Air Force One (actually a backup), flying over New York city. The photo-op backfired, though, when some New Yorkers were spooked by the sight of what looked like a passenger jet being e...
August 03, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
The Electric Airplane
Quiet, smooth, dependable—shouldn’t we be flying these by now?
August 2009 |
By Peter Garrison
Secret Space Shuttles
When you’re 200 miles up, it’s easy to hide what you’re up to.
August 2009 |
By Michael Cassutt
A&S Interview: Brig. Gen. Iftach Spector
Israeli Air Force Ace, teacher, author
August 2009 |
By Peter Mersky
Barnstorming at Oshkosh
On a summer day ten years ago, pilots Andrew King and Frank Pavliga were flying their vintage single-engine airplanes over eastern Indiana when they spotted an inviting field on which to land. The farm, as it turned out, belonged to Matt Dirksen and family, who, after some initial skepticism, struc...
July 15, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
How Things Work: Self-Healing Airplanes
Several technologies that could put mechanics out of work.
July 2009 |
By Tom LeCompte
Why do NASA launch times depend on lighting conditions?
It's all about the solar beta angle.
July 14, 2009 |
By Michael Klesius
The Shuttle in a Different Light
The space shuttle glows in photographs taken by one of its own technicians.
July 13, 2009 |
By The Editors
The hunt for Flight 447's black box
Hope is running out that searchers will locate the flight data recorder from Air France Flight 447, which crashed into the Atlantic for reasons unknown on June 1. The black box is only made to send out signals for 30 days; four ships equipped with acoustic sensors have been searching the ocean nor...
July 08, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Good news for flying-phobes
It’s often said that flying is one of the safest ways to travel, and the numbers bear it out. According to the most recent statistics from the International Air Transport Association, there were only 0.13 fatalities per million airplane passengers last year.That means air travel was about eight tim...
July 06, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Ploughshares Into Swords
Air Tractor of Olney, Texas, a legend-in-its-own-time builder of cropdusters, or agricultural aircraft, has converted its popular AT-802 Air Truck into a counter-insurgency, close-air support, and surveillance warbird-wannabee. The armored AT-802U, which debuted at the June Paris Air Show, was arme...
July 01, 2009 |
By Pat Trenner
Where the Wild Things Are
We’re about to get a peek at the solar system’s
final frontier.
July 2009 |
By Guy Gugliotta
