The outgoing FAA administrator, Michael Huerta, had his last day at work on January 6th. Though an official replacement has yet to be named, deputy administrator Daniel Elwell has stepped into the role of acting administrator, and his elevation casts doubt on the continuing strong relationship between the FAA and general aviation. Elwell was appointed more »

The City of Santa Monica opened Runway 3/21 for business late last year, and as you’re no doubt aware, it’s a lot shorter than it used to be. The shortening was approved as part of a backroom agreement with the FAA that will allow the city presumably to shut down the airport at some future more »

With the proliferation of self-recorded adventure footage on social media, it’s hard to believe that camera-maker GoPro could be in financial trouble. And yet, that is exactly what seems to be happening. This week, GoPro announced that not only will will be backing out of the drone business entirely, but it will also be laying more »

While John Young wasn’t as well known as several of his fellow lunar strollers, it’s impossible to understand why he wasn’t. Young was one of the most accomplished of a dizzying assortment of high achievers in the astronaut ranks. He was the commander of Apollo 16. On that mission in 1972, Young commanded the lunar more »

The story of the loss of a Cirrus SR22 yesterday due to apparent pilot incapacitation has been discussed exclusively in terms of a tragedy, and it most likely is just that. While it’s not likely, it is possible that the pilot of the SR22 could have survived an engine-out crash into the Gulf even if more »

There are plenty of fire containment products on the market made for dealing with lithium ion batteries in personal electronic devices (PEDs) that overheat and catch fire in flight. Several of them claim to be “FAA certified,” “successfully tested by the FAA” or “[meet] FAA standards.” That all sounds good except for the fact that more »

The E2C (Experimental to Certified) wave of activity continues to change the value of older airplanes, and this week’s announcement by Garmin that it had earned FAA approval for its GFC 500 autopilot in a “wide range of” Cessna 172 and 182s is accelerating that trend. The new autopilot is a digital model that features more »

Last summer at AirVenture, Vulcanair promised that its 4-seat, all-metal single—the V1.0—would be certified in the U.S. by the end of the year. Though it was down to the wire, FAA approval officially came through on December 20, 2017. The Vulcanair V1.0 has been operating in Europe since receiving EASA certification in 2013. The plane more »

GE made the first test run of its remarkably inventively named Advanced Turboprop engine last week, and it was a success. The mainstream public imagines that manufacturers will be able to print entire engines—flip a switch, to go lunch, and when you come back, there’s an engine—but the truth is, if anything, more remarkable than more »

In spite of the fact that women have been flying for nearly as long as there have been airplanes to fly, the number of active female pilots remains around six percent of the pilot community. And it’s not just the flying jobs—other aviation-oriented careers show similarly uneven numbers. The recently proposed Promoting Women in the Aviation more »

There were so many huge and unexpected aviation stories in 2017 that it’s hard to believe it all happened in 12 short months. Here’s a rundown of the headlines that changed our flying world. 1. Hurricanes: A pair of Category 5 hurricanes hit the U.S. mainland and GA was there to help. Read more about Harvey more »

One of the first LSAs to hit the market 10 years ago and one of the most popular ever, is the Flight Design CS-series of two-seat high wing sport planes. Tom Peghiny, president of Flight Design USA, told Plane & Pilot that the complicated chain of events that began two years ago with Flight Design more »

Garmin has introduced the GDL-82 ADS-B Out product that could wind up being the answer to many an airplane owner’s need to meet the 2020 ADS-B mandate. The GDL-82, Garmin says, is a small UAT transceiver that sells for $1,795 and comes with the WAAS antenna and install kit. Garmin hasn’t shared any details, but more »

The massive Stratolaunch, which first rolled out of its specially-designed hangar at the Mojave Air & Space Port last June, has taken another significant step toward being the largest thing ever to fly. Though it never left the ground, the 238-foot-long airplane took its inaugural trip down the runway last weekend for its first taxi more »

The world is getting faster and more vertical. Literally. The trend was on full display on Monday when Bell Helicopter made the first flight of its remarkable V-280 Valor. According to Bell, the new aircraft provides “unmatched agility, speed, range and payload capabilities at an affordable cost.” We’re skeptical about the “affordable” part, though aircraft more »

After a brief hiatus, during which the first confirmed reports of drone/aircraft collisions came in, the registration requirement for non-commercially flown small (0.55 – 55 pound) drones is back. Recreational drone registration was first required towards the end of 2015. It was then struck down last May by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the more »

The autonomous future is here, people. Recently Boeing’s Aurora Flight Sciences conducted a series of autonomous flights of a UH-1 Huey outfitted with autonomous systems. The idea is to be able to use helicopter for resupply or cargo missions without having to put a human pilot in harm’s way in the process, and Aurora said more »

The NTSB final report on the September 21 collision between an Army UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter and a DJI Phantom 4 small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS/drone) is something of a cautionary tale regarding what not to do when flying a UAS. For the basic facts, the collision occurred near Hoffman Island, New York, at around more »