After weeks of trying, SpaceX on Wednesday finally succeeded in landing its Mars Starship booster. But five minutes after touchdown—possibly due to a methane leak—the rocket exploded in a spectacular ball of fire on the Boca Chica, Texas, recovery pad. Two previous attempts to land the booster after successful low-altitude test flights ended in fiery […]
Most of us spend our time aloft droning along in straight-and-level flight. For the typical pilot, turns are reserved for the traffic pattern or flying an approach, and occasionally for entering a holding pattern or performing a course reversal. And we rarely exceed 30 degrees of bank. On one hand, that’s okay, since our relative […]
The FAA has chosen five host airports to test technologies designed to “detect and mitigate potential safety risks” presented by unmanned aircraft systems (UAS/drones). The airports selected are New Jersey’s Atlantic City International Airport (ACY); Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR) in New York; Rickenbacker International Airport (LCK) in Columbus, Ohio; Huntsville International Airport (HSV) in […]
NetJets has signed an agreement with supersonic aircraft developer Aerion that includes purchase options for 20 Aerion AS2 supersonic business jets. According to Aerion, the deal brings the value of its order backlog to approximately $10 billion. The company also announced plans to collaborate with aviation training provider FlightSafety International to develop a flight training […]
The FAA has approved the Johnson & Johnson “one-shot” COVID-19 vaccine for pilots and others who “perform safety sensitive duties.” Previously, the agency had approved the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines and, as with those, the J&J alternative carries a brief waiting period before resuming duties. The approval came on the same day the FDA issued […]