According to the company, the G400 departed Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (KSAV) in Georgia and stayed aloft for 2 hours, 55 minutes, reaching a speed of Mach 0.85 and altitude of 41,000 feet.

“The aircraft accomplished this mission using a blend of sustainable aviation fuel from Gulfstream’s Savannah campus,” Gulfstream said.

• READ MORE: Gulfstream G500, G600 Hit Flight-Hour Milestone

The G400 features Gulfstream’s aerodynamic clean-wing design with winglets for better efficiency. Power is supplied by Pratt & Whitney Canada PW812GA engines. The cockpit features the Symmetry Flight Deck and Predictive Landing Performance System, which, according to Gulfstream, “helps improve flight safety and pilot situational awareness.”

The G400 can be configured with seating for nine to 12 passengers. The aircraft features the company’s signature “Gulfstream Cabin Experience” with “100 percent fresh, never recirculated air purified by a plasma ionization clean air system,” along with light from the aircraft’s 10 oval, panoramic windows. 

“The completion of the first flight marks a significant milestone for the G400,” said Gulfstream president Mark Burns. “It demonstrates, yet again, the maturity of Gulfstream’s new aircraft programs and the advantages created by the intentionally designed commonalities shared across our next-generation fleet.”

The post Gulfstream G400 Makes First Flight, Launches Test Program appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

So when the younger Goddard earned his pilot’s license near his home in British Columbia, Canada, earlier this year, he knew who would be among his first passengers. The duo slipped the surly bonds together in a Cessna 172 from Campbell River Airport (CYBL), and Ryan’s two-camera video of the flight has become a local viral sensation on Vancouver Island.

Granny lived up to her grandson’s billing as the most positive influence in his life and whose attitude helped him decide to learn to fly.

“Oh, this is so beautiful. Thank you, God, for making my life so beautiful. And take care of my most loved pilot,” Colleen said as they lifted off.

The two took a few laps around the local area, including a tour of some snow-capped mountains. A second flight is planned.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

The post Proud Granny Celebrates First Flight appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 jet demonstrator did not reach supersonic speeds during the test flight. But the inaugural flight of the aircraft—a precursor to Boom’s supersonic, sustainable aviation fuel-powered Overture—marks a key milestone nonetheless.

“When I last flew Concorde in 2003, I knew that this day would come,” said Captain Mike Bannister, former chief Concorde pilot for British Airways. “The first flight of the XB-1 supersonic demonstrator is a significant achievement toward making sustainable supersonic flight a reality.”

The XB-1, which Boom says is the world’s first independently developed civil supersonic jet, combines carbon fiber composites, advanced avionics, digitally optimized aerodynamics, and an advanced supersonic propulsion system. These technologies will also be present on Overture, which is being developed to carry 64-80 at twice the speed of subsonic airliners.

The demonstrator is 62.6 feet long with a 21-foot wingspan. Its three GE J85-15 engines produce a combined max thrust of 12,300 pounds of force. Boom chief test pilot Bill “Doc” Shoemaker took it off the runway at Mojave Air & Space Port, flying in the same airspace that has hosted many historic first flights.

“I’ve been looking forward to this flight since founding Boom in 2014, and it marks the most significant milestone yet on our path to bring supersonic travel to passengers worldwide,” said Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic.

A T-38 chase aircraft monitored the XB-1 in the air, verifying factors such as altitude, airspeed, and airworthiness during flight. The company performed an initial assessment of the XB-1’s handling qualities, including airspeed checks with the chase aircraft, and assessed its stability in the landing attitude at a high angle of attack.

According to Boom, the aircraft met all of its test objectives. These included achieving an altitude of 7,120 feet and speeds up to 238 knots (273 mph).

The test flight is meant to validate the XB-1’s key technologies, such as an augmented reality vision system comprising two nose-mounted cameras that feed a high-resolution pilot display.

Another crucial component tested was the engine, which converts kinetic energy to pressure energy with supersonic intakes that slow supersonic air to subsonic speeds. Boom says this will allow conventional jet engines to power Overture from takeoff through supersonic flight.

The next step for the engineering team will be expanding the flight envelope for the XB-1. That will allow it to validate its performance and handling qualities through and beyond Mach 1, speeds Overture is expected to reach.

Boom intends for Overture to fly at Mach 1.7, or just over 1,300 mph. For comparison, Concorde flew at Mach 2. But unlike Concorde, Overture is designed to run on 100 percent SAF.

Leonardo is the engineering lead for the Overture’s fuselage structural components integration and will manufacture the aircraft’s composite structure. Other parts that will come from suppliers include wings designed by Aernnova, nacelles manufactured by Collins Aerospace, and Honeywell’s Anthem flight deck.

Scholl previously told The New York Times that the company’s goal is to fly passengers anywhere in the world within four hours—for only $100. That’s inexpensive compared to most one-way commercial flights, let alone Concorde, which cost passengers thousands of dollars.

However, don’t worry about supersonic booms over your backyard. Overture will only fly supersonic on overwater routes, since the FAA has banned it over the continental U.S.

Boom’s order backlog for Overture includes 130 orders and preorders, including 15 aircraft for American Airlines and 20 apiece for United Airlines and Japan Airlines.

The manufacturer’s $60 million U.S. Air Force contract should help speed development of the aircraft, giving it a potential customer as well. Boom is also partnered with Northrop Grumman to design a special mission variant of Overture for potential U.S. military operations, disaster response, and high-speed surveillance.

Like this story? We think you’ll also like the Future of FLYING newsletter sent every Thursday afternoon. Sign up now.

The post Boom Supersonic Announces First Flight of XB-1 Jet Demonstrator appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

That’s because—just over three decades later in 1935—the auspicious date saw the first flight of the Douglas Sleeper Transport, or DST, which marked the first variant of the DC-3 series.

When the final DST configuration was settled on and the first model ready for flight, it was a cool, clear day in December. Coincidentally, it was the 32nd anniversary of the Wrights’ famous flight: December 17. In the late afternoon, around 3 p.m., the airplane rolled out, but this time the flight wasn’t turned into a company lunch break or notable event, and even few of the Douglas executives took the time out to watch. It’s assumed that Doug did, but no photo remains of the occasion (if one was ever taken) and no specific notes remain on the particular flight. [Douglas chief pilot Carl] Cover’s logbook entry is simple, as though he was just testing another DC-2 off the line.

In a sense, he was—there was little in the way of dramatic leaps in technology or performance from the DC-1 to the DST, as Doug would note later on, yet it was almost a totally new airplane from a parts standpoint. Much of the change needed to stretch and widen the airplane resulted in similar but improved handling characteristics. What Cover may have noticed were the improvements to ergonomics in the cockpit, and, as the testing went on, the more luxurious interior on the DST, required by the purpose it served as a sleeper transport and not just a day plane.

—excerpt from “Honest Vision: The Donald Douglas Story”

READ MORE: The Douglas DC-3 Changed Aviation History Forever

A Key to Winning the War

Just a few years later, the DC-3’s military versions—beginning with the C-47—would prove pivotal in World War II. The capable and forgiving twin would keep its crews safe with the numerous improvements integrated into its systems and performance, while they delivered load after load of troops and cargo across oceans and to the front lines, particularly in the European Theater.

As a result of the massive mobilization of aircraft manufacturing in the wake of the establishment of the industry-led War Production Board in January 1942, the Allied Forces had the “Arsenal of Democracy,” which exceeded the 50,000 aircraft touted by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as an outline of the production effort.

The D-Day Squadron will honor the missions flown around the Normandy Invasion when it returns to those shores in May and June 2024—but also lend to its audience and participants the sense of what other massive operations would feel like witnessing from the air and on the ground. While several aircraft flying over from the U.S. participated in the commemorative occasion on the 75th anniversary of D-Day in 2019, at least one new entrant hopes to be flying in time: the C-47 ‘Night Fright’.

READ MORE: To Honor and Remember: D-Day

After D-Day

The Normandy Invasion marked a turning point in the war—and following the strikes in June 1944, it seemed that it would be nearing its end in Europe. But a few critical events remained. 

One would begin on the eve of the airplane’s 9th anniversary. On December 16, 1944, the German war machine launched one last large-scale offensive, amassing more than a million soldiers along a 75-mile front.

The Battle of the Bulge—known then as the Ardennes Offensive, as it spanned the Ardennes Forest along the German-Belgian border—caught the Allied forces by surprise, but they quickly mobilized a counter attack that once again hinged on the utilization of the C-47 fleets. Fighting the severe cold over the course of six weeks, more than a million Allied troops, including the 101st Airborne Division, brought their full force to bear. Defending the town of Bastogne, beginning on December 22, over the course of the next several days, “961 C-47s and 61 gliders dropped 850 tons of supplies and ammunition to Bastogne,” according to the RAF Mildenhall website.

To talk with the troops on the ground, those supplies proved not only critical from a logistical sense, but also in terms of morale. The pilots I spoke with while gathering stories for “Together We Fly: Voices From the DC-3” recalled the bitter cold—and the fact the brunt of the fighting took place over Christmas. Feeling far from home at a poignant time, soldiers witnessed the sight of one hundred C-47s at a time overhead, visible through the clearing skies.

So on this anniversary of the Wright Flyer’s first success, and that of the DC-3’s inaugural test flight, I think of those soldiers and count my blessings this holiday season.

Editor’s Note: You can win a flight in a DC-3 and a history package from the D-Day Squadron by entering here.

The post The Douglas C-47: A Christmas Story appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Actually, I stood ankle deep in water, soaked to my socks, even though I’d sought refuge in a giant tent with a few hundred other hardy souls. Winter in North Carolina came early—bringing a deluge of rain that threatened the celebration of the Centennial of Flight on December 17, 2003.

But I was there, reporting for another aviation outlet, waiting on the possibility that there would be a break in the weather long enough to allow Ken Hyde to see his carefully constructed reproduction of the Wright Flyer recreate the momentous event.

And I was trying to get up the guts to talk to Mike Seidel, from the Weather Channel, who stood a mere 10 feet from me. You could take Jim Cantore…as a true weather-focused avgeek, I much preferred Seidel’s more measured and thoughtful delivery of the meteorological news. But my reporter’s persona failed me, and I could not think of anything other to say than, “Hey, are your socks soaking too?” He was kind. 

In the end, the Flyer didn’t, really. In a bid to at least give something to the crowd, Hyde’s team fired up the engines, if such a verb could be applied to the 12-horsepower models that didn’t operate on magnetos, but ignited by the “opening and closing [of] two contact breaker points in the combustion chamber of each cylinder,” according to the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum’s explanation. In fact, it was a jump start operation with a battery and a coil, very much like with the original.

The roar from the crowd as those spindly props began to turn sounded seriously muted by the continuing drizzle. But our spirits held fast—knowing that invention takes a lot of trial and error, testing and failing, and bringing the results back into the equation, often literally.

No, the Flyer wouldn’t make its debut that day, in any kind of ground-breaking sense, but the lessons that Hyde learned from his work at the Wright Experience have made an impact in how we understand the inherently unstable flight of the early years of powered aviation.

Looking back on it, 20 years later, we’ve gained so much just in that span of time—and looking back even further we have much to celebrate.

I also feel strongly we’re on the cusp of more breakthroughs than we imagined possible. Certainly more than I could fathom, standing on that storied piste in 2003.

The post A Very Soggy First Flight Centennial appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The Wright Brothers Day event, which the organization hosts annually in partnership with the National Park Service, will take place at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, on Sunday. It will feature a flyover, band concert, and wreath-laying ceremony “by the descendants of the Wrights and witnesses to the first flight.” The celebration will also include speakers from the Beech family, American Bonanza Society, and National Park Service. The event, which offers free admission, is scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST.

The society will also honor Walter and Olive Ann Beech as part of the December 17 celebration. The couple co-founded the Beech Aircraft Company, later known as Beechcraft, in Wichita, Kansas, in 1932. They will be inducted into the Dr. Paul E. Garber First Flight Shrine, which honors “great accomplishments in the history of aviation,” and a portrait of them unveiled and presented during the festivities.

• READ MORE: First Flight Society Selects 2023 Honorees

Chartered in 1927, the First Flight Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. “We tell the story of the Wright brothers through community events, education, and the commemoration of the world’s very first powered flight, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina,” the organization said.

Wilbur and Orville Wright’s airplane flew for the first time in 1903, in Kitty Hawk. With Orville at the controls, the initial flight lasted 12 seconds. They flew four times that day, marking the beginning of powered, controlled, heavier-than-air flight.

More information about the First Flight Society and Wright Brothers Day event is available here.

The post Society Celebrates 120th Anniversary of First Flight appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

1903

On December 17, Wilbur and Orville Wright achieve powered flight. They make a total of four flights that day in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville is at the controls for the first flight that lasts 12 seconds and marks the beginning of powered, heavier-than-air flight.

The Wright Flyer is little more than a curiosity at this point. As the decade continues, the Wrights continue to tinker with the design. With the Wright Flyer II and Wright Flyer III, the brothers work to make the aircraft more practical, meaning controllable and stable.

This is achieved in the Wright Flyer III, which manages to fly for 24 minutes with Wilbur at the controls at Huffman Prairie outside of Dayton, Ohio. He is able to bring the aircraft back to the starting point safely and land without damage.

1913

Within 10 years of the Wrights’ achievement, the airplane is being utilized by many nations for military operations. The British Navy experiments with what will become known as aircraft carrier operation, and the United States Army makes the 1st Aero Squadron into its first official aviation squadron.

The airplane will be used in combat for the first time a few years later in World War I.

1923

It’s been 20 years since the Wrights first flew, and the airplane has evolved from a curiosity to a weapon of war as air combat was developed during WWI. With the cessation of hostilities, the airplanes are declared surplus and sold to civilians. Many are snapped up by barnstormers, pilots who fly across America landing in farmers’ fields and offering rides for a price. Around the world, air circuses with stunt pilots and aviation meets (think NASCAR with wings) are held at fairgrounds, giving many people their first real-world look at an airplane.

It is a decade of new designs and record-setting flights. In May 1927, a 25-year-old named Charlies Lindbergh becomes the first to successfully fly solo across the Atlantic. Lindbergh’s achievement spurs an interest in global aviation and air commerce, specifically airmail. He became a champion of aviation, and the growth in the industry was referred to as “the Lindbergh Boom.”

1933

In February, the U.S. Navy launches the USS Ranger (CV-4), the first ship designed specifically to be an aircraft carrier.

Record-setting flights become a thing as pilots feel the need for speed. Frank Hawks flies the Northrop Gamma Texaco Sky Chief from Los Angeles to Brooklyn, New York, in 13 hours, 26 minutes, and 15 seconds, setting a new west-to-east speed record. Hawks’ average speed on the trip is 181 mph.

In July, Wiley Post in a Lockheed Vega makes the first solo flight around the world, starting at Floyd Bennett Field in New York with stops in Berlin, Moscow, Irkutsk, Russia, and Alaska. Post’s journey covers a total distance of 15,586 miles.

On December 17, 1935, on the 32nd anniversary of the Wrights’ first powered flight, the Douglas DC-3 takes to the skies. This hearty, versatile bird is still used in both commercial operations and airshow demonstrations around the world.

• READ MORE: First Flights

1943

WWII arrives, and once again airplanes are weaponized. But instead of being made from fabric and spruce, they are made primarily from aluminum. Aviation technology grows by leaps and bounds in all areas, including aircraft construction and navigation in hopes of ending the war more quickly.

The Navy begins development of the helicopter as a platform for anti-submarine patrol, which was being done by blimps on the West Coast.

1953

On the 50th anniversary of the Wrights’ first flight, the first meeting of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) takes place in Milwaukee at Curtiss-Wright Field.

With the war over, commercial aviation grew. Aircraft formerly used to transport soldiers and war goods are repurposed to transport businessmen and vacationers.

The British introduce the de Havilland Comet as the world’s first jet airliner.

Aviation records are being set again. Aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran, who created the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) in WWII, becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier, reaching over 760 mph in steep dives in a F-86 Sabre.

1963

President John F. Kennedy announces at the U.S. Air Force Academy that the government will team up with private industry to develop a commercially viable supersonic aircraft. The British and French are working on the Concorde, and the Soviet Union is working on the Tupolev Tu-144. Boeing begins its SST project in response.

1973

The Vietnam War begins to wind down as a cease-fire agreement is entered. The U.S. has had an aviation military presence in the region since 1962, using both fixed wings and helicopters.

In June, Bonnie Tiburzi becomes the first woman to earn her wings as a pilot, at American Airlines, though Emily Howell Warner was hired earlier, in January, by Frontier Airlines. Citing her as an example, little girls already bitten by the aviation bug start asking for the junior pilot wings instead of the junior stewardess wings during airline trips with the family.

1983

Just 80 years after the technical marvel at Kitty Hawk, America’s reusable space vehicle, the space shuttle Challenger glides to a landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Aboard it, astronaut Sally Ride returns after being the first American woman in space. The Challenger will be lost during launch in 1986, taking the lives of all seven astronauts, including Christa McAuliffe, who would have been the first teacher in space.

1993

The skies are getting more crowded, and there are some growing pains. In December an accident involving a chartered business jet upset by the wake turbulence from a Boeing 757 has both the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the FAA taking a closer look at what is considered adequate distance between heavy aircraft and following light aircraft, hoping to eliminate more wake turbulence accidents. This evolves into more education for pilots on the dangers of wake turbulence and how to avoid it.

2003

Cirrus Design Corp. delivers the first glass cockpit aircraft to the training world in its SR20 and SR22 models. Within 10 years, glass panels will be the overwhelming choice of the larger flight schools in the U.S. In 2006 Cessna reports that most of the Cessna 172s it is building that year will have G1000s in them. Cirrus also has installed its Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) into both models, another safety milestone for new Part 23 aircraft.

Tragedy strikes in February when the space shuttle Columbia disintegrates on reentry after 16 days in space. All seven astronauts are killed.

On December 17, the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers means a jubilee celebration, and the aviation world is focused on Kill Devil Hills to watch the reenactment of the first flight by a reproduction aircraft built by The Wright Brothers Experience, founded by Ken Hyde. Unfortunately, the weather does not cooperate, and the famous flyer does not lift off as expected.

2013

In February, American Airlines and US Airways merge, creating the world’s largest airline, with 900 planes, 3,200 daily flights, and 95,000 employees.

Boeing makes the first of two test flights with its 787 Dreamliner, hoping to show the traveling public it has solved an earlier issue involving lithium-ion battery system overheating. The aircraft departs from the Boeing facility at Snohomish County Airport-Paine Field in the morning. Local flight schools with television watch the event, while general aviation pilots take to the sky, hoping for a glimpse of magnificent machines. The aircraft flies down the coast of Washington and halfway down the coast of Oregon before returning to base without incident.

The post Celebrating 120 Years of Aviation appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Mountain View, California-based Reliable Robotics last week announced that it successfully flew a Cessna 208B Caravan in November, with no one on board—an achievement it said was a first for aviation. The uncrewed, FAA-approved flight, which lasted about 12 minutes, was operated remotely by pilot Danah Tommalieh from a control center 50 miles away.

The Caravan, a loan from potential customer FedEx, took off from Hollister Municipal Airport (KCVH) in California’s San Francisco Bay Area. Tommalieh was stationed at Reliable’s Mountain View headquarters.

“Reliable’s successful flight of an uncrewed Cessna 208 Caravan represents a milestone for the industry in bringing new technology to aviation,” said Chris Hearne, senior vice president of engineering and programs for Textron Aviation, which includes the Cessna brand.

Textron has delivered more than 3,000 Caravans, making it one of the most widely used turboprops in the world. Reliable has been working with both Textron Aviation and Textron eAviation—the sustainable flight subsidiary of Textron—to retrofit its continuous autopilot technology onto the popular model.

Reliable’s system automates aircraft through all phases of operation, from taxi to takeoff to landing, allowing pilots to safely operate it from the ground. Redundant hardware and software automate flight control surfaces and engine controls, while redundant voice and data networks enable remote command and radio management. 

The technology is also aircraft agnostic, meaning it could one day be equipped on other Textron designs or those of different manufacturers.

Reliable’s continuous autopilot system uses advanced navigation technology and multiple redundant layers to reach a level of reliability equal to crewed flight. It can prevent both controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) and loss of control in flight (LOC-I), which Reliable says account for the bulk of fatal aviation accidents.

Automated aviation systems will most likely first appear in the cargo sector, beginning with smaller aircraft, since passengers are not on board and operations are lower risk. Manufacturers such as Reliable claim the technology can alleviate the sting of pilot shortages and will eventually be safer than crewed flight. The challenge now is getting it certified.

Last month’s milestone flight comes on the heels of a few major developments for Reliable.

In August, the company flew a crewed Caravan, equipped with its continuous autopilot system for hours at a time, over the course of three test flights for the FAA, part of the agency’s Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Airspace Management Demonstration.

That followed the regulator’s formal acceptance of Reliable’s certification plan in June, which paved the way for its autonomous system to be one of the first approved. The plan relies on existing regulations for normal and transport category aircraft, with no special conditions or exemptions.

Earlier this year, Reliable conducted first-of-its-kind flight tests with NASA through the space agency’s Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) National Campaign, which also counts electric air taxi manufacturers Wisk Aero and Joby Aviation as vehicle partners for demonstrations. Davis Hackenburg, who spearheaded NASA’s collaborations with AAM industry stakeholders, joined Reliable as vice president of government partnerships in May.

But arguably the company’s most important relationship is its collaboration with AFWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Air Force.

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) tapped Reliable in 2021 to explore how its autopilot system could support Air Force operations. Since then, it’s agreed to contracts and commissioned studies to explore how the commercially derived tech could be added to large, multiengine aircraft for military use cases, such as cargo logistics and aerial refueling. It completed an initial demonstration at Travis Air Force Base in May.

“This monumental aviation achievement is a great example of how AFWERX accelerates agile and affordable capability transitions for the world’s greatest Air Force,” Colonel Elliott Leigh, AFWERX director and chief commercialization officer for the Department of the Air Force, said of November’s flight. “This milestone accelerates dual-use uncrewed flight opportunities, increasing aviation safety and enabling us to bring a broad range of autonomous military capabilities into denied environments.”

But Reliable is looking beyond defense use cases. With a useful load of 3,000 pounds and the ability to take off from shorter runways, the company’s remotely piloted Caravan could introduce same- or next-day shipments of time-sensitive deliveries to locations currently served by piloted Caravans.

In fact, in 2022, Reliable announced plans to launch a fully owned Part 135 airline subsidiary led by former Ameriflight executives Jeff Drees and David DeRose and cargo industry veteran Lee Tomlinson. The trio of new appointees bring a combined 80 years of strategic and tactical expertise in air cargo and are preparing the company to launch commercial cargo flights.

Not long after that announcement, Reliable began working with ASL Aviation Holdings, which owns airlines in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. The global aviation services company wants to add advanced automation to its fleet of more than 160 aircraft, beginning with large twin engine turboprop freighters such as the ATR-72. 

The partners will weigh demand for remotely operated aircraft in Europe, looking at both cargo and humanitarian applications. ASL also provides outsourced cargo transport outside North America for global express carriers such as Amazon, FedEx, and DHL.

“ASL is always innovating to better serve customers, and our partnership with Reliable is aimed at enabling us to provide reliable, flexible and cost-efficient time-sensitive cargo delivery to smaller unserved areas,” said Dave Andrew, group chief executive at ASL. “[Last month’s] historic flight is a testament to Reliable’s focused leadership in advancing aviation innovation and capability for the industry.”

In addition, Reliable in June partnered with Azul Airlines, the largest airline in Brazil, to bring its remotely operated system to Latin America. The airline also has an agreement with electric air taxi manufacturer Lilium for the purchase of 220 Lilium Jets.

Like this story? We think you’ll also like the Future of FLYING newsletter sent every Thursday afternoon. Sign up now.

The post Reliable Robotics Completes Historic Cargo Flight—With No One on Board appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The Honorary Membership program was launched in 2020 to give public appreciation to those who have achieved national recognition in aviation.

About the Honorees

“The First Flight Society is proud to honor both Mack Rutherford and Erik Lindbergh with lifetime honorary memberships,” said Mike Fonseca, president of the First Flight Society. “They are both great individuals who are currently influencing the field of aviation.”

Mack Rutherford

In 2022 Rutherford, raised in Belgium, became the youngest to fly solo around the world using a microlight aircraft. Rutherford launched his epic journey from Belgium in March. The trip took five months and had him traveling through the airspace of 52 countries. Epic flights run in the family; Mack’s older sister Zara Rutherford made a similar journey in 2021 at the age of 19 in a Shark Aero UL. She was also named a First Flight Society Honorary Lifetime Member.

Erik Lindbergh

Lindbergh was literally born into an aviation family. The grandson of Charles Lindbergh, who in 1927 became the first pilot to successfully fly across the Atlantic, the younger Lindbergh has made a name for himself as an aviator, adventurer, artist, and entrepreneur. In 2002 on the 75th anniversary of his grandfather’s flight, he flew a Lancair Columbia 300 from New York to Paris.

He is also an accomplished artist, often using the natural curves of wood in sculpture. He is the co-founder and executive chairman of VerdeGo Aero, a company dedicated to creating powertrain systems and engineering services for the electric aircraft industry. In addition, he is the co-host of The Lindberghs podcast and serves as the chairman of the board of the Lindbergh Foundation. He is also on the board of trustees of the XPrize Foundation, an organization that encourages public competitions that feature technological developments designed to benefit humanity.

This year marks the 120th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ aviation achievement. Each year the FFS honors them on December 17, the date in 1923 of the historic first flight. This year’s honorees have the chance to attend the December 17 luncheon in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

The Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, was created in part by the efforts of a group of local businessmen known as the Kill Devil Hills Memorial Association, a group that later became the First Flight Society. Today, the FFS is a partner with the National Park Service, which oversees the Wright Brothers National Memorial. The FFS celebrates the anniversary of the first powered flight with the special lunch that honors an inductee into the Paul E. Garber First Flight Society Shrine. This year’s honorees are Walter and Olive Beech, the founders of Beechcraft.

More information can be found here.

The post First Flight Society Selects 2023 Honorees appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The DART-750, powered by a 750 hp Pratt & Whitney PT6A-25C powerplant, has already arrived at the Paris-Le Bourget Airport (LFPB), where it will be on static display all week at the Paris Air Show, beginning Monday.

The first test flight clocked in at 30 minutes, piloted by Diamond’s head of flight test Sören Pedersen and senior test pilot Niko Daroussis. The pair took the DART-750 through normal maneuvers, and the new platform met or exceeded expectations.

“This flight marks another major milestone in the DART-750 program and demonstrates the entire team’s hard and excellent work in getting it achieved,” said Robert Kremnitzer, Diamond’s head of the design organization.  “The positive results make us confident in moving forward with the program as intended.”

The tandem-seat trainer will be certificated on the civilian side under the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, which is expected in 2024. Up front, the DART-750 features the Garmin G3000 integrated avionics suite, familiar to transitioning pilots. The trainer will be supported by a Diamond FNPT II flight simulator and the manufacturer’s proprietary computer-based training  (CBT) system. Diamond also supports the in-person training for the aircraft with its Basic  Training Solution, including ground-based training and basic aircraft training.

The PT6A series is a proven powerplant system, having logged more than 440 million flight hours across 52,000 engines delivered.

The post Diamond’s DART-750 Makes First Flight appeared first on FLYING Magazine.