Last week marked the last flight for a really cool airplane, The Airborne Laser Testbed. Back in the mid ’90s, Boeing thought it would be a great idea if they designed an airborne laser capable of destroying incoming missiles from foreign countries after they were launched. And that is exactly what they did. The heavily [...]
Introducing our tumblr page!
I think everyone enjoys a good photo. And all of us avgeeks enjoy a good aviation photo. Now, you can find all the latest news, tips and techniques in general aviation in all one great place, and, you can now find the greatest photos and pictures as well. The PreFlight now has a tumblr that [...]
We Have A New Reigning Champion
Sure, the B747-8 is really long, the A380 is big, the Spruce Goose is super wide, and the An224 is heavy. But how about something that is all of those, and much, much more? Well ladies and gentlemen, we have a new champion in the world of aviation. Introducing the Stratolaunch Systems Carrier Aircraft. This [...]
Subscribe to The PreFlight
Hey everyone, I just wanted to urge you all to follow The PreFlight on the major social networks. Each page gets notified of new posts, so you will always know when the latest and greatest is available. We also interact with our followers, and post some awesome pictures, not found on the website, from time [...]
User Fees and NexGen: Who Wants to Pay?
Let’s be honest. Pilots and “normal people” don’t always get along. They don’t like our noise, they don’t like our airports. And they think we are all millionaires who are jerks who thing they are above all others. And well… we are. In a strictly literal sense! And because we are all über wealthy, we [...]
In the event of a water landing…
Ditching is often overlooked in flight training because it is believed that unless you are making trans-oceanic flights, you won’t have to worry about it. However, that is completely wrong. Just because a pilot isn’t traversing the largest bodies of water in the world (oceans), doesn’t mean they won’t be flying over lakes, rivers and [...]
Best Ways to Enjoy Your License
This month’s issue of Plane & Pilot featured a list of 30 ideas to enjoy your pilot’s license. And while all of them were excellent ideas, I wanted to point out a few specific ones that I think are truly amazing. Fly The Bahamas – While this is geographically problematic for me, flying to the Bahamas seems like such [...]
Mid Air Collision Avoidance
Some of you may have heard the news about the recent mid-air collision between a Piper PA 44 (twin-engine) and a Bonanza V35 that took place in the Portland, Oregon area on October 25. Any pilot never wants to hear about an accident, especially one which involves a fatality. But the fact that this incident [...]
4 years, 3 months, 17 days, 5 hours and 29 minutes
Well there it is folks. After the years of delays since the rollout ceremony, the Boeing 787 has begun it’s commercial service, flying real, paying people to and from locations for revenue. This event has occurred only seven other times in the history of Boeing, since the dawn of the Jet Age. The 787 has been hailed as a [...]
Where have all the planes gone?
Yesterday, Piper Aircraft revealed that it was suspending it’s single jet engine Altaire program, due to poor forecasts for sales. The cancellation is another in the many new and exciting aircraft projects that have been canceled because of low sales and a poor economy. Several manufacturers have even shut down production of existing aircraft due to lack [...]
