RVSM is an aviation standard that reduces the required vertical separation between aircraft from 2,000 feet to 1,000 feet between flight levels FL290–FL410. This effectively doubled the number of usable cruising altitudes, improving airspace capacity and fuel efficiency. Phase 1 was essentially a controlled trial (operational evaluation) to validate safety, aircraft performance, and monitoring systems before […]
Amelia Earhart’s Second Leg of Her Around-the-World Flight
On March 20, 1937, at 5:30 a.m. Earhart restarted the engines. At 5:40 a.m., she began to taxi to the northeast corner of the runway. At 5:53 a.m. with good weather and visibility 3,500 feet in pre-dawn darkness, Earhart accelerated for takeoff. The twin-engine airplane gained momentum but suddenly, at the 1,000 foot mark the […]
First Pilot to Fly a Million Miles in a Jet Airplane
In 1959, Garlow was flying a jet-prop Vickers Viscount, which Capital Airlines first put into service on July 26, 1955. Garlow’s record was described as “a million miles of jet flying,” even though the aircraft had propellers, because in the late 1950s, turboprops like the Viscount were widely marketed as “jet-prop” or turbine aircraft since […]