Lindbergh and his team completed survey flights around this date before officially inaugurating the mail service on April 15, 1926. In his chief pilot role, Lindbergh oversaw the preparations and in a de Haviland DH-4 flew the route connecting Lambert Field, in St. Louis, to Maywood Field, in Chicago, with stops in Springfield and Peoria. Lindbergh […]
Flight of the First Commercially Certified Helicopter Bell Model 47 NC1H
The NC1H fell to the ground from a height Demming estimated at 30–50 feet (9–15 meters). Photos from the helicopter suggested that the hub failed and the associated parts were thrown outward, away from the axis of rotation. With nothing to support it in flight, the rest of the helicopter dropped to the ground. As […]
Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM) Phase 1
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 […]
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 […]
Rudolph W. “Shorty” Schroeder Reached World-Record Height of 33,114 Feet
On February 27, 1920,U.S. Major Rudolph W. “Shorty” Schroeder reached a world-record height of 33,114 feet in a LePere airplane fitted with a General Electric turbo-supercharger. When he removed his goggles to change oxygen flasks in order to continue breathing in the rarified atmosphere, the minus 63 degree air temperature immediately froze his eyeballs. Schroeder […]
Gulfstream G280 Set Overwater Record
Gulfstream G550 Set Three Transcontinental Speed Records between Cities in Asia and the United States of America
On November 21, 2005, Gulfstream Aerospace announced that a Gulfstream G550 had set three speed records. The first of the two trips began on October 28 when the G550’s took off from Seoul, South Korea, at 6:04 p.m., flew nonstop, and landed a in Teterboro, NJ, 13 hours and 45 minutes later. The flight achieved the […]
First Anniversary of the Gulfstream G280’S Entry into Service
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp first announced the G280 on Oct. 5, 2008, and its first flight took place on Dec. 11, 2009. The flight lasted 3 hours and 21 minutes and the aircraft flew to 32,000 feet or 9,754 meters. The G280 earned its type certificate from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Aug. 30, […]
The First Omnirange Airways
Before Global Positioning System (GPS), airplanes in the United States relied on VORs to fly and in poor weather pilots would navigate from one VOR to another. Each VOR is a small radio station that broadcasts on an assigned frequency. For instance, the Canarsie VOR near the JFK airport covers New York; the Robert’s VOR […]
Pilatus’ Announcement of the PC-24
The PC-24’s interior was enhanced with the goal of improving the overall passenger flight experience. The aircraft’s new integrated Cabin Management System (iCMS) featured a 10″ touch screen controller with 3D moving map, mood lighting, USB ports, four cabin speakers with a sub-woofer option, a media storage server, and a large side-facing divan that […]