Aboard the Rutan Model 76 Voyager, on December 14, 1986, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager took off from Edwards Air Force Base. On December 23, 1986 at 8:06 AM, after nine days, three minutes and 44 seconds from take-off, they landed in the same airfield, they set a flight endurance reord. The Voyager was […]
Project Star Gazer’s Balloon Reached an Altitude of 82,000 feet (25 kilometers)
On December 13, 1962, Navy astronomer William White and Air Force Captain Joseph Kittinger stepped into a small steel capsule attached to a nearly 300-foot-tall mylar balloon. Over the course of the next 18.5 hours, the balloon climbed to a staggering 82,000 feet (25 kilometers) in altitude and drifted above the desert. Project Stargazer was […]
New York Municipal Airport Opening
First Chimpanzee to Orbit Earth
Fun Fact Friday: In 1961, the first chimpanzee orbited Earth on NASA’s Mercury-Atlas 5 (MA-5) mission. This needed to be done before an astronaut could be orbited in the Mercury capsule. The chimpanzee performed a series of learned tasks on its journey, which showed that humans would have a limited functional capability in space.
First ARSR-4 Commissioned by the FAA
On April 12, 1996, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) commissioned the nation’s first Air Route Surveillance Radar 4 (ARSR-4) air route surveillance radar. An Air Route Surveillance Radar is a long-range radar system used by the United States Air (USAF) Force and the FAA to control airspace within and around the borders of the United […]
Delivery of the 600th Cessna Citation CJ3
On April 5, 2021, Textron Aviation delivered in North America the 600th Cessna Citation CJ3 aircraft. The CJ3+, an upgraded version of the CJ3, received FAA certification in 2014. It features a Garmin integrated cockpit and cabin Iridium phone; high speed internet capabilities; Garmin G3000 avionics suite , which includes turbulence detecting weather radar, […]
Delivery of the First New Embraer Phenom 300E
On March 29, 2018, Embraer delivered the first new Phenom 300E business jet, having received its type certificate in the first quarter from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and the Brazilian Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC – Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil). The new aircraft, designated “E” for “Enhanced,” […]
Maiden Flight of the Legacy 500
On March 22, 2013, Embraer announced that the third prototype of Embraer’s midsize Legacy 500 business jet had made its maiden flight. At the time Embraer said that the Legacy 500 was the first midsize jet with a six-foot, stand-up cabin; the only midsize jet with a wet galley; and the jet that offered the best […]
Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG) 50th Anniversary
Fifty years ago (March 8, 1974), began service, offering only one runway and one main terminal, which to this day is still Terminal 1. After opening, the airport was renamed to Charles de Gaulle after the former President who died in 1970). In its first year of operation, the airport handled 2.5 million passengers […]
FAA Revised Separation Standard to Protect Small Aircraft
On March 1, FAA implemented a to protect small aircraft from wake turbulence, rotating air currents trailed by large aircraft. The danger from these wake vortices had grown with the introduction of “jumbo” jetliners. The new standard required separation between a “heavy” aircraft (over 300,000 pounds) and an aircraft operating behind it to be five miles, instead […]
