Entries from August 2010 ↓

Gulfstream’s new G650 recently reached Mach 0.995 on a test flight, which the company says establishes the business jet as the world’s fastest civil aircraft. That title that has long been held by Cessna’s Citation X, which flies at Mach 0.92. Gulfstream said the G650 achieved the maximum speed during flutter testing, when the test crew took Serial Number 6001 into a dive, pitching the nose 16 to 18 degrees below the horizon. During the dive, flutter exciters introduced a range of vibration frequencies to the wing, tail and flight control surfaces to ensure the aircraft naturally dampened out the oscillations without input from the pilots. “The airplane is very predictable,” said test pilot Tom Horne. “It’s very easy to control and to get precise control at those speeds.”

Kansas State University Aviation has picked seven winners from a daily scholarship drawing conducted at AirVenture 2010.

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===> Posted on August 31, 2010 by Janice Wood. No comments. © GAN 2010

Pilots along the Eastern coast of the U.S. should prepare for Hurricane Earl, a Category 4 storm that experts say has a 25% chance of landfall by the end of this week, according to report at Examiner.com, which notes:

“The affect of Earl on general aviation could be significant, especially with what appears to be the next system, Fiona, following almost directly in his footsteps. Current models, even though disagreeing an an exact location for landfall, if any, all have Earl sweeping up along the east coast, effecting virtually every state from Florida through Maine and into Nova Scotia, Canada.”

===> Posted on August 31, 2010 by Janice Wood. No comments. © GAN 2010