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Examining over 100 years of flight automation and the history of the autopilot

Aerotime

Flying for extended periods of time at the controls of a basic aircraft was hard physical work, and poor weather or mechanical issues could also add to pilot fatigue on longer flights. Sperrys first autopilot was born from the concept of assisting pilots during longer flights and reducing their workload, both physical and mental.

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The Convair XC-99: A Forgotten Giant at Davis-Monthan AFB

Vintage Aviation News

In modern aviation, military cargo aircraft adhere to well-established design principlestypically featuring high wings, T-tails, and undercarriage mounted below the fuselage. The Birth of a Giant During the 1940s, cargo aircraft were relatively straightforward in design, usually featuring two to four engines, low wings, and straight tails.

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The Fabulous Flamingo: Gino Lucci’s Journey from Air Force to Aviation Salvage and a One-of-a-Kind Motorhome

Vintage Aviation News

Air Force with the dream of becoming a B-52 tail gunneran ambition that was cut short when the position was phased out during his training. “And when we first took it down the road, the plane wanted to weather vane into the wind, so we had to adjust the chassis until we found the sweet spot.” He enlisted in the U.S.

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Flight Test Files: Convair XF-92A Dart

Vintage Aviation News

Besides validating the thin delta wing principle, the XF-92A played a major role in supporting the development of the Convair F-102A interceptor, the Air Forces first attempt at an all-weather, supersonic interceptor. Photo NACA/NASA

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Voices from Combat: The Consolidated PB2Y Coronado Becomes a Bomber

Vintage Aviation News

A short 18 months later, on August 13, 1937, the XPB2Y-1 took to the skies for the first time, revealing plenty of room for improvement lateral instability was a major problem for the deep-hulled boat, so the single tail fin was augmented by two smaller fins on the horizontal stabilizers. “Very little,” the gunner reported.

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Inflight connectivity

Professional Pilot

Powered by Collins’ IRT NX Satcom system, the service leverages the Iridium NEXT constellation of 66 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites for high data rates and reliable, fade-free connectivity even in poor weather conditions. The system also has a small footprint, with only one tail mount antenna and 2 LRUs.

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Two Weeks in the RV

Plane and Pilot

This was another satisfying trip, full of ADM, IMSAFE, and trade-offs—and weather. The weather was… interesting. Fussing with the avionics to keep tabs on the weather gave many more knob touches than the airplane itself. The FAA weather said a thunderstorm was forecast, gusts to 6 knots. Lesson learned.

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