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Before the computer-aided, laser-guided smart bombs of today, quick-thinking and well-trained bombardiers had to use math to calculate their bomb drops. At the dawn of aviation, it was easy enough in slow-moving fabric-on-frame biplanes. But when the fast-moving high-altitude bombers of World War II came along, the challenge required new technology. Bombsights were devices that

Many people have heard of the NTSB, but few realize the importance of this government organization. So what is the NTSB, what do they do, and how do they do it? The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is the US government body in charge of investigating not only airplane crashes, but accidents in other transportation sectors

Safety Management Systems (SMS) have been adopted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as the gold standard in effectively managing risk. The need for aviation companies to have a Safety Management System became apparent as safety cultures have shifted away from reactive risk management towards proactive and predictive risk

Few things capture the imagination of aviation lovers quite like aerobatic teams. The United States has the Blue Angels, and the United Kingdom has the Red Arrows, but where did this British band of aerobatic daredevils come from? From Henry V’s legendary longbow men to Robin Hood to the Powell/Pressberger “Archers” filmmaking duo, archery symbolism

There are many types of pilot license issued by the FAA. Many people are familiar with the private and commercial licenses, but you might not realize that there are several others you can get, such as the sport pilot certificate. The sport pilot license was created to provide an easy and less expensive way for

Whether you’re flying into or out of an area that is subject to a lot of cold weather or are traveling during winter, the risk of your plane becoming an icicle is real. Thankfully, deicing measures can melt and thaw that ice and get you ready for takeoff. Airplane deicer is made of a simple

For decades engineers have been trying to combine the best qualities of helicopters and airplanes to create an airplane that can hover. As a result, different types of vertical-take-off-and-landing have been produced, some more successful than others. Both airplanes and helicopters offer impressive capabilities, but they are, in some cases at least, mutually exclusive. Helicopters

Is there anything worse than the sound of a baby screaming and wailing away on an airplane? How about being attached to them as their overwhelmed parent? Babies cry on airplanes mostly due to cabin pressure pressing down on their fragile ears. Babies’ ears are more sensitive than adults ears, and they are mostly unable

“From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli,” the United States Marine Corps has been involved in some of the fiercest combat in US history – and thus requires helicopters worthy of “The Few, the Proud, the Marines.” Part of the reason the USMC is such a vaunted fighting force is that they

From its service in Operation Friction to dazzling aerial shows to its place in the Canadian economy, the Royal Canadian Air Force has served valiantly in the decades since its inception. These jets have done the Great White North proud. Far too often, it’s forgotten that Canada entered WWII before America, such is the shadow