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Night vision for civilian pilots

Flying your Bell Ranger in a ball cap is something of a fashion statement. But it lacks that iconic, ant-head panache that until recently only military pilots wearing restricted, government-use-only night vision-equipped helmets could pull off.

The NVAG-6 Night Vision Goggles change all that. They're the first night vision goggle certified by the FAA for civilian use, according to manufacturer Nivisys. Of course, looks are not what will sell this gear. It's the safety margin they can potentially add to low-light and nighttime flying (PDF).

"This is a historical moment for civil aviator night vision safety. Nivisys … Read more

After flight delays, FAA may add backup system

In the wake of a computer failure that caused delays for 646 U.S. flights on Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration plans to upgrade its decades-old technology for flight-plan processing and potentially add a third backup system.

The FAA's central system in Atlanta for handling all U.S. flight plans went down Tuesday because of a corrupted file, according to a FAA representative. Then, when the administration's secondary and lone backup system in Salt Lake City got bogged down with repeated re-entries of flight plans from the airlines, the malfunction caused major delays at airports in Atlanta, Boston, … Read more

U.S. flight delays pegged to FAA computer woes

Updated at 3 p.m. PDT with details from the FAA.

Hundreds of flights were delayed in cities across the country Tuesday because of a computer failure in the Federal Aviation Administration's system for processing flight plans.

A representative from the FAA said a software problem in the administration's central system for processing flight plans, based in an Atlanta office, caused the system to go down at about 1 p.m. EDT on Tuesday. That failure prompted a backup system in Salt Lake City to take over flight-plan processing, but a backlog in the handover caused flight delays … Read more

This flight sim can help get a pilot's license

VRX may have trumped other racing simulators with the "Triple Screen Limited Edition 001," but what about gamers who would rather take their skills to the air? The aptly named HotSeat, which is no stranger to ground racing either, has taken its efforts aloft in a big way with its latest Flight Sim Ultimate Chassis."

In addition to the panoramic view created by its three 22-inch LCDs, the chassis features six speakers, 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound, and a custom quad-core PC with 4GB of memory and a 512MB Nvidia graphics card. And Dvice says the … Read more

ATA Airlines detains passenger for using iPhone in 'airplane mode'

Apparently putting your iPhone in airplane mode is not the digital equivalent of returning your seatback to the upright position.

A flight attendant for ATA Airlines recently asked a flier watching a movie midflight on the way to Hawaii to shut off his iPhone, not for the perfectly reasonable reason that the man was watching the inane Jennifer-Love Hewitt vehicle I Know What You Did Last Summer, but because you're not allowed to use cell phones inflight. Casey, the iPhone user, told Consumerist that he tried several times to explain to the flight attendant that the iPhone was in &… Read more

Thoughts on emergency locator transmitters

As the search for aviator Steve Fossett continues, I've been thinking about the ways we try to track down missing people.

One of the leading independent experts on ELTs (emergency locator transmitters) is Doug Ritter, editor of the Equipped to Survive Web site. Ritter has written extensively about ELTs, which are installed on aircraft; EPIRBs, or emergency position-indicating radio beacons, which are carried on boats; and PLBs, or personal locator beacons, which are carried by individuals. If you have any interest in the subject, you should check out his Web site.

Ritter's most recent blog post, dated Thursday, concerns a recent memo from the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board to the administrator of the… Read more

Not a bird or a plane, it's Cyberbug

If, on your next flight, you look out the window and see something that resembles a 15-inch, folded cellophane glider zipping by, don't call the USAF crank line. Chances are it's a newly certified Cyberbug.

While unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of all sizes swarm over Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza and other war-torn venues, they are much more restricted in the skies above the United States, especially those that are experimental. For instance, the Cyberbug is the recipient of one of only 12 "Experimental Airworthiness Certificates" (EACs) issued by Federal Aviation Administration, which allows it to be flown … Read more