flight+

It is possible to meet the lover of your dreams on a plane.

Usually, this involves being fortunate enough to have them sit next to you. Idle chatter is exchanged and, before you know it, you're living together.

A serious amount of serendipity is needed for a happy ending in the air. So Virgin America has decided it should broaden your chances.

As ClickOrlando teases it, your in-flight entertainment system will now offer the potential of some off-flight entertainment too.

For, should you see a man, woman or stuffed toy that sparks your amorous aspirations, you will be able … Read more

Your Kindle could finally be liberated during take-off and landing on flights in the U.S. by this time next year.

Many of us have had the experience of doing a double-take when the flight attendant asks us to power down an e-reader, even when it's already in airplane mode. My old-school Kindle isn't even backlit -- there are probably more emissions coming through the fillings in my teeth; perhaps I should stow those under the seat in front of me as well?

I'm guessing that might freak out the federal air marshal aboard my next flight.… Read more

HANOVER, Germany--Enough with the cutesy little quadcopter drones.

Instead of pint-sized four-rotor aircraft good enough to experiment with swarm dynamics or to carry small cameras, German startup E-volo is building an 18-rotor model that can carry a human passenger. It's the latest attempt to realize the dream of the flying car.

The Karlsruhe-based company plans to begin selling its VC200 in 2015, said Jeromin Schwenk, a student with the Karlsruhe University of Applied Science who's one of about 60 people working on the project.

"It's going to be the personal aircraft for everyone," Schwenk said, … Read more

I love it when engineers show off.

NASA scientists, having apparently nothing better to do, have shot an image of the Mona Lisa to the moon by piggybacking it on laser pulses. Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece was successfully received by an instrument aboard the agency's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) some 240,000 miles away.

"This is the first time anyone has achieved one-way laser communication at planetary distances," MIT's David Smith, head of the spacecraft's Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA), said in a release.

"In the near future, this type of simple laser communication might serve as a backup for the radio communication that satellites use. In the more distant future, it may allow communication at higher data rates than present radio links can provide." … Read more

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has thrown his agency's support behind the greater use of portable electronic devices on airplanes during flights.

The Federal Aviation Administration should "enable greater use of tablets, e-readers, and other portable devices," the FCC's Julius Genachowski said in a letter today to FAA acting chief Michael Huerta.

The FAA currently prohibits airline passengers from using devices during takeoff and landing for fear that transmissions will interfere with the airplane's equipment, but the FAA recently formed a committee to reconsider its policy on when electronic devices can be turned … Read more

One might say Bertrand Piccard has daring adventure in his blood.

The 54-year-old Swiss balloonist's grandfather set an altitude record, while his father was one of the first people to explore the deepest part of the world's oceans. But now Piccard and his partner Andre Borschberg are aiming to enter the record books with an around-the-world flight in a solar-powered plane that can fly at night without fossil fuel.

Piccard and Borschberg spoke with Bob Simon for a "60 Minutes" report to be broadcast tonight about the Solar Impulse, a slender aircraft that weighs only about … Read more

Between crowded airports, winter delays, and luggage loaded with gifts, holiday travel can be stressful. But with a little planning, you can make your trip a little easier from start to finish. So rather than gathering up a collection of apps that help you book flights, we decided to make a different kind of travel collection.… Read more