Even the most basic aircraft trainer includes gyroscopic instruments, due to their overwhelming importance for flight and navigation. The three most critical of these instruments are the artificial horizon, heading indicator, and turn indicator. If used properly, these indicators allow a pilot to fly using instruments alone, even if the view outside the cockpit is completely obscured by weather. Read more >>

Wings provide the critical force of lift that an aircraft needs to achieve flight. They do so because the shape of the wing, or airfoil, is such that as air passes over and under it, the air traveling under it is moving faster and creating more pressure, thus generating lift. This phenomenon is called Bernoulli’s principle, after the Swiss mathematician who first described the effect. The shape of the wing depends on a variety of design factors, such as the amount of lift generated, balanced, and stability, and can be straight or swept back, rounded or squared at the tips, or tapered or not. Read more >>

If you were to ask anyone in the aviation industry what can damage a plane, you’d get an entire laundry list ranging from faulty manufacturing to icing on the plane’s exterior to a bird getting sucked up into the engine. If you specifically asked an aircraft maintenance team, you’d probably get one word— vibrations. Jet engine vibrations can be extremely harmful if left unchecked. Parts that are not placed and secured in the jet aircraft engine properly can result in cracking, general metal fatigue, and engine failure. Read more >>

Garmin has recently been approved to use the GFC 500 autopilot in a variety of aircrafts. Some include the Cessna 172 as well as the 182. The GFC 500 autopilot is self-monitoring and allows for a lot of benefit while the aircraft is in flight. This GFC 500 is also a very low maintenance upkeep, especially when compared to other models and systems. While in autopilot, the pilot still has the ability to make manual adjustments on things like speed and altitude using keys and knobs. There is also a button that can level out the aircraft while in autopilot if needed. Read more >>

Gilat and Hughes are set to unveil their new high-performance dual Ka- and Ku- band aero antenna on a single antenna platform. The new product is said to offer favorable weight and drag characteristics and it is based on a new platform. Read more >>