CommercialProduct Focus: Handsets We live in a time when everyone demands constant communications. People want to stay in contact with their lives. Think of it. Fifteen years ago the cell phone business essentially did not…
ATM ModernizationNew Products Book about Free Flight The noted author and long-time national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, James Fallows, has published a book entitled Free Flight: From Airline Hell to a New Age of…
MilitaryRussian Airborne Computers Avionics Technology has progressed in the former Soviet Unio and now Russia, but at a slower pace than in the West. And today that progress faces economic roadblocks. At major airshows, we…
ATM ModernizationSafety in Avionics: Blocked Radio Transmissions Blocked radio transmissions represent a significant safety hazard, and they have contributed to at least two fatal airline accidents. A remedy has been available for years, but it has yet to be…
ATM ModernizationIndustry Scan Airlines Select Avionics Air transport carriers recently selected avionics systems to update their existing aircraft or install in aircraft on order. Here are some examples: Continental Airlines plans to retrofit 208 of…
Business & GAUAVionics in the U.S.: Part I A quick look at unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) in operation or development reveals their amazing variety. In wingspan, they range from six inches (15 cm) to 247 feet (75 meters). In flight…
ATM ModernizationAvionics Systems Design: Gratuitous Technology These days, technology seems to race along unfettered by either logic or utility–not to mention quality and support–in a ceaseless quest for "new-ness" and market position. This condition expresses itself in weird…
Business & GAEditor's Note: Pilots Not Needed Pardon this rather seditious inquiry, but on how many missions do we really need pilots? They probably are needed on most missions–for now. But that may change soon. At the flight line…