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Examining over 100 years of flight automation and the history of the autopilot

Aerotime

Nowadays, modern aircraft are equipped with systems that can not only fly the aircraft but can also perform fully automated take-offs and landings and can even provide protection systems in the event of unusual flight situations that threaten the safety of the airplane and its occupants. What is an autopilot?

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The Difference Between Category, Class, and Type of Aircraft

Pilot Institute

Key Takeaways Category is the broadest grouping based on aircraft use, like airplane, glider, or rotorcraft. Heres a quick summary: Category: The broadest classification of aircraft based on their intended use and operating environment, such as airplane, glider, or helicopter (rotorcraft). no control surfaces).

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Tailless Aircraft: How Airplanes Fly Without a Tail

Pilot Institute

Have you ever seen an airplane with no tail and no vertical fin, but with just a sleek wing? How does it turn or climb without the usual control surfaces? Despite their lack of horizontal control surfaces, tailless aircraft are designed to be stable. Ever wondered how it stays balanced? What Is a Tailless Aircraft?

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Today in Aviation History: First Flight of the Sage Type 3

Vintage Aviation News

Designed to be a training aircraft for the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), the Sage Type 3 reveals the story of how a department store outfitter mobilized to build airplanes for the Royal Navy during WWI. The company that would build the Sage Type 3 had existed even before the invention of the airplane.

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Types of Pilot Licenses Explained (Student, Recreational, Private, Commercial, ATP, and more)

Pilot Institute

You may pilot aircraft with a Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW) of 1320 pounds, carry no more than one passenger, and fly only during the daytime up to 10,000 feet MSL (or 2,000 AGL). A great option for that is taking an interactive ground school, such as the private airplane pilot course on Pilotinstitute.com. Multiengine land.

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Experience in the Chair: Guiding a Twin Beech Home

Air Facts

Its maximum takeoff weight of 9,300 pounds and large cabin space made it suitable for cargo, passengers, or specialized equipment. It was common practice for tower controllers to monitor the area control centre enroute frequency. It was a winter night shift in a Western Ontario air traffic control tower.

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Approachable Excellence

Plane and Pilot

Airplanes like the Piper Cherokee probably dont get their due. Ask a stranger to think of a small GA airplane, and theyll probably conjure something like a Cub. Lets go back to that time in postwar GA when the sands shifted quickly. Fantasies revolve around high-profile aircraftthe P-51s, SR-71s, and DC-3s of the world.