Flight engineer reveals what it was really like to operate supersonic jet Concorde

As the flight engineer, it was Hazelby’s job to operate the controls – to make the adjustments needed to ensure the aircraft safely punched through the sound barrier to reach speeds of over Mach 2. That first day, Hazelby looked at the floor to ceiling panel and felt “very nervous.” Flight engineer colleagues had warned him Concorde duties were all consuming – he’d barely have time to eat or drink a cup of coffee for the duration of the flight. (www.cnn.com) More...

Airhart Startup Planning Semi-Autonomous Light Aircraft

Nikita Ermoshkin, a former SpaceX engineer and now co-founder and CEO/CTO of Airhart, has developed a whole new approach to entry-level flying that uses software and hardware to control some, but not all, aspects of flight. With fly-by-wire connections to the control surfaces like ailerons, rudders, and elevators, as well as throttle, the software won’t allow you to over- or under-adjust anything. (www.autoweek.com) More...