A year and a half ago, Ted wrote about the announcement of a very interesting aircraft. It sounded like a great idea, but also had a hit of being one of those projects that hangs around for years without ever making much ground. Thankfully, that is not the case for this aircraft. As reported by the Associated Press on Google News, we're please to note that Bertrand Piccard unveiled the first Solar Impulse prototype on Friday!

I recently wrote about a presentation to the Atlanta Aero Club by Cirrus co-founder Alan Klapmeier. His tone was optimistic and forward-thinking. According to BusinessNorth.com, Klapmeier's forward thinking is reaching even further...he is considering making a push to find investors and split the SF 50 Jet program from the company he founded.

There has been some buzz lately over the discovery and reconstruction of a Nazi aircraft called the Horten 229. This was one of the many impressive Nazi machines that wasn't developed until too late into the war to be fully fielded. Aside from being absolutely beautiful, this aircraft warrants special interest because it successfully employed stealth technology decades ahead of its time.

The state of Florida significantly hurts itself with some outrageous "use tax" laws. Until recently, pilots feared even stopping for fuel in Florida because they expected Florida to slap them with a 6% tax for just contributing to the state economy. The AOPA has been fighting this unreasonable tax, but even just a year ago a letter from Florida Governor Charlie Crist showed that the state was still determined to punish tourists and business people alike for flying to Florida. However, the AOPA just received a new letter from the Florida Department of Revenue that shows someone in the state government has some reasoning abilities.

In spite of tough times, several VLJ companies are still going strong. One of those, Stratos Aircraft, is bringing a full-scale cabin mock-up to Oshkosh and hoping for some constructive feedback from potential customers.

Raptor attack! from Billwhit on Vimeo.

Most of us aren't lucky enough to cruise around in an ejection seat all day... that is, until now. Check out this work of art, complete with red upholstery. It's made from a B-52 ejection seat, although I doubt that red was the original color. Makes me feel like going fast just looking at it...

This massive feat of engineering is the runway at Madeira Airport, formerly Funchal Airport, in Portugal. Designers decided that it was a better use of space to support their runway extension with 230 ft tall concrete pillars rather than fill everything in. The design has even won an award for engineering. This defintely goes on the great future places to land list... right after I grab that private jet I've always wanted.