Aviation technology analysis with Vector. Electric aircraft, avionics advances, eVTOL certification, satellite connectivity, and the engineering innovations shaping the future of flight.
How Don Bateman's Ground Proximity Warning System and terrain databases nearly eliminated controlled flight into terrain accidents.
Radio Hangar explores Garmin Electronic Stability and Protection, the Autopilot Servos That Push Back When You Get Too Slow or Too Steep, and the Quiet Kind of Cockpit Automation Nobody Ever Turns On.
Radio Hangar explores Joby, Toyota, and the S Four eVTOL Betting That a Car Company Can Teach an Aircraft Startup to Actually Build Things.
Radio Hangar explores Pegasus and the Stargazer, the L Ten Eleven Airliner That Drops a Rocket Off Its Belly to Reach Orbit.
Radio Hangar explores REGENT, the Viceroy Seaglider, and the Wing-in-Ground-Effect Machine That Flies a Wingspan Off the Water to Cheat Both the Boat and the Airplane.
How Harbour Air and magniX turned a 1940s De Havilland Beaver into the world's first all-electric commercial aircraft in 2019.
The Lightspeed Delta Zulu builds a carbon monoxide detector into the ear cup - here's why that engineering choice matters for pilot safety.
Garmin Smart Glide turns an engine failure into a managed glide to the nearest reachable runway with one blue-button press - here's what it does and doesn't do.
Radio Hangar explores JetZero, the Z-4 Blended Wing Body, and the Tube-and-Wing Airplane the Air Force Is Betting Fifty Years Late.
Roc, the world's largest airplane by wingspan, was built to launch satellites but now drops hypersonic test vehicles for the US military.
How MEMS chips smaller than your thumbnail replaced spinning brass gyroscopes to draw the attitude indicator in modern glass cockpits.
CFM's RISE open fan engine ditches the cowling to cut fuel burn 20% versus today's LEAP, with flight tests due around 2027-2028.
The Daher TBM 940 became the first single-engine turboprop with a factory Garmin autothrottle - here's why that lever matters.
How the FAA's Privacy ICAO Address (PIA) program lets pilots keep ADS-B safety benefits while hiding their identity from public flight trackers.
How ZeroAvia's hydrogen-electric Dornier 228 flies on a fuel cell that emits only water - and the real hurdles still in the way.
EDR replaces subjective turbulence reports with an objective number that means the same thing to every aircraft in the sky.
How Regent's electric Viceroy seaglider uses wing-in-ground effect to fly a wingspan above the water and reinvent coastal travel.
How TCAS resolution advisories work, why the Überlingen midair changed the rules, and why pilots now trust the box over ATC.
In October 2023, EHang's pilotless EH216-S became the world's first type-certified passenger eVTOL - here's what that milestone really means.
The Pipistrel Velis Electro is the world's first type-certified electric airplane - here's what its 50-minute range actually proves.