Planes

The Skyview Turns Your Tray Table Lock Into a Hands-Free Device Mount

There’s finally a good reason not to feel complete and utter resentment towards the flight crew that made you fold and lock your seat tray up. Griffin’s Skyview is a universal hands-free adapter designed to hold everything from a Galaxy S4 to an iPad Mini using the locking mechanism of most tray tables as a…

You Can Watch Live TV In-Flight on Your iPad on Southwest Now

Flying can be so very boring. But Southwest Airlines is making it a little less of a yawn fest, and it won’t cost you anything. The airline just added a free, on-demand and live TV inflight streaming service called TV Flies Free in partnership with DISH. TV content is accessible through the Dish Anywhere and…

Future Stunt Pilots Could Train in These All-Electric Planes

Didier Esteyne and EADS turned heads at the 2011 Paris Air Show when they debuted the the world’s first all-electric airplane, the single-seat Cri-Cri. Fast forward two years, and the miniscule Cri-Cri has grown into a sleek tandem-seat training craft that’s as green as it is acrobatic. Dubbed the E-Fan, this Light Sport Aircraft prototype…

A Private Jet Catalog That Actually Flies: This Is How You Sell Luxury

When you’re dealing with clients who will potentially be spending millions of dollars on your product, it doesn’t hurt to splurge a little on your promotional items. After all, you’ve got to spend money to make money, so the brochure for Embraer’s new Lineage 1000 private jet was designed to fly just like the aircraft…

This Inflatable Aircraft Carrier Houses a Solar-Powered Wonder Plane

When you’re flying around the world in a lightweight solar-powered plane with a wingspan larger than most commercial airliners, you need to guarantee you’ve always got a safe place to store it on the ground. So the support team behind the Solar Impulse, the world’s first globe circumnavigating solar-powered aircraft, decided that the easiest way…

This Russian Mobile SAM Site Could Be a Serious Ace Up Syria’s Sleeve

Coalition airstrikes helped turn the tides of the Libyan revolution in favor of the rebels; why not do the same in Syria? Because the Syrian government may or may not have just taken possession of one of the most frightening anti-aircraft batteries ever devised, that’s why. The Russian-made S-300 long-range SAM (surface-to-air) system, known as…

First Footage of an F-35B Taking Off Straight Into the Air

Finding a suitable runway to launch your multibillion dollar fighter jet from isn’t always as easy as it sounds. That’s why the F-35B Lightning II is designed to with the ability to both take off and land without ever needing to taxi. Here’s the first look at its vertical launch. Earlier this month at the…

Watch This Badass Pilot Save the Day With a Ballsy No-Wheel Landing

Last night, the pilot of US Airways Express Flight 4560 was having some bad luck. The landing gear on his turboprop twin-engine plane just wouldn’t go all the way down. So with some quick thinking and righteous piloting skills, he went in for a wheelless, sparky touchdown, and pulled it off without a hitch. After…

Why Your Ears Pop (And What to Do If They Don’t)

Flying sick was a bad choice. Your congested ears refuse to pop and now you’re stuck on a cross-country flight, cruising at 30,000 feet of ear-splitting agony. Here’s how to fix it. Under Pressure The surface of the Earth is covered in a thick atmospheric soup. Though only a fraction of the density of our…

Believe It or Not This Concrete RC Plane Actually Flies

Had the Wright Brothers foolishly chosen to build their original flyer from concrete, their names probably wouldn’t have gone down in the history books. But South Dakota School of Mines & Technology students David Haberman and Tyler Pojanowski did, and were the first to fly and safely land an 18 pound remote control concrete aircraft.…

Pulling Your Parachute While You’re Still on the Plane Is Not Fun

Wait for it. Wait for ittttt. Waaaitttt forrr itttt. Waai… and then boom, there it is. This poor guy accidentally deployed his parachute too early. So early that he was still on the plane. As you can imagine, he immediately got sucked out of the plane. It’s like a scene from the movies, the parachute…

F-16s Are Even More Awesome from the Inside

Goose only wishes he had moves like these. This stunning dash cam footage from an F-16 attached to the 51st Wing captured some intense aerial action at the recent Red Flag-Alaska exercises—including mid-air refuelings, targeted bomb strikes, low-altitude flybys, and even a cameo appearance by a B-2 stealth bomber. Makes Vegas’ F-22s look downright tame.…

The Military’s New Flying Gas Station Will Be Open 24/7 Worldwide

KC-135 Stratotanker planes have been refueling fighter craft in-flight for more than 60 years. While such longevity is commendable, the US military’s fleet of mid-air refuellers is in desperate need of an update. And that’s where this new flying gas station comes in. The Boeing KC-46A is a derivative of the Boeing 767-200 built at…

A 9/11 Plane Part Has Been Found in New York City

The NYPD is saying that a 5-foot long airplane part of a 9/11 plane has been found in an alley near the World Trade Center. The landing gear part, which came from one of the airplanes that crashed into the Twin Towers, was found three blocks from Ground Zero. It’s incredible given that it’s been…

Virgin America Installed a New In-Flight System to Help You Get Laid

Richard Branson: eccentric billionaire, adrenaline junky, sworn enemy of neckties, and now—matchmaker. That’s right; Richard Branson wants to get you laid. What’s more, he wants to get you laid in the sky. Yes, Branson’s Virgin America airline has just launched a new feature for its in-flight entertainment system that allows single (or not single, what…

Watch an Airplane Turn Fog Into Beautifully Spinning Cloud Spirals

We’ve seen planes create a fiery vortex in the sky before, but here’s a more peaceful version of it happening in real time. It’s majestically beautiful. The wingtip vortices formed when an Airbus A340 landed at Zurich Airport on a foggy night. Though it looks gorgeous, vortices can be pretty dangerous. https://gizmodo.com/the-coast-guard-creates-a-fiery-vortex-in-the-sky-5919857 Wingtip vortices occur…

The Most Popular Seats on an Airplane Are At the Very Back

Where do you like sitting on an airplane? At the very front or the very back? At a window or an aisle? According to research by British Airways, the most popular seats on a Boeing 747 are 51B/51C, 52B/52C, 51H/51J and 52 H/52J. That’s all the way in the back of the plane. Those seats…

When luxury cars become beautiful pieces of furniture

Cars, motorcycles and airplanes aren’t just a means of getting from A to B — they’re also beautiful design classics that express your personality. So it’s not surprising that people are turning some of the world’s most beautiful vehicles into part of their home decor. See for yourself! Above: Park your car in your living…

Texting has been linked to its first fatal plane crash. Tomorrow the NTSB meets to decide if the distraction caused it.

Future Spy Planes Could Get a Lift from Ionic Thrusters

While hybrid planes like the the 787 Dreamliner and SUGAR concept are far more fuel efficient than conventional airliners, they do still rely on a non-renewable and increasingly limited supply of jet fuel. However, recent tests conducted at MIT suggest that tomorrow’s planes could take flight on the wings of an ionic breeze. Officially known…