Interesting Airplanes

NASA says electric aircraft technology isn’t ready for prime time and its much-hyped X-57 Maxwell test aircraft will never fly. The $87 million program (including $47 million in cost overruns) will wind up at the end of this year, and the knowledge gained by trying to get the plane into the air will be available […]

Diamond Aircraft flew its DART-750 military trainer test article for the first time on June 12 and, as expected, all went well. The longish thin-winged hot rod sports a 750-horsepower Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-25C and is billed as an aerobatic trainer by the company. Diamond test pilots Soren Pedersen and Niko Daroussis flew the […]

Honda Aircraft has announced it will produce its 10-passenger HondaJet 2600 with deliveries starting in 2028. The aircraft concept was unveiled at NBAA-BACE in 2021. It’s designed for single-pilot operation and has seats for a total of 11 people. Honda said in a news release the plane will be “the first light jet capable of […]

Already known for its aircraft’s nearly instant takeoffs and landings measured in plane lengths, CubCrafters is developing a new kind of powered leading-edge slat that will shorten both. The company has unveiled its Electric Lift Augmenting Slats (ELAS) and says it has the potential for broad application in the industry. It also might blunt the […]

Hydrogen-electric propulsion company ZeroAvia has teamed with Natilus, which has designed an autonomous blended wing body cargo plane that might offer some advantages in making a commercially viable aircraft. The spacious interior of the Kona has more room to store hydrogen than conventional designs and that might tip the balance in getting the range necessary […]

China’s first domestically produced jet airliner went into revenue service on Sunday although it’s a stretch to call it a Chinese aircraft. The China Eastern Airlines C919 launched from Shanghai Honqiao Airport with about 130 passengers (it seats 164) for Chengdu and will be assigned to that route. Government officials and state-run media all gushed […]

California startup Magpie Aviation is proposing an in-flight tow system to increase the range of electric aircraft. Unless and until battery technology makes some major advances, electric aircraft useful load is limited by the need to load up with batteries to fly any distance. Magpie is testing a system that will allow a plane full […]

Simple Flying is reporting British firms Britten-Norman and Cranfield Aerospace Solutions are merging to create a series of hydrogen-electric fuel cell aircraft, the first of which is expected to be in service in 2026. Britten-Norman still makes the Islander light twin commuter and cargo aircraft, and the first hybrid design from the new company will […]

Canada will give Ukraine a Russian cargo jet it effectively seized in the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced the Volga-Dnepr An-124 will be transferred to Ukraine. The An-124 is one of the largest cargo aircraft in service and its transfer was part of a new sanctions […]

Ukraine authorities have charged the former head of Antonov with “official negligence” for failing to get the An-225 out of the country before Russian troops invaded the airport where it was located in March of 2022. According to AirLive.net, the Ukraine Security Service (SBU) allege Serhii Bychkov was supposed to order the plane flown to […]