Interesting Airplanes

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun says the company will lose $660 million on the $4 billion deal it signed to build two new replacements for the VC-25 executive transports that are often used as Air Force One. In an earnings call on Wednesday Calhoun appeared to suggest that former President Donald Trump got the better of […]

Textron is paying $235 million for Slovenian electric aircraft innovator Pipistrel. The company announced the closure of the deal on Wednesday and said the acquisition will expedite the mainstream incorporation of electric aircraft. “Pipistrel has already achieved what many other companies only aspire to—certifying and delivering highly regarded electric aircraft to customers around the world,” […]

Every year at Sun ‘n Fun one or two planes generate a buzz that sparks everyone’s interest. This year, that plane is the Scale Wings SW-51, straight from Eggenfelden, Germany. What distinguishes this 70% replica of the iconic P-51 Mustang fighter of World War II is the unbelievable attention to detail. The whole airframe is […]

The National Aeronautic Association has awarded the coveted Collier Trophy to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter team for “the first powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet, thereby opening the skies of Mars and other worlds for future scientific discovery and exploration.” The little drone with counter-rotating rotors has logged a […]

A Canadian manufacturer says climate change prompted its move to build an updated version of a popular waterbomber. De Havilland Canada announced it has received 22 orders from European customers to go ahead with development of the DHC-515 amphibious flying boat waterbomber. The aircraft is an update of the Bombardier CL-415. De Havilland bought the […]

A lot of french fries went into Airbus’ latest sustainability photo op. The planemaker flew its first flight test A380 with one engine burning 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) made from used cooking oil and other waste fats on two flights last Friday and Monday, putting more than five hours on the carbon neutral […]

Ukraine aircraft manufacturer Antonov is launching an international fundraising campaign to find the $3 billion it says will be needed to build another An-225 cargo plane. The only An-225 was destroyed during a battle for control of Hostomel Antonov Airport near Kyiv in late February. It’s not clear if the aircraft was intentionally attacked or […]

Joby Aviation says it’s taken a big step toward certification of its eVTOL aircraft with the first submission of its novel staged approach to the process. Rather than present the finished aircraft for certification, Joby is conducting the first ever “area-specific certification plan” for the tilt rotor design. The first plan covers cabin safety and […]

The Canadian government has grounded a Russian cargo aircraft after the plane delivered a load of COVID-19 tests—for the Canadian government. The Volga Dnepr An-124, now the largest civilian cargo plane in operation, arrived at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on Feb. 27 on one of a series of charter flights for the Canadian government’s pandemic […]

Ukraine says it wants to rebuild the AN-225 destroyed during fighting at Gostomel Airport in late February. “The biggest plane in the world ‘Mriya’ (The Dream) was destroyed by Russian occupants on an airfield near Kyiv,” Ukraine’s official Twitter site said. “We will rebuild the plane. We will fulfill our dream of a strong, free, […]