Interesting Airplanes

Part of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s long list of restoration projects is now up for sale through two prominent rare aircraft brokers. Allen died in 2018 and left hangars full of rare and historically significant aircraft in varying stages of reconstruction, many of them early military jets. According to Warbird Digest, it was generally assumed […]

Aerion Supersonic has closed shop because the millions it had so far raised from investors, plus the contributions of its billionaire owner, wasn’t going to be enough to bring its AS2 supersonic business jet to market. “The AS2 supersonic business jet program meets all market, technical, regulatory and sustainability requirements and the market for a new […]

ZeroAvia’s ambitious program to develop hydrogen-powered aircraft suffered a setback on April 29 when its Piper Malibu Mirage testbed was severely damaged in an off-airport landing in the U.K. The aircraft landed in a field adjacent to Cranfield Airport. The left wing was sheared off in the mishap, as was the nosegear. There was also […]

The massive Stratloaunch aerial launch platform took to the air on Thursday for the first time since its initial flight in April 2019. The test flight, which lasted approximately 3 hours and ten minutes, departed from California’s Mojave Air and Space Port at about 7:30 a.m. local time. According to the company, the flight was […]

Harbour Air has partnered with battery maker H55, a spinoff of the Solar Impulse circumnavigation project, to certify an electrically powered De Havilland Beaver to certification for scheduled passenger service. The airline, which serves dozens of destinations with floatplanes on Canada’s West Coast, flew a prototype version of the Beaver in late 2019 with a […]

Airbus is floating a new idea for hydrogen that it says could make electric aircraft much more efficient and therefore more viable. The company is looking at ways to use liquid hydrogen to cool superconducting components on the aircraft to greatly improve their ability to make power. “With the ASCEND demonstrator, we’ll pave the way […]

President Joe Biden might need a refresher in high school physics but his heart seems to be in the right place when it comes to advancing aviation technology. As part of the pitch on his $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal, Biden mused about harnessing the country’s R&D capabilities and develop, among other things, hypersonic passenger airliners […]

The end of the line for one of aviation’s most ambitious and ultimately costly programs came with a low pass and a wing wag from an A380 destined for Emirates on Thursday. The final double decker aircraft to come off the assembly line at Toulouse Blagnac Airport in southern France, MSN 272, took off for […]

Norwegian airline Wideroe says it will offer scheduled service using electric aircraft by 2026 and expects to be emissions-free on all domestic flights by 2040. The airline is working with Rolls-Royce and Tecnam to put the 11-seat P-volt to work on the numerous short-hop routes it flies in the rugged country. “Norway’s extensive network of […]

Joby Aviation has released the first in-flight video of its tiltrotor eVTOL after taking the somewhat secretive startup public in a deal worth $1.6 billion. The born-in-a-barn aircraft is shown going through basic flight maneuvers in the video. It appears to be unmanned and flown by remote control. It has five seats and Joby says […]