Interesting Airplanes

FAA Proposes Supersonic Aircraft Rules

The FAA has published proposed new rules that would set noise limits for a new generation of supersonic civilian aircraft. The existing regs don’t account for supersonic aircraft. Regulations acknowledging the unique requirements of supersonic aircraft will have to be in place when any of several companies now developing supersonic business jets apply for type […]

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Training Contractor Buys Surplus F/A-18s

A U.S. company will soon have a fleet of fighters that will rival that of some small countries. Air USA, which is a flight training contractor to the U.S. Air Force, is buying 46 former Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) first generation F/A-18 Hornets. The U.S. Navy only recently retired the Hornet and the Marines […]

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Bell Tests Electric Tailrotors

Bell Helicopters unveiled a 429 modified with four electrically driven tail rotors that it says has proven the concept over almost a year of testing. The Electrically Distributed Anti-Torque (EDAT) system has been flying since last May from the company’s Mirabel, Quebec, facilities and it works just fine. “This is the first time anyone in […]

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Gulfstream G700 Flies

Gulfstream’s new flagship G700 business jet had its first flight on Friday. The flight lasted two hours and 32 minutes and covered all the basic flight characteristics and system checks. The company says it’s on track to deliver airplanes in 2022 under an aggressive development campaign that it also managed to keep under wraps for […]

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Airbus Unveils Blended Wing Demonstrator

Airbus officially introduced its Model Aircraft for Validation and Experimentation of Robust Innovative Controls (MAVERIC) blended wing body technological demonstrator on Tuesday at the 2020 Singapore Airshow. Airbus believes the design could “reduce fuel consumption by up to 20 percent compared to current single-aisle aircraft.” The remote-controlled scale model demonstrator measures 2 meters (about 6.56 […]

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Dreamliner Dreams Dashed

Those dreaming of a Dreamliner for a $26 raffle ticket were brought back to earth on Friday when the Mexican government announced it will hang on to the presidential Boeing 787-8 for at least two more years. But it’s going ahead with the raffle to sell six million tickets at 500 pesos each and instead […]

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Collings, FAA Reach Agreement On Possible Future Flights

The Collings Foundation is hopeful it will be able to resume passenger flights on its historic aircraft after the FAA finishes a review of its operations. The Collings B-17 Nine-Oh-Nine crashed at Bradley International Airport in Hartford, Connecticut, in October, killing seven and injuring another seven, including one person on the ground. It canceled the […]

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777X Flies

After waiting two days for better weather, Boeing took advantage of a brief break in the rain and high winds for the maiden flight of the 777X on Saturday. The aircraft was supposed to fly on Thursday but the test flight was rained out. Winds were too high on Friday but the weather window opened […]

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Mexico May Raffle Off Presidential 787

The government of Mexico is considering raffling off the presidential 787 Boeing Business Jet, with tickets selling at 500 pesos ($27) each. The aircraft, purchased by the previous government of Enrique Pena Nieto for $218 million, has an 80-seat executive configuration, including a presidential suite with bedroom and bathroom. It hasn’t left the ground on […]

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Hybrid Airlander Moves Toward Production

After a challenging prototyping period, Hybrid Air Vehicles says it’s redesigned its inflatable airfoil called the Airlander 1 and has 10 prospective buyers as it moves toward certification and production. The prototype, a resurrection of a canceled U.S. military project, crashed on one of its early test flights and was the butt of jokes in […]

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