Interesting Airplanes

A well-known South African test pilot was killed in the crash of a vintage jet fighter at an airshow there on Saturday. “It is with profound sadness that the organizers of the West Coast Airshow confirm a fatal accident involving James O’Connell, a highly skilled and respected test pilot from South Africa,” the statement said. […]

Boeing will build what is widely believed to be the Air Force’s last crewed fighter air craft. President Donald Trump told reporters in an Oval Office briefing that the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) is designated the F-47. The aircraft is a sixth-generation design incorporating stealth aerodynamics with advanced threat detection and precision weapons systems. […]

The Chinese owner of Diamond Aircraft has acquired the assets of eVTOL pioneer Volocopter out of insolvency for $11 million. The estimated value of the hard assets and intellectual property was set at $42 million in the insolvency process. Wanfeng, a major Chinese car manufacturer, has set up its German subsidiary Heptus 591 to operate […]

Red-faced Swiss officials are considering how best to deploy their recently acquired Bombardier Global 7500 after discovering it literally won’t fit the facilities at the airport in the capital city of Bern. According to luxurylaunches.com, the Swiss air force took delivery of the new executive transport in December to great fanfare, citing its efficiency and […]

A familiar sight and sound will return to British airshows this year after the 10-month grounding of the RAF’s Merlin-powered Hurricanes and Spitfires. The iconic Second World War fighters were grounded almost a year ago after the May 25, 2024, crash of a Spitfire flown by Sqn Leader Mark Long, one of the many RAF […]

Sikorsky has flown a prototype of an interesting flying wing drone that incorporates twin rotors for vertical takeoffs and landings. The concept was unveiled at Verticon in Dallas on Monday. The “rotor blown wing” is a tilt-rotor of sorts, but because the whole aircraft is the wing it doesn’t need complicated technology to make the […]

A Maine startup has hit 100 orders for a clean-sheet amphibious forward-looking design that borrows a name and heritage from aviation’s Golden Age. Mallard Enterprises has sold 30 of its ME-1A twin turboprops to South African startup regional airline JOLY. The capacious flying boat will carry 19 passengers 350 nautical miles at 250 knots in […]

The FAA has certified GE’s new Catalyst turboprop engine, giving Textron a lot more certainty in the introduction of the Beechcraft Denali, the utility single that was basically built around the new engine. GE announced the certification late last week and said it’s now gearing up production to let Textron start delivering Denalis as the […]

It would appear the venerable An-2 Colt biplane, which has served Russian and various other east European militaries since 1947, will outlive its planned replacement. Various sources are reporting Russia will cancel the modest development of a nine-seat utility airplane, the LMS-901 Baikal, in favor of replacing the radial engine on the AN-2 with a […]

President Donald Trump is apparently rejecting Boeing’s plan to delay delivery of two new aircraft to serve as presidential transports to 2029. Fox News said its sources revealed the new date and the administration isn’t happy about it. “It is ridiculous that the delivery of a new Air Force One airplane has been delayed for […]