Interesting Airplanes

Donald Trump didn’t just announce his running mate on Monday, he rolled out his 2IC’s new ride. According to various reports, Vance will hit the campaign trail on a 22-year-old Boeing 737-800 (N917XA) that was most recently in service with IAERO Airlines, which shut down in April of this year. It has toiled for a […]

The FAA has granted Type Inspection Authorization to Boeing for its 777-9 after a shakedown flight with FAA inspectors aboard on Saturday. “This certification test flight validates the aircraft’s safety, reliability, and performance. We appreciate our regulator’s rigorous oversight and are grateful to our customers who have chosen the 777-9 for its efficiency, environmental performance, […]

American Airlines issued a news release Tuesday saying it has signed a conditional purchase agreement to buy 100 hydrogen-electric engines from ZeroAvia with a goal of powering a fleet of regional airliners, possibly retrofitted CRJ700s, with them. The ZeroAvia system uses hydrogen in fuel cells to create electricity that runs conventional electric motors turning propellers. […]

Elon Musk set his Xverse all a twitter on Saturday by reiterating his aerial aspirations for his car company. “The new Tesla Roadster can fly,” he said in a post in what seems like a response to another X post on the social platform that he also owns. Musk first teased the concept in the […]

The owner of the last two flying Martin Mars flying boats is offering a last opportunity for enthusiasts to take the controls of the massive aircraft. Coulson Air Tankers is taking reservations for two Mars “experiences” in the former Navy transports before they go to museums. Neither involve getting airborne. The Water Taxi level gets […]

Minnesota is set to become the second state to formally accept flying cars as a category of vehicles allowed to use the roads. Samson Sky, which is developing the Switchblade roadable aircraft, said the measure was included in Minnesota’s recently passed transportation bill, which has been signed into law and defines the new category as […]

A couple of weeks after it secured a $13 billion contract to supply the Air Force’s replacement for the E-4B Nightwatch airborne command and control aircraft, Sierra Nevada Corporation bought five Boeing 747-8s from Korean Airlines for about $135 million each. The contract stipulates four-engine aircraft for what has been renamed the Survivable Airborne Operations […]

Textron’s Beechcraft Denali has entered certification flight testing even as Textron makes changes on the fly to the new commuter/cargo platform. The company announced this week that it’s put a total of 2,000 hours on three test articles of the big single-engine turboprop that will compete squarely against the Pilatus PC-12. It’s planning for certification […]

New Zealand-based Vickers Aircraft Company says it intends to make its first delivery of the WAVE two-place amphibious aircraft to a U.S. customer in April of 2025. Founder Paul Vickers said the company is now raising capital to fund the push to begin deliveries on its backlog. Most current investors are Americans, he said, and […]

A Florida company says it plans to electrify two iconic amphibious flying boat designs to create efficient and versatile regional commuter planes. Maxwell Aircraft, of Bartow, Florida, says it will develop electrified versions of the Lake Renegade/Seawolf and the Gweduck, a carbon fiber take on Grumman amphibs that’s between a Widgeon and a Goose in […]