Military Aviation

Sikorsky Aircraft has been awarded an initial $1.24 billion contract to develop and build six new U.S. presidential helicopters based on the model S-92, the first step toward a fleet of 21 new aircraft by 2023, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday. The award capped years of efforts by the U.S. Navy to replace the current […]

Our weekly review of news revealed an announcement for the annual conference of the Air Care Alliance, the umbrella organization for all volunteer pilot groups; a newly approved ADS-B In/Out Universal Access Transceiver; the first rebates paid to flying clubs by Sportys; and word that AnywhereEducation has stepped up to help out subscribers of some […]

Ten out of every 100 Army helicopter pilots are women – but they account for only three out of every 100 accidents. Thats the bottom line in an Army report that, in an effort to study the impact of women on the front lines, compares accident rates of men and women flying U.S. Army helicopters […]

The Air Force says it wants surveillance aircraft to be built on business jet platforms as a way to cut acquisition and long-term operations costs. According to Defense News, the first candidate for a bizjet conversion is the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS), which is based on a Boeing 707-300. The Air […]

Tyson Weihs, co-founder and CEO of ForeFlight, has announced the release of version 5.6 of ForeFlights intelligent app for pilots. Highlights of the update include enhanced flight plan filing options-including ICAO flight plan form support-as well as complete worldwide coverage for military pilots. Significantly, ForeFlight now primarily files flight plans directly via the modernized Lockheed […]

On September 10th, 2001, the world of general aviation was, if not rosy, not too bad. Cessna had re-started single-engine production and a new company called Cirrus was having encouraging success with a composite airplane with a parachute. You could see a future. A day later, it all but vanished in a choking cloud of […]

Textron is aiming for first flight of the Scorpion jet on Tuesday at Cessnas facility in Wichita, with a follow-up flight Thursday if all goes well, and weather permitting, DefenseNews.com reported Friday. The jet sports a two-seat tandem cockpit and turns twin turbofan engines. It supports six hard points capable of holding anything from drop […]

The Navy said Thursday that it successfully launched the XFC folding-wing unmanned aerial system (UAS, or drone) from a torpedo tube on the USS Providence, while the submarine was submerged. The all-electric, fuel-cell-powered aircraft has an X-wing configuration in flight that folds for storage and launch. The UAS was delivered from the submarine to the […]

Major Douglas Witmer, flying on exchange with the Argentine air force, was recognized at the Pentagon this month for safely returning to the ground an AT-63 Pampa II aircraft (and his student) after losing 80 percent of his left wing to a midair. Witmer was flying as part of a six-plane demonstration formation on Aug. […]

China has declared an airspace defense zone over the East China Sea above territory claimed by South Korea and Japan, prompting criticism from Japan, the U.S., and South Korea, and some direct challenges in recent days. China declared the zone, Saturday, saying it would police the airspace. Japan, the U.S. and South Korea have refused […]