Aviation News

Airbus Helicopters announced on Friday that it has received type certification from the FAA for its H160 twin-engine helicopter. Introduced in 2015, the model earned its European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) type certificate in July 2020 and has entered service in Japan, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Europe. According to Airbus, it currently has orders […]

Alef Aeronautics caused some excitement in the flying car media this weekend with the announcement that it had received special airworthiness certification for the prototype of its unusual design. While some outlets had the skies imminently crowded with the traffic-hopping creation, it turns out the FAA certification has some pretty tight restrictions, including flying it […]

Lockheed Martin’s Skunkworks celebrated 80 years on the cutting edge of aviation technology with what might be a glimpse of a new manned fighter planform. The company is among those vying for the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program and that will involve a manned fighter working with drones in theater. The new plane will […]

Much of that Chinese spy balloon that the Air Force took out off the coast of South Carolina last February was made in the good old U.S.A. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that its sources told them the gondola slung below the helium-filled envelope was “crammed” with off-the-shelf gear made in the U.S. […]

Like much of the northern area of the U.S., Oshkosh has been choking under smoke drifting in from forest fires in Canada but AirVenture officials say the annual show will go on as planned in late July. Readers have reported poor visibility and terrible air quality in recent days, but AirVenture spokesman Dick Knapinski says […]

The U.S. Air Force took its first T-7A Red Hawk training jet for its initial flight on Wednesday, about a week after the model completed taxi testing. The flight lasted one hour and three minutes and officially kicked off the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the T-7A program. Boeing was awarded a $9.2 […]

Bell Textron announced on Wednesday that the combined fleet of AH-1Z Viper and UH-1Y Venom twin-engine attack and utility helicopters has logged more than 500,000 flight hours. Primarily operated by the U.S. Marine Corps, the models saw their first use in military operations in 2010. According to Bell, it has built nearly 400 AH-1Z and […]

The FAA is seeking comments from the public on the environmental assessment associated with replacing 31 aging air traffic control towers across the U.S. Intended to “replace towers functioning beyond their intended design life,” the new facilities will include features such as all-electric building systems, materials and products free from chemicals known to pose health […]

Virgin Galactic conducted its first suborbital commercial spaceflight from New Mexico’s Spaceport America on Thursday. The flight took off at 8:30 a.m. local time and touched down at 9:42 a.m. carrying three crew members and three paying passengers from the Italian air force and the National Research Council of Italy along with 13 research payloads. […]

The FAA has issued a special airworthiness certificate to the company after the first production prototype Joby eVTOL came off its Marina, California, production line. The company announced both milestones at an event this week at the factory. The FAA nod sets the stage for certification of the multicopter for a potential certification and entry […]