Aviation News

Bell’s 412 utility helicopter is entering its 40th year of service this month with more than 6.5 million flight hours logged. Since the model’s certification in January 1981, Bell has delivered over 1,100 412s to customers around the world. To date, a total of eleven variants have been developed. “The evolution of the Bell 412 […]

Recognizing that most A&P schools have little to nothing to say about electric aircraft, Pipistrel, which is currently building the Velis Electro two-seater, has launched its own five-day training course for mechanics. Pipistrel’s intention is to train the trainers, so to speak, so that they, in turn, can train local maintenance personnel as the Velis […]

Honda Aircraft Company has officially begun operations at its newly opened wing production and service parts facility. The 83,100-square-foot building complex includes a main wing assembly hangar, warehouse for parts storage and distribution, paint booth and office space. According to the company, the additional space will significantly increase HondaJet wing assembly efficiency. “Since entering the […]

Transport Canada is set to allow the commercial return of the Boeing 737 MAX this week. The agency published an Airworthiness Directive today outlining the changes required to reestablish airworthiness, saying that it has “spent well over 15,000 review hours on the Boeing 737 MAX. This review has seen Canada take a significant leadership role […]

Virgin Orbit joined the commercial space race Sunday with the successful air launch of a rocket that boosted a payload of small satellites to low earth orbit. The 70-foot rocket, nicknamed LauncherOne, rode under the wing of a modified Boeing 747 to altitude over the Pacific where it was released. All the engines and systems […]

Cadillac appears to be taking its current marketing slogan (“Rise Above”) literally as it jumps into the eVTOL market with a quadrotor. The automaker’s parent company General Motors unveiled a video for the Consumer Electronics Show featuring a prototype single-seat design with a novel two-level arrangement for the rotors. It will be badged with the […]

A planned eight-minute burn of NASA’s Artemis program rocket boosters on Saturday was cut short after little more than a minute but NASA officials are still upbeat about the test. “This is not a failure,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “This is a test, and we tested today in a way that is meaningful where […]

The FAA has issued a safety notice telling pilots something many have already found out the hard way. It’s warning that air traffic control facilities can suddenly close for cleaning after the discovery of COVID-19 infection in staff members. In some cases that means crews have to fend for themselves in maintaining separation in some […]

Flight attendants are applauding a new zero-tolerance stance by the FAA for bad behavior by passengers. The agency has announced that misbehaving passengers will no longer get a warning before they face significant punishment. The action, which is in force until the end of March, stems from a rash of airborne confrontations between unruly passengers […]

An  FAA air traffic controller has been recognized for preventing the crash of a CV-22 Osprey by noticing a maintenance snag from the tower. The student crew was taking off on a challenging night brownout landing training mission at Kirtland Air Force Base/Sunport International Airport in Albuquerque when Wendy Smith, who’s been watching Ospreys take […]