Aviation News

Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate on Thursday that would require all “U.S.-registered turbine-powered rotorcraft certificated for 6 or more passenger seats” to be equipped with terrain awareness and warning systems (TAWS), flight data recorders (FDRs) and cockpit voice recorders (CVRs). The Helicopter Safety Act of 2020 cites the FAA’s […]

NASA has announced the selection of Kathy Lueders as the agency’s next associate administrator of the Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Mission Directorate. Lueders replaces Doug Loverro, who resigned from the position on May 18, less than two weeks before the first crewed launch of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. Although the exact circumstances that led to […]

Rolls-Royce has delivered the 8,000th engine assembled at its manufacturing facility in Dahlewitz, Germany. The BR725 engine is headed to Savannah, Georgia-based Gulfstream Aerospace to power a Gulfstream G650ER business jet. Rolls-Royce began production at the site, which is Rolls-Royce’s Centre of Excellence for business aviation engines, in June 1995. “We are very proud of […]

Aerostructures manufacturer Spirit AeroSystems announced on Wednesday that it has received direction from Boeing to temporarily suspend 737 MAX production activities. In a letter dated June 4, Boeing told Spirit to halt any additional work on four 737 MAX shipsets currently in production and avoid starting on sixteen additional shipsets that were scheduled to be […]

Bell Textron and Boeing have delivered their 400th V-22 Osprey tiltrotor to the U.S. Department of Defense. The aircraft, a CV-22 variant, went to the U.S. Air Force Special Operations command. According to Boeing, Osprey deliveries are currently being made under a $5 billion multiyear procurement contract that includes aircraft for the U.S. Marines, Air […]

Pipistrel’s Velis Electro became the first-ever fully electric aircraft to receive its type certification on Wednesday. According to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which granted the certificate, the certification process for the aircraft was completed in less than three years. The Pipistrel E-811 engine used on the aircraft became the first EASA-certified electric […]

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) startup Airflow introduced its new electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) cargo vehicle concept on Wednesday. According to the company, the unnamed fixed-wing aircraft will require less than 150 feet to take off and land and will be capable of carrying up to 500 pounds of cargo. The single-pilot eSTOL is […]

ForeFlight and Garmin have released upgrades to their electronic flight bag (EFB) apps over the last couple of days that, particularly in the case of the ForeFlight product, represent seemingly minor but functionally significant changes. ForeFlight’s latest update marks an agreement with FlightAware to provide real-time traffic overlays on the ground, using an internet connection. […]

Boeing’s dismal 2020 continued through May, when the planemaker delivered just four jets, cargo or military variants only, and saw further cancellations on the 737 MAX, which remains grounded after almost 15 months. Orders for 14 MAXes were canceled last month. In May, Boeing delivered one 767 freighter and two 777 freighters, while none of […]

Bearhawk Aircraft, best known for its two- and four-place utility homebuilts, will offer a new, larger model called the Bearhawk 5. According to the company, the 5, penned by noted designer and engineer Bob Barrows, “made its first flight on May 3rd. The prototype has flown more than 5 hours in testing and is exhibiting […]