Aviation News

The pilot of a high-performance electric motor glider escaped serious injury Tuesday after the aircraft plunged through the roof of a house near the Danbury, Connecticut, airport. There were no injuries on the ground. Local news outlets posted dramatic photos of the glider—an Italian-made Alisport Silent 2 Electro—with its tail section protruding from the roof […]

You can’t leave all the unusual aircraft to Burt Rutan. So there’s the Horten HX-2 flying wing, which is slated to make its US debut at Oshkosh this summer. Powered by a Rotax 912 of 100 HP, the HX-2 is described as a “highly modern economical two-seat tailless light aircraft without a fuselage.” Which is […]

Cirrus Aircraft has announced that Zean Nielsen  will succeed company co-founder Dale Klapmeier as CEO. Nielsen comes with an impressive resume, including “senior leadership roles” at Tesla Motors, James Hardie and Bang & Olufsen. “I am honored and humbled to join this team of experienced general aviation leaders and a world-class workforce as we continue […]

Burt Rutan will be celebrated and heard at Oshkosh this year. And if that sounds nothing like news, consider he hasn’t been an active participant since 2015. This year, though, Burt will take part in a Theater in the Woods event on Thursday and have three daytime forums during the show week. Of course, Rutan’s […]

Testing in Nepal has allowed Bell Helicopter to approve the Bell 505 Jet Ranger X to 22,500 feet density altitude. Certified in 2017, the five-seat 505 uses a single 504-shaft-horsepower Turbomeca Arrius 2R with FADEC to drive a two-blade, “high-inertia” rotor.  “The Bell 505 is the most advanced short light single helicopter in the world, […]

The FAA’s FAASTeam published a safety notification this week echoing concerns outlined by the American Bonanza Society in January. The intention was to ensure all Bonanza owners were aware of the potential problem.  In short, ABS reported that control cables were failing at the swaged ends where they meet with adjusting turnbuckles. These turnbuckles can […]

It seems likely that Boeing or Airbus will continue to dominate large-airliner design, but not if KLM has anything to do with it. The Dutch national airline announced that it is helping fund the development of the Flying-V, a lifting-body-esque flying wing aircraft designed by Delft University of Technology student Justus Benad. Delft, also known […]

The FAA will order airlines worldwide to inspect the leading edge slat tracks of more than 300 Boeing 737s, including the 179 grounded MAX models and 133 late model NG models, because some of the tracks are prone to cracking. The aircraft will have to be inspected and repaired within 10 days. Boeing discovered the […]

An apparently well-funded Massachusetts startup says it will develop a “flying car” hexacopter powered by a hydrogen fuel cell that will carry five people 400 miles. Alaka’i’s Skai says it picked fuel cells as an energy source because they’re much more energy dense and long-lasting than any batteries developed so far. The effort is backed […]

A young Canadian inventor has come up with what he says is a low-cost flight data recorder for light aircraft that requires no special installation. Ephraim Nowak, 26, says the video-based SkyVU system doesn’t need to be wired into the aircraft’s panel and systems. Instead, it uses 4K video cameras to record gauges on the […]