Aviation News

Is the FAA about to go all-in and all but remove the weight restriction on light sport aircraft? Here, key the ecclesiastical music, insert the visual of the clouds parting and Jack Pelton descending the mount with the stone tablets, or at least a USB drive announcing something intriguing. But let’s tap the brakes and […]

Santa Claus wears captain’s bars in the e-commerce economy but it’s some of the pilots who are getting gifts this holiday season. FedEx is offering its retirement-age captains as much as $110,000 in retention bonuses to keep working through this year’s busy time. Last year, FedEx and its competitor UPS had record years thanks to […]

AVweb‘s weekly news roundup found reports of recently released drone strike research, the launch of a mobile avionics and maintenance service, an improved propeller blade measuring system, a new flight animation system, a free safety webinar and a discussion of international pilot medical standards. The University of Dayton Research Institute recently released itslatest drone-strike test […]

Lockheed Martin revealed its new concept for a fully reusable lunar lander at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Bremen, Germany on Wednesday. The lander will be designed to dock with NASA’s planned Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway for service, refueling and storage in between missions. According to Lockheed, it will be capable of carrying 2,000 pounds […]

The Global 7500, the largest jet in Bombardier’s fleet, is now certified by Transport Canada, the company has announced. The jet is the longest-range and largest purpose-built business jet in the market, second only to repurposed airliners like those sold by Boeing Business Jets. The stand-up cabin is 8 feet wide and more than 54 […]

Boeing has announced that it has been awarded a $9.2 billion contract to supply the company’s T-X advanced pilot training system to the U.S. Air Force. The funds will cover 351 new T-X combat training jets, associated ground equipment and 46 simulators, Boeing says. The company developed and tested the T-X in partnership with Saab. […]

This week, AVweb‘s news roundup found reports of online safety training for the International Business Aviation Council, a new Recommended Service Facility for Hartzell Propeller, the first U.S. dealer for Aeroprakt USA and STC approval for Gogo’s AVANCE L3 and L5 systems. The International Business Aviation Council announced that it will be using Advanced Aircrew […]

The first crash of an F-35B has been reported in South Carolina but early reports say the pilot safely ejected. Circumstances of the crash have not been released but it’s the first operational loss of the fifth-generation fighter. One other F-35 has been written off by fire damage to internal components in 2016 but that […]

Gulfstream announced the delivery of its first G500 midsize business jet on Thursday. An unnamed customer took delivery of the aircraft at Gulfstream’s headquarters in Savannah, Georgia. According to Gulfstream, the G500 has already established more than 20 new city-pair speed records and its five test aircraft have flown more than 5,000 hours. “We’re proud […]

Bell Helicopter demonstrated its unmanned Hybrid Drive Train Research Aircraft (HYDRA) at the first Tech Demo edition of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Center of Excellence in Alma, Quebec, this week. According to the company, HYDRA uses distributed propulsion technology and a circular wing to “sustain wing-borne flight at reduced power consumption, while increasing its […]