Aviation News

JetBlue announced that its newest aircraft, an Airbus A321 it received on Wednesday, will make its first flights using a sustainable jet fuel blend. According to the company, the acceptance flight and JetBlue’s ferry flight, which is scheduled for September 20, will be the airline’s first flights to use sustainable (also called renewable) biofuel. JetBlue […]

The last piece of the FAA’s Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) system, which allows “near real-time processing of airspace authorizations” for drone operators, went live last week, according to a statement made by FAA Acting Administrator Dan Elwell. LAANC was rolled out incrementally by region, beginning with the south central U.S. at the […]

SpaceX has announced that Japanese fashion entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa has purchased a flight around the moon on the company’s still-conceptual Big Falcon Rocket (BFR). Maezawa, who is also an avid art collector, says he will be offering six to eight artists free seats for the flight in the hope that they will be inspired to […]

What sounds like a dream flight will undoubtedly be a technical and logistical nightmare as a British group attempts the first circumnavigation in a Spitfire. Although the aircraft climbs like a scalded cat and can go more than 400 MPH, Spitfires were designed for 20-minute bouts of dogfighting, not 27,000-mile cross countries. With a combat […]

This week, AVweb‘s news roundup found reports on an event held by the Lancair Owners and Builders Organization, an upcoming aerospace exhibition, a new contract between CEFA Aviation and China’s aviation authority and the addition of more hubs for Airstream Jets’ Jet Card Program. The Lancair Owners and Builders Organization (LOBO) will be holding its […]

Space Race: Virgin Vs. Blue Origin The “race” between Blue Origin and Virgin seems to come down to sales hype. Branson, the ultimate showman, has the charisma to make his rocket powered shuttlecock look inviting while Bezos’ more mundane capsule has some actual historical experience to draw upon. Only recently has Blue Origin allowed real-time […]

Braille Battery announced the successful completion of a series of test trials on the company’s new customized lithium batteries for commercial drones (UAVs) last week. Braille says the trials demonstrated that its batteries provided “longer discharge cycles—with significantly less weight—than the incumbent battery,” although estimates of how much longer and lighter have not yet been […]

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) says that its Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification (MOSAIC) rulemaking initiative has made substantial progress after a meeting with FAA officials in Washington, D.C., earlier this week. EAA also met with the FAA during AirVenture to discuss MOSAIC, which is designed to “relieve builders of well-proven homebuilts of some of […]

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Roscosmos General Director Dmitry Rogozin met on Wednesday to discuss the status of International Space Station (ISS) operations after speculation that a leak detected onboard the station two weeks ago was possibly the result of sabotage. During the discussion, NASA says Rogozin informed Bridenstine that Roscosmos was establishing a commission […]