Aviation News

The last data point captured by the flight data recorder on Roy Halladay’s Icon A5 before his fatal crash shows the light sport at 200 feet above the water with a speed of 87 knots, says the NTSB. The preliminary report says a witness told investigators that “he saw the airplane perform a climb to […]

For the 2017 fiscal year, there were 27 fatal accidents involving experimental category aircraft, down 18% from the prior year and down 47% over the last four years, says EAA, which is celebrating the trend. “These are historic lows for fatal accidents in amateur-built aircraft and this continuing trend is a credit to everyone who […]

While regional airlines seem to be the hardest hit so far by the tightening supply of pilots, business aircraft operators are also feeling the pinch. As with the regionals, deep-pocketed larger airlines are outbidding smaller operators for the pool of experienced jet pilots and there is an inevitable result from that. “It’s really a buyers’ […]

One of the most important conversations going on in aviation today has to do with the proposal to remove the air traffic control organization from the FAA and turn it into a privatized entity. Proponents claim that this would free the function from the bureaucracy and petty budgetary pressures of the FAA and lead to […]

Pilots who just can’t get enough of aviation have two new media options to choose from this week. AARP Studios has launched a new video series on YouTube called “Badass Pilot,” an original unscripted series that features Art Nalls, age 65. Nalls, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, owns a British Sea Harrier fighter jet, […]

Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser successfully completed a drop and glide test flight from 12,300 feet to Runway 22L at Edwards Air Force Base last week. “The Dream Chaser flight test demonstrated excellent performance of the spacecraft’s aerodynamic design and the data shows that we are firmly on the path for safe, reliable orbital flight,” said […]

Two very different “flying-car” projects have reported major moves forward this week. Terrafugia, which has been working to certify a “roadable aircraft” with folding wings under the LSA rules, confirmedon Monday that it has become a fully owned subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, a Chinese conglomerate that also owns Volvo and focuses on the […]

The U.S. Forest Service clearly doesn’t want to use the so-called “super tanker” firefighting aircraft that have emerged in the last decade but the Government Accountability Office says it has to come up with better reasons for barring them from the battle. Last May, the Forest Service limited the size of retardant tanks on aircraft […]

Ohio-based Workhorse Group, which builds hybrid electric trucks for UPS, FedEx and others, thinks it’s time to rethink the design characteristics of the traditional helicopter. The first stab at it is the SureFly VTOL aircraft. It attracted huge attention at the Innovations Center at AirVenture Oshkosh this past summer. Aviation Consumer Editor Larry Anglisano took […]

Uber has signed a deal with NASA to develop software for the air taxi it plans to have in service within five years. At a web conference in Lisbon on Wednesday, Uber’s Jeff Holden said the company is teaming with NASA to develop a range of technologies designed to track and de-conflict its human-carrying quadcopters […]