Aviation News

Austrian-based Diamond Aircraft Group has been acquired by the Chinese company that purchased Diamond’s North American operations last year. Almost a year to the day that Wanfeng Aviation Industry Co. Ltd. bought Diamond’s London, Ontario, plant, the Chinese firm bought the Austrian holdings of sole shareholder Christian Dries, who founded Diamond 25 years ago. Wanfeng […]

Boeing and Embraer confirmed on Thursday they are “engaged in discussions regarding a potential combination, the basis of which remains under discussion.” The brief statement was released after the Wall Street Journal reported that Boeing was in takeover talks with the Brazilian company. A merger would expand Boeing’s presence in the regional jet market and […]

The development of the CityAirbus VTOL demonstrator is moving forward, Airbus said in a news release this week. The first structural parts are complete and will soon be assembled. The ground-test facility in Germany is also complete, which will enable Airbus engineers to verify the electric propulsion system. The facility can test the system’s components, […]

The new federal tax regulations that will take effect on Jan. 1 are mainly good news for aviation, according to AOPA and NBAA. The legislation passed this week will “directly lead to growth for the general aviation industry,” said NBAA President Ed Bolen. For example, the new rules allow for “immediate expensing,” Bolen said, which […]

Boeing Phantom Works took the cover off its refueling-drone project on Tuesday, revealing for the first time its entry in the U.S. Navy’s competition. The MQ-25 drone is designed to extend the combat range of fighter jets such as the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, Boeing EA-18G Growler and Lockheed Martin F-35C, which are deployed from […]

A shadowy office deep in the Pentagon that investigates unexplained encounters by military aircraft with flying objects continues to operate even though its mandate was officially ended five years ago, according to The New York Times. The Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification program was a pet project of retired Nevada Sen. Harry Reid and spent $22 […]

If, as Samuel Johnson is purported to have said, patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel, perhaps the mercantilist parallel in the age of global commerce is a faded bumper sticker once popular around Seattle: If it’s not a Boeing, I’m not going. That, in part, seems to be animating the current tawdry mud […]

Progressive Aerodyne is in the final stage of testing the new Rotax 915 in the Searey amphibious aircraft. AVweb’s Paul Bertorelli visited the factory and took a test flight with the new engine. view on YouTube

BAE Systems and the University of Manchester have flown a stealthy drone that has no movable control surfaces and therefore does not change shape at all in flight. The MAGMA drone uses blown air to change aerodynamics and allow three-axes control. The most obvious benefit from the innovation is that there is no deflection of […]

The operator of a drone that collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter in September didn’t see the aircraft because he was flying the drone beyond visual range, the NTSB said on Thursday. The operator also lacked adequate knowledge of the regulations and safe operating practices for drone flying, the safety board said. The […]