Aviation News

Breitling’sDC-3, which first flew in 1940, is now engaged in a round-the-world tour, with a summertime trip across the U.S. in the flight plan. The airplane, which once flew for American Airlines and the U.S. Army, was bought by Breitling in 2008 and fully restored. At 77 years old, it’s the oldest airplane ever to […]

If the idea of drones flying day and night through your neighborhood to deliver lattes and tacos is unsettling, a company in California offers a new option — their drone can fly part of the way, but then land and drive itself quietly up to your doorstep. The VTOL Air/Ground Robot recently completed a delivery […]

Quest Aircraft now has EASA certification for the Kodiak 100, the company announced last week at Aero Friedrichshafen. The single-engine turboprop, built in Sandpoint, Idaho, now is certified in more than 50 countries, the company said. “With its STOL capabilities, the Kodiak will allow European operators with large payloads to access many airstrips and locations […]

Along with showing off its P2012 twin-prop commuter plane, Tecnam unveiled a slew of new features and updates for its fleet at the Aero Friedrichshafen show in Germany this week. The P2006T twin, the company’s top-selling airplane with 200 flying, now comes with the Garmin G1000 Nxi next-generation flight deck, ADS-B Out as a standard […]

Diamond Aircraft unveiled a design for a composite four-seat light-single piston helicopter at Aero Friedrichshafen on Thursday, Flight International has reported. The Dart 280 easy-to-fly trainer would be the first in a family of rotorcraft, which will include a hybrid-electric tilt rotor. “Diamond has been in the GA market for 30 years and it’s time […]

Boeing has created a new “innovation cell” called HorizonX that will seek out and encourage new emerging and “potentially transformative” technologies and business models in aviation, the company said this week. Among its first investments is three-year-old Zunum Aero, based in Kirkland, Washington, which is pursuing the development of electric-powered aircraft. “We are passionate about […]

DARPA, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, announced this week they have completed sub-scale testing of their hybrid electric VTOL design and will move ahead with developing a full-scale aircraft. “The VTOL demonstrator was designed specifically to test the aerodynamic design of the aircraft, validate flight dynamics, and develop the flight and mission-systems controls […]

While the U.S. has been working to revise its Part 23certification rules for small aircraft, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has been working on a similar project, and this week EASA published its final rule. Both new rules are set to take effect in August. “This is a landmark day for the general aviation […]

E-volo is debuting its new electric-powered VTOL, the Volocopter 2X, at Aero, in Friedrichshafen, Germany, this week. The new version of the company’s two-seat multicopter represents the “evolution of the VC200 prototype towards everyday use,” the company said. The 2X has been developed for approval as an ultralight aircraft and is expected to be certified […]

If drones can do pipeline patrol and survey work, why can’t a light sport aircraft do the same? That’s the question the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association is asking the FAA to consider and the answer may eventually result in an approval for just such work. “We’ve adopted the term aerial work, which is a European […]