Aviation News

NASA said on Monday it has achieved “a significant milestone” in its effort to make supersonic passenger jet travel over land a real possibility by completing the preliminary design review of its Quiet Supersonic Transport, or QueSST, aircraft design. QueSST is the initial design stage of NASA’s planned Low-Boom Flight Demonstration experimental X-plane. Senior experts […]

SpaceX launched two rockets in three days and brought both back to barges on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. On Friday, company CEO Elon Musk wasn’t sure he’d get his rocket back because it was going to endure the hottest and fastest re-entry to date. “Rocket is extra toasty and hit the deck hard (used […]

Last February, when I was planning a visit to Daher’s factory in Tarbes, France, I was surfing the web looking for airline fares when I saw one from Miami to Madrid for $640; outbound on Iberia, return on American. I see this sort of thing often enough to know that it’s not an everyday thing, […]

Airbus is developing a high-speed helicopter that will cruise at 215 knots while maximizing efficiency and minimizing cost, the company said at the Paris Air Show on Tuesday. The Racer demonstrator, now in development, will be ready to fly in 2020. “This new project, pulling together the skills and know-how of dozens of European partners […]

Boom Supersonic, which has been working for a few years to develop its ideas for a supersonic airliner, unveiled its final design for a subscale prototype on Tuesday at the Paris Air Show. The company said it will fly the demonstrator next year. “We now have everything required to build history’s first independently developed supersonic […]

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which has been in the works since 1996 and first flew more than 10 years ago, made its first public flight demo on Monday afternoon, at the Paris Air Show. Lockheed Martin pilot Billie Flynn told Aviation Week, “We are going to crush years of misinformation about what this aircraft […]

“Those who try to lead the people can only do so by following the mob.” – Oscar Wilde I can’t think of a better lead in for the latest round of polling that indicates—surprise—the general public opposes the idea of privatizing air traffic control. The latest run at plumbing public sentiment on this topic was […]

On Monday, on opening day at the Paris Air Show, Airbus revealed some new design features for the A380plus, now in development, while Boeing debuted its larger-capacity 737 Max 10. The “enhanced” A380plus will provide airlines with better economics and improved operational performance, Airbus officials said. New winglets and other aerodynamic refinements to the wing […]

E-volo, the German company that has been developing a two-seat VTOL for several years, has signed an agreement with the government of Dubai to test-fly autonomous air taxis in the emirate by the end of this year, the company announced on Monday at the Paris Air Show. Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said in […]

Newly reorganized Lancair International is planning to fly the first version of its MAKO high-performance kitplane to AirVenture this year and a news release from the company says the first article is coming together well. The company released a photo of the fuselage of the aircraft in its paint booth at the new headquarters in […]