Aviation News

AVweb’s search of aviation news worldwide found new loan options for AOPA members in Alaska and Hawaii, Textron’s new service center in France, JETTECH’s upgraded avionics STC for Citations, and a call for entries from the National Aviation Hall of Fame.AOPA now offers members in Alaska and Hawaii competitive aircraft loans that were previously difficult […]

Glasair Aviation’s new Merlin LSA had its first flight this week, launching the in-air test phase for the composite light-sport airplane. The flight departed from Arlington, Washington, on Tuesday and lasted for 57 minutes. Following ground tests including engine run-up, high-speed taxi, and ground roll liftoff, test pilot Grant Smith conducted the flight to evaluate […]

With new ADS-B products emerging about every other month, a surprise entrant into the dependent surveillance market may be search giant Google. According to a report in FlightGlobal, at an ICAO meeting last month, Google exec Dave Vos, who heads the company’s Project Wing internet effort, said the company is considering flooding the market with […]

We caught up with space-tourism company World View Enterprises’ CEO Jane Poynter at the Aircraft Electronics Association convention in Dallas, Texas. Poynter described the technology behind World View’s balloon-and-parafoil plan to lift passengers into the upper atmosphere for a several-hour tour of the planet. Duration: 9:42 File Size: 8.1 MB download here

Autogyros are big in Europe — but in the U.S., not so much. The reason for that is primarily regulatory. The U.S. light sport rule doesn’t include rotorcraft. As Paul Bertorelli discovered on this AVweb flight demo, that’s too bad. Gyros are fun and easy to fly, but they do take specific training for the […]

SpaceX is planning its next launch to resupply the International Space Station at 4:33 p.m. EDT on April 13, NASA announced this week. The space station mission for the Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Dragon spacecraft, will be the sixth for SpaceX. The mission will launch from Cape Canaveral and if it starts on schedule, […]

AVweb’s search of aviation news worldwide foundthe first delivery of the Seeker 360-A2,a first upgrade by Gulf Coast Avionics for a Pilatus PC-7, anAndroid release for spidertracks,and Garmin GPS cables from ELITE Simulation.Seeker Aircraft America Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of CSI Aviation, hasdeliveredthe first production Seeker 360-A2 surveillance aircraft to its owner in Australia. […]

AVweb’s search of aviation news worldwide found a new online service for finding engine overhaul shops, a new flight training program for Global Aerospace customers, an LCD cockpit retrofit from Thomas Global Systems, and new owners for three FBOs in Indiana. OverhaulBids.comoffers a wayfor aircraft owners to find shops, pricing and reviews for engine overhauls […]

A few companies this month confirmed their plans to develop cargo spacecraft for this year’s round of bids for NASA contracts to service the International Space Station, according to a Washington Post report.On Tuesday, Sierra Nevada Corp. announced a version of its manned reusable vehicle, modified for cargo missions. The Dream Chaser Cargo System will […]

Amazon, which is developing drones to make package deliveries, received its long-awaited experimental airworthiness certificatefrom the FAAon Thursday. The approval allows Amazon to test its unmanned aerial systems in the U.S. while proposed commercial drone regulations await the rulemaking process. The certificate, requested by Amazon in July, allows the company to make flights no higher […]