News

Grob Aerospace unexpectedly filed for insolvency on Tuesday after its lead lender pulled out. In a statement, CEO Niall Olver said he hopes the situation is temporary as the company scrambles to find new money to finish certification of its SPn business jet. “I am sure that 37 years of pioneering composite aircraft manufacturing will […]

The pilot of a replica biplane died when the aircraft reportedly spun during a mock dogfight at Old Rhinebeck in upstate New York, Sunday. Witnesses said the aircraft entered a spin and crashed near the historic airfield. The pilot was not immediately identified.

Europe’s Clean Sky initiative is targeting a 50-percent reduction in CO2 emissions, an 80-percent reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions and a 50-percent reduction in perceived noise levels (all from baseline year 2000 levels) to be met by the year 2020. The plan involves research intended to demonstrate smart wing technologies based on natural and hybrid […]

Seeking full-motion video reconnaissance platforms, the Air Force “is quietly rushing to field more than three dozen” twin-engine propeller-driven aircraft to provide that capability “on the battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan,” according to Inside The Air Force. The report from InsideDefense.com says that according to a July briefing from Air Combat Command, the Air Force […]

Poisonous seeds found in the nut of the jatropha plant contain 30% – 40% oil that may be refined at a significantly lower cost than crude oil and will soon supplement Jet-A to feed one of four engines powering an Air New Zealand 747 — test flights are currently scheduled for November. Boeing, Air New […]

Management at Hawker Beechcraft last week staffed some production-line slots with engineers and salaried workers in order to support production while its machinists strike. The company last week passed its 12th day of work stoppage following the Machinists Union rejection of an Aug. 2, three-year contract offer. Beechcraft Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Schuster […]

The EAA’s major annual fundraiser included the participation of Harrison Ford, John Travolta and Arnold Palmer and yielded $2.88 million, with proceeds to benefit EAA’s programs “to inspire youth, provide education, and preserve aviation history.” EAA announced in a release last week that the AirVenture event attracted more than 1,000 attendees “bound together by a […]

The Coming Electric Airplane RevolutionRandall Fishman’s public AirVenture Oshkosh 2008 demonstration (see AVweb and Kitplanes video interview, here) of his virtually silent, nearly vibration-free and fillup-less single place ElectraFlyer-C (capable of flying for an hour and a half on 75 cents worth of lithium-polymer battery power) is just the tip of the iceberg. Fishman is […]

Eclipse Aviation founder and former CEO Vern Raburn wants nothing more to do with the company and will not accept a post promoting the airplane internationally. Raburn issued a press release late last week saying he has some irons in the fire and will let his “media friends” know what he’s up to. Meanwhile, his […]

“Automated on-board energy aware planning” is being developed by the U.K.’s Roke Manor Research to allow autonomous gliders to find naturally occurring lift and sustain unpowered or prolong powered flight, according to a report in ElectronicsWeekly.com. Ultimately, aircraft equipped with software and hardware that actively processes video feeds of cloud conditions and surface type (cool […]