News

An Arizona company called World View Enterprises says it’s within months of fielding balloon-based surveillance systems that will provide a less expensive alternative to satellite reconnaissance. The aircraft are called Stratollites and the company just completed a 16-day mission over four western states, according to Bloomberg. The untethered and unmanned balloons fly near the top […]

The long-awaited first flight of Boeing’s 777X will be delayed further thanks to problems with the aircraft’s GE9X engines. A pair of the engines were installed on the airframe and started on May 29, but during the test, “an engine gave us a signal about its health. We had an anomaly in the compressor and […]

The House Appropriations Committee has voted to fund two programs to develop high school STEM training that would also support aviation technician training, a jobs segment that’s suffering chronic shortages according to the FAA and major aerospace manufacturers. Both programs have been widely supported by the aerospace industry. According to AOPA, the panel recommended $5 […]

Following the midair collision of two floatplanes in Alaska and a tour helicopter crash in Hawaii, the NTSB says the tour industry should have an equivalent level of safety to commercial air carriers. Those crashes, plus another Alaska floatplane accident a week later, killed 11 people and injured 10. “I’m not saying that we have […]

Drone maker DJI says it will provide ADS-B In as a standard feature on all of its drones weighing a half-pound or more beginning in 2020. Sensitive to public fears about the risk small drones represent to commercial and private aircraft, DJI is trying to get ahead of the curve with de-confliction technology and a […]

The troubled Boeing 737 MAX’s return-to-service date remains unknown but two polls suggest the flying public has a mixed view of booking flights on the airplane. A UBS survey found as few as 3% of passengers say they’d pass on a MAX trip while a Barclay’s Bank survey said 44% of flyers would wait a […]

The pilot of a high-performance electric motor glider escaped serious injury Tuesday after the aircraft plunged through the roof of a house near the Danbury, Connecticut, airport. There were no injuries on the ground. Local news outlets posted dramatic photos of the glider—an Italian-made Alisport Silent 2 Electro—with its tail section protruding from the roof […]

You can’t leave all the unusual aircraft to Burt Rutan. So there’s the Horten HX-2 flying wing, which is slated to make its US debut at Oshkosh this summer. Powered by a Rotax 912 of 100 HP, the HX-2 is described as a “highly modern economical two-seat tailless light aircraft without a fuselage.” Which is […]

Cirrus Aircraft has announced that Zean Nielsen  will succeed company co-founder Dale Klapmeier as CEO. Nielsen comes with an impressive resume, including “senior leadership roles” at Tesla Motors, James Hardie and Bang & Olufsen. “I am honored and humbled to join this team of experienced general aviation leaders and a world-class workforce as we continue […]

Burt Rutan will be celebrated and heard at Oshkosh this year. And if that sounds nothing like news, consider he hasn’t been an active participant since 2015. This year, though, Burt will take part in a Theater in the Woods event on Thursday and have three daytime forums during the show week. Of course, Rutan’s […]