News

As might be expected, pilots are reporting seeing a lot more drones these days but the lather that sightings seem to create might be overblown, according to an analysis by the Academy of Model Aeronautics. AMA looked closely at each of the 1,270 sightings reported by pilots of manned aircraft in data released by the […]

It’s no secret that President Donald Trump is a big fan of coal, but he surprised the Navy with his preference for steam as the power to fling planes from aircraft carriers. In an interview with Time magazine, Trump was quoted as saying that he would not approve equipping new Ford-class carriers with the Electromagnetic […]

An $11 million Air Force Reaper UAV stalled and spun to the ground because the pilot was fixated on completing a checklist, ignoring audible and visual stall warnings, according to the Air Force Aircraft Accident Investigation released Thursday. Immediately after receiving control of the aircraft from the launch team, the pilot of the unmanned turboprop […]

Bucking long-term trends, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association’s first-quarter data shows a 6.3% increase in sales of piston airplanes over the same quarter in 2016. The allocation of sales within the piston market was mostly unremarkable, though Cessna had real gains, shipping 41 piston singles compared to 27 for the prior year period. Although total […]

Responding to rumors circulating in the aviation press, Cessna confirmed on Thursday that the last Citation Mustang has rolled off the production line. In 12 years, Cessna has produced over 470 copies of the light twin-jet, marketed as the entry-level aircraft for the owner-operator transitioning to multi-engine jets. “The Mustang proved to be an incredible […]

Hilton Goldstein, CEO and Chief Architect of Hilton Software, was named the winner of a Gold Stevie Award for Executive of the Year in the Aerospace & Defense category in the 15th Annual American Business Awards earlier this week. Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word meaning “crowned,” the awards will be presented to winners […]

Spirit Airlines has had to cancel or delay 15% of flights in the last month due to a lack of pilots, according to the airline. Cancellations this week thrust the years-long contract negotiation between the ultra-low-cost carrier and the pilots union into the public eye when a small number of angry passengers started a brawl […]

The ICON A5 that crashed on Monday morning, killing two company employees, including the highly respected aerodynamics engineer and test pilot Jon Karkow, was seen maneuvering low-level at cruising speeds seconds before the accident. Peter Knudson, public affairs officer with the NTSB, told AVweb that a witness saw the aircraft flying 30-50 feet above the […]

While drones can’t get spatial disorientation and don’t have to worry about seeing a runway in low visibility, weather could still be a significant problem for them in the delivery business. That was at least one sentiment expressed at a technical panel on the technology of drone delivery at AUVSI Xponential in Dallas this week. […]

The fourth Cessna Citation Longitude jet flew for the first time last Saturday and joined the test fleet, Textron Aviation said this week. The jet has a fully configured interior, which will be used to evaluate fit and finish as well as environmental controls, pressurization and other cabin technologies. “In addition to further systems testing, […]