News

Three aerospace teams will compete for a military contract to further develop their ideas for a reusable unmanned spaceplane that can make daily flights over a ten-day period. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency announced this week it will hold a publicProposers Day on April 29 to discuss the second and third phases of its […]

After a nine-month hiatus in Hawaii, Solar Impulse 2 is ready to resume its around-the-world flight. The crew will look for favorable conditions this month so the single-seat aircraft can launch from Oahu for North America, where landing options include Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles or Phoenix. From there, the aircraft will continue eastward and […]

External Tank 94, a 69,000-pound artifact from NASA’s space shuttle program, is en route to a permanent home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. The tank, which was one of 138 built at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, is the last of its kind. ET-94 left its storage site there this […]

Ten aviation advocacy groups submitted a letter to U.S. senators this week, asking them to oppose any changes in the FAA Reauthorization Act that would allow local and state governments to create their own rules about drones. Allowing that kind of “patchwork” of laws could “erode, rather than enhance, air safety,” the letter says. It […]

Advocates converged on Washington this week to push for passage of the Safe Skies Act, which would extend to cargo pilots the same rest requirements mandated for pilots who fly with passengers. “This is not a partisan issue, it’s a science-based, common-sense issue,” said Chesley Sullenberger, who has been advocating for the act, at a […]

The Gustaf III airport at St. Bart’s, in the Caribbean, is well known as a challenging one for pilots and a scenic spot for planespotters, but last week, one enthusiast with a camera was caught on video in a close call. The photographer was focused on shooting a single-engine airplane on approach, when another photographer […]

The FAA today published a final rule that allows student pilots to log up to 20 hours in flight simulators, finally reaching the end of a long and twisted regulatory path. The current rules allow only 10 hours to be logged, although many flight schools had permission from the FAA to log up to 20. […]

As Sun ‘n Fun drew to a close, Aspen Avionics announced yet another encouraging development in the avionics market: compatibility with Garmin’s new line of ADS-B systems. Through a newly approved STC, Aspen’s Evolution-series PFD and MFD retrofit display systems can display ADS-B weather and traffic when connected with Garmin’s GDL88-series dual-band ADS-B receiver. The […]

Cirrus brought a mock-up of their final Vision jet interior to Sun ‘n Fun last week, but if you missed it, that’s because Cirrus, as usual, had no exhibit of their own in Lakeland — the mock-up was hosted at the Whelan tent. “The greatest thing about our jet interior is the modular seating design,” […]

The FAA issued two direct-to-final-rule Airworthiness Directives today that affect general aviation airplanes. A Cessna AD addresses the elevator trim tabs in about 5,000 twin-engine T310Q, 310Q, and 402B aircraft. Textron already has issued a service bulletin, but allows up to a year to make the fix — the FAA said today it is shortening […]