News

Avgas prices have dropped enough to garner attention, prompting aircraft owners to ask FBOs if they’ll keep going down like prices at their local car-gas stations. Hoping for $2 avgas is unrealistic, but FBOs around the country told AVweb their posted prices have ticked down in recent months. While they aren’t seeing noticeably higher traffic […]

Drones carrying illegal drugs and contraband have been among the creative ideas used by smugglers, and crashes do happen from loss of control or perhaps weight-and-balance problems. An unmanned aerial vehicle with more than six pounds of methamphetamine taped to it crashed near the San Ysidro, California, border crossing to Mexico, The Associated Press reported […]

Diamond Aircraft’s single-engine turbine prototype made its maiden flight this week in Austria. The DA50-JP7, first announced in 2013, is designed for seven passengers and touts higher fuel efficiency with a Ukrainian-built 465-horsepower, AI-450S engine. Diamond CEO Christian Dries flew as test pilot, accompanied by Ingmar Mayerbuch, head of flight testing.Diamond plans to make two […]

Terrafugia’s requestto the FAA for an exemption from the LSA rules to allow extra weight and a higher stall speed in its Transition roadable aircraft has won support from the industry.In comments posted to the FAA docket, GAMA and EAA both said the request should be approved. “We believe it is in the public interest […]

The independent film “Charlie Victor Romeo,” with all of its dialog taken from the CVR transcripts of real aviation accidents, now is available for viewing via iTunes. “Charlie Victor Romeo delivers the intensity and gut-wrenching emotion of these emergencies via the unique approach of live performance,” says the iTunes site. A.O. Scott, film critic for […]

Boeing and Embraer will work together to develop a sustainable aviation biofuel and establish the industry in Brazil, the two companies announced last week. At the Boeing-Embraer Joint Research Center in the So Jos dos Campos Technology Park, the companies will coordinate research with Brazilian universities and other institutions. Both companies will contribute toward funding […]

Indonesia’s transport minister told reporters Tuesday that ADS-B data showed AirAsia 8501 climbing at a rate of 8,000 feet per minute before it crashed in the Java Sea Dec. 28, killing all 162 people on board. Ignasius Jonan made some remarks about the crash during a parliamentary hearing in which he also unveiled reforms to […]

Bertrand Piccard and Andr Borschberg, the Swiss pilots who plan to fly the solar-powered Solar Impulse 2 aircraft around the world, announced the route they will follow at a news conference in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday morning. After launching from Abu Dhabi in late February or early March, the route includes stops in Muscat, Oman; […]

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says his company will try again next month to recover a booster rocket used to launch a space payload. The company will try for a second time Feb. 8 to land a spent booster rocket on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean now that it has figured out the rather pedestrian […]

Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology, based in Denver, Colorado, has signed an agreement with Aero Electric Aircraft Corp. to buy 20 electric-powered two-seat trainer aircraft. The college has reserved the first delivery positions for the Sun Flyer airplane, which is still in development. “This agreement signifies our commitment to innovation and to serving the […]