News

Solar Impulse 2, the solar-electric aircraft designed to fly around the world, flew more than two hours on Monday, for a successful maiden flight. The single-seat aircraft launched from the Payerne aerodrome in Switzerland, with test pilot Marcus Scherdel in command. “Si2 incorporates a vast amount of new technology to render it more efficient, reliable […]

The widow of an Iowa man sucked out of a skydive plane when his parachute deployed inside the aircraft is now suing the skydiving company. In a lawsuit filed last week, Cindy Kidrowski alleges the chute Kidrowski was required to wear as a safety precaution ended up killing him and she’s looking for general and […]

All seven people aboard a Gulfstream IV were killed Saturday night when the aircraft ran off a runway at Hansom Field in Bedford, Mass., northwest of Boston. The aircraft was en route from Hanscom to Atlantic City, N.J., according to airport authorities. Among the victims was Lewis Katz, 72, who just days ago reached a […]

Bombardier’s CSeries test program has been temporarily halted after an uncontained engine failure in the first flight test aircraft during a ground test. The Transportation Safety Board said ground crew monitoring the aircraft declared an emergency and asked for airport firefighters. Bombardier wouldn’t discuss details but said both the engine and the aircraft were damaged […]

A California company says it’s the first to fly a passenger in a solar-powered airplane. Solar Flight, of Ramona, Calif., launched its Sunseeker Duo from Milan, Italy, with both of the company’s founders, Irena and Eric Raymond, in the spacious side-by-side cabin.”Sunseeker Duois now officially the first solar powered airplane to carry two people,” the […]

SkyCrafts SD-1 single-place Minisport has completed flight testing successfully, meeting all the performance requirements needed for S-LSA Certification. According to the companys report, the aircraft has good longitudinal and latitudinal stability and exhibited no issues with flutter, vibration or dangerous stall/spin tendencies. SkyCraft was able to verify the performance specifications for the SD-1 achieved by […]

The last plane to undergo maintenance inside Boeing Wichitas facility, an E-4B, started its engines and took off Thursday. It flew to the south, then gracefully turned back north for a final goodbye pass before disappearing from sight. A fixture in Wichita, Kan., since 1927, Boeing once employed as many as 40,000 people there. It […]

Oklahoma legislators have passed legislation to help ensure that the sudden appearance of wind evaluation towers doesn’t surprise pilots. The new law will require that any temporary towers put up to measure wind speed be amply marked if they are higher than 50 feet.”It’s really a simple matter: Higher visibility saves lives. This new law […]

Textron Aviation rolled out the first production CJ3+ Thursday and it may have set a record for the time between its announcement and the pictures in front of the hangar. The aircraft was “first announced on March 20 of this year and is expected to receive FAA certification during the second half of the year,” […]

Virgin Galactic, the privately funded space company owned by Sir Richard Bransons Virgin Group and Abu Dhabis aabar Investments PJS, and Spaceport America announcedthat they have signed a joint agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration that helps clear the path for commercial flights of SpaceShipTwo. The agreement sets out the parameters for how routine space […]