News

Newly installed AOPA President Mark Baker said Wednesday that the key to pilot recruitment and retention is protecting access to airports. All things in aviation start with an airport. Weve got to make that accessible and fun, Baker told AVweb in an extended interview on Wednesday, which is available in todays podcast. He added that […]

The last Martin Mars water bomber, the world’s largest piston-powered prop plane, may have fought its last fire officials said this week. The British Columbia government has cancelled a standing contract to have the aircraft available to fight fires in the province. The airplane, which can skim a lake and pick up more than 7,000 […]

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is seeking to build a “reusable hypersonic aircraft” capable of speeds beyond Mach 10 to deliver payloads of up to 5,000 pounds into low earth orbit for less than $5 million per launch. DARPA will more fully explain the project in October, but for now is seeking to […]

Former FAA Administrator Marion Blakey has been awarded one of aviation’s most prestigious prizes. Blakey is the 2013 Wright Trophy winner, bestowed annually by the National Aeronautic Association to a living American who has given…significant public service of enduring value to aviation in the United States. Since ending her five-year term as FAA administrator in […]

Boeing flew an F-16 without a pilot for the first time last week, the company said on Tuesday. The Air Force plans to use the modified aircraft as a target drone for weapons testing and other aerial training. So far, six of the retired airplanes have been modified into the Full Scale Aerial Target, or […]

With a new federal fiscal year about to launch on Oct. 1, FAA officials are facing a $700 million budget gap, according to Bloomberg News. A new round of automatic cuts will take effect in the new budget year and may have more impact than they did this year, sources told Bloomberg, citing briefings with […]

The first all-new Eclipse 550 twin-engine jet to roll off the production line in Albuquerque will be on display at the 2013 NBAA convention in Las Vegas next month, Eclipse Aerospace announced on Tuesday. CEO Mason Holland said the jet represents an “amazing accomplishment” for the company, which bought up the remnants of the original […]

The first FAA-approved commercial flight by an unmanned aircraft launched in the Chukchi Sea, above the Arctic Circle, on Sept. 12, the FAA said on Monday. The flight “went off safely and without a hitch,” the FAA said. A ship chartered by ConocoPhillips carried four Insitu ScanEagle UAS to conduct marine-mammal and ice surveys required […]

An Aviation Rulemaking Committee is expected to tell the FAA this week that the use of certain electronic devices in airline cabins should be allowed, The New York Times reported on Monday. The new guidelines, which would likely take effect next year, according to the Times, would allow passengers to use their tablets to access […]

Hilton Software, developers of the WingX Pro aviation app, is advising its subscribers not to upgrade their iPads and iPhones to the new iOS 7 operating system because the new operating system has stability issues. The company says it believes its app is fully compatible with iOS 7 but the operating system itself has a […]