News

In a letter sent to distributors last week (see link below), Continental Motors aimed to ease concerns about the FAA’s recently proposed airworthiness directive for ECi cylinders, noting that “no Continental Motors factory-new/rebuilt engines or parts are affected.” Continental said it has never used the ECi cylinders, so owners “can be confident that no AEC […]

A B-1B Lancer, the Cold War-era swing-wing bomber, crashed in a remote part of southeastern Montana on Monday, but all four crew members ejected. The four were taken to local hospitals but all are expected to survive, officials said. The bomber, which was destroyed, was one of about 60 still in the U.S. Air Force […]

NASA is generally associated with space exploration, but the first “A” in NASA is for “Aeronautics,” and last week Administrator Charles Bolden unveiled a new strategic vision for the agency’s aeronautical research programs. The new plan will focus on key drivers that are expected to affect aviation over the next two to four decades, Bolden […]

There were no injuries in the crash of a Bradley BA-100 kit-built aircraft (Wikipedia reference) in Killeen, Texas (about 70 miles north of Austin) on Aug. 10 but there is an illustrative video. The unidentified pilot secured several cameras to the aircraft before he took off on an abruptly ended flight from Skylark Airfield. The […]

The FAA says some pilots can get their fuel costs covered when flying Eagles and Young Eagles flights at EAA-sanctioned events. Last week the agency responded to EAA’s 2012 petition for a wide-ranging exemption to rules that prohibit non-commercial pilots from accepting compensation for flights, other than allowing passengers to chip in up to half […]

The UPS A300 that crashed in Birmingham, Ala., on Wednesday flew itself into the ground, according to the NTSB preliminary analysis of the flight data recorder information. At a news conference on Saturday NTSB spokesman Robert Sumwalt said the aircraft was flying on its autopilot until “moments” before it crashed less than a mile short […]

Last weeks massive proposed airworthiness directive aimed at thousands of Engine Components International cylinder assemblies is drawing mixed reactions from engine overhaul shops, according to an AVweb canvass of shops this week. While some say the proposed AD is a kneejerk over reaction, at least one shop told AVweb that the AD is justified, based […]

The 10-story “Grasshopper” rocket created by SpaceX was successfully flown to hover on August 13, and then returned to land on its launch platform after executing a lateral maneuver, the company said Wednesday. The test carried the rocket to an altitude of 250 meters and incorporated a lateral shift of 100 meters. The Grasshopper rocket […]

As part of the Eclipse 550 certification process, Eclipse Aerospace now has available a new “safety enhancement” package offering new or existing owners upgrades from brakes to multifunction displays, plus one “industry first,” the company has announced. According to Eclipse, the addition of autothrottles as part of the new safety package marks a first within […]

Researchers at MIT say they have created a new structure that is “10 times stiffer” than existing ultralight materials, can be easily disassembled and reassembled for maintenance or repair, and is “useful for anything you need to move or put in the air or in space.” The research team says the structure is made by […]