News

Divers cleaning up garbage in the shallow waters off Midway Atoll in the Pacific discovered wreckage from a World War II Brewster Buffalo last summer, the New York Times reported recently. Only one intact copy from the original fleet still exists, and it’s on exhibit in Finland, the Times said. The Buffalo is “a very […]

China has still not certified the Boeing 787 and it’s delaying delivery of aircraft to Chinese airlines. According to Reuters the Chinese government says the approval process is going “smoothly” but at least one airline has had its delivery date pushed back. China Southern Airlines was supposed to get the first of 10 Dreamliners in […]

EAA Chairman and Acting President Jack Pelton says the organization will not change a fundamental policy and pay appearance fees for certain aircraft to attend AirVenture Oshkosh. Pelton was commenting on a decision by Fighter Factory President Jerry Yagen to have his exceptionally rare Second World War demonstration aircraft steer clear of the big show […]

The “fiscal cliff” act that was signed into law last week will extend 50-percent bonus depreciation through the end of this year for buyers of new business aircraft, the National Business Aviation Association said. “Accelerated depreciation has consistently proven to stimulate sales in difficult economic conditions,” said NBAA President Ed Bolen. “Given the current marketing […]

Hawker Beechcraft has reached an agreement with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. to take over two underfunded pension plans covering existing non-union and already-retired employees. Under the deal, the company, which hopes to exit bankruptcy protection in the next few months, will continue to fund the pension plan for its current and former unionized employees. […]

NASA said this week it has made a lot of progress with its Environmentally Responsible Aviation project for reducing the industry’s noise, emissions and fuel burn, and announced plans to take its work from the laboratory into flight testing. “The real challenge is to integrate ideas and pieces together,” said Fay Collier, ERA project manager […]

A smoky fire in a Boeing 787 parked at Logan Airport in Boston Monday morning started with a battery in the almost-new aircraft’s auxiliary power unit, local fire officials said. The Japan Airlines 787 had been in service less than a month. Passengers disembarked after the nonstop flight from Tokyo arrived at about 10 a.m., […]

Raisbeck and Hartzell have debuted a new four-blade “swept” propeller for the King Air 200 line. The design’s 96-inch diameter is 3 inches greater than the B200 factory props, and 2 inches greater than Raisbeck’s previous offerings. The increased diameter boosts low-speed performance and shaves 1,150 feet off takeoff, the companies said. They also said […]

The U.S. Air Force may be looking for a fleet of new very-light jets to replace its current fleet of basic training aircraft, and Eclipse Aerospace said this week it wants to build them. The jets would be used by about 700 students per year in the USAF Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training Multi-place Training Track. […]

The executive director of the National Association of Flight Instructors has resigned and it appears financial issues are behind the decision. Jason Blair, who has held that post since 2008, resigned Sunday, saying the organization apparently couldn’t afford him. “I fully support the mission of NAFI and hope the association and its members can find […]