News

Aero Telemetry, a small company in southern California, is finishing up a model of Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose flying boat with a 20-foot wingspan, which it calls “the world’s largest flyable, most historically accurate and detailed scale model” of the iconic aircraft. The airplane is one of three Hughes aircraft that the company is building […]

Dassault has created a wholly owned subsidiary in China to secure its stake in that market. The company, Dassault Falcon Business Services (Beijing) Co. Ltd., is based in Beijing and will look after creating a customer support network in the country that will include maintenance specialists and even a couple of “jump-seat support” pilots. “Firmly […]

The FAA has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking covering aircraft with 10 or more passenger seats that will require much more comprehensive monitoring and record-keeping concerning contract maintenance. The new rule was mandated by the recent reauthorization of the FAA but the FAA seems to agree there’s a need. “These changes are needed because […]

A bankruptcy judge has rejected Hawker Beechcraft’s bid to fire-sale its inventory of Hawker 4000 jets to raise some quick cash. The company was planning to dump the aircraft, the all-composite flagship of its jet roster, for as little as about 35 cents on the dollar until some existing 4000 owners stepped in to prevent […]

Citing concerns over privacy, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta has told members of Congress that the selection of six testing sites for unmanned aerial vehicles, which was expected this year, has been indefinitely put on hold. According to the Dayton Daily News, Huerta wrote to members of the Unmanned Systems Congressional Caucus, but no public statement […]

Recent reports in the mainstream media raised questions about whether FAA’s NextGen air traffic control system might be vulnerable to hackers who can create “ghost airplanes,” and also asked why 102 “zombie towers” across the country are kept open all night despite low traffic. The FAA has said that airports with four or fewer flights […]

Three high school students have won an innovation award for developing an adaptive 737 winglet that could save the fleet up to $2 billion per year in jet fuel, the Department of Transportation has announced. Miraj Rahematpura, Christopher Muckle, and Mario Chris, of Middletown, Conn., entered their project in a competition organized by the DOT […]

Plans were in the works for a sequel to Top Gun, one of the most popular aviation films ever, when director Tony Scott’s suicide in August stalled the project, but a 3-D Imax version of the original movie now is expected to debut in February. The new version of the film already has been completed […]

The NTSB said last week it won’t make any major changes in the way it oversees FAA enforcement actions against pilots, and NBAA says that’s not fair to small aviation businesses. The current NTSB rules stipulate that NTSB administrative law judges who review emergency actions by the FAA against certificate holders must assume the allegations […]

Six people were hurt after two police helicopters collided at the Pasadena Police Department’s heliport in Altadena, Calif., on Saturday. The injuries were thought to be minor and the cause is under investigation. CBS News reported the blades of the OH-58 Kiowa helicopters touched. It’s not clear whether one or both of the aircraft were […]