News

Virgin Galactic’s passenger-carrying suborbital space vehicle SpaceShipTwo successfully passed aerodynamic and powerplant tests on June 26, near Mojave, Calif. The vehicle performed its first successful glide since integration of its rocket motor systems. WhiteKnightTwo carried it to 51,000 feet over where it was released under the control of Scaled pilots Pete Siebold and Mike Alsbury. […]

A team at the University of Texas at Austin claims to have hacked into and taken control of a non-military drone using less than $1,000 in parts, highlighting concerns over domestic drone use. Drones operated by the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies are already flying over the U.S. Smaller groups like universities and […]

Fallout from the May 9 crash of Russia’s first completely new post-Soviet era passenger jet may bring changes to how Sukhoi pilots are prepared for display flights, RiaNovosti reported, Wednesday. Last month’s crash destroyed a Sukhoi Superjet SSJ100 airliner, killing all 44 passengers aboard when the demo flight impacted a mountain slope near its departure […]

As the wildfire begins in earnest in 2012, the Forest Service is operating with roughly half of the aircraft it had only a decade ago, stirring some controversy about aviation firefighting resources. Earlier this month, President Obama signed a bill to add larger tankers to the Forest Service’s aerial firefighting fleet and, separately, four Air […]

EAA AirVenture is coming up fast, with opening day set for Monday, July 23, and EAA said this week visitors already have started to arrive in the camping areas. The current Notam, essential reading for pilots who are flying in, has been posted on the AirVenture website. The website also offers discounts on advance ticket […]

The Unleaded Avgas Transition-Advanced Rulemaking Committee (ARC)’s report on its recommended path to a suitable replacement for 100LL has been released to the public by the FAA (two months after the stakeholders committee completed the report) and as we reported in May it will be, under the committee’s recommendations, at least 11 years before such […]

Last year, the FAA ordered airlines to disable emergency oxygen generators that supply decompression masks in lavatories, citing terrorism concerns. This week, the FAA reversed that order, and gave the airlines three years to restore the systems. The change affects about 5,500 airplanes, the FAA said, and will cost about $45 million. The FAA noted […]

In a safety recommendation stemming from its investigation of a 2009 crash in Texas, the NTSB said on Tuesday the FAA and the European Aviation Safety Agency should require changes in the stall-warning system on ATR-42 series airplanes. Both agencies should also evaluate all other transport-category airplanes to ensure that the stick pusher “activates at […]

A report in the British newspaper the Daily Mail says Boeing, Gulfstream and Lockheed Martin will unveil concepts for supersonic business jets capable of 2,500 mph and a London-to-Sydney flight time of four hours at the Farnborough Air Show next month. The newspaper quotes unnamed sources as saying the aerospace heavyweights have partnered with NASA […]

One of the original proponents of the Vantage Jet single-engine very light jet has resumed his quest to certify and build the Burt Rutan-designed aircraft. Jim Rice has re-acquired the original prototype of the forward-swept-wing composite design that first flew in 1996 but encountered various financial and technical challenges before the post-911 slump forced it […]