News

Tornadoes that swept through Wichita, Kans., over the weekend damaged buildings belonging to Boeing and subcontractor Spirit AeroSystems, and several aircraft at the Kansas Aviation Museum were torn from their tiedowns. Spirit builds fuselages for Boeing 737s, and the production line could be slowed while the company recovers, according to the Wichita Eagle. “It will […]

The Air Force is “the largest energy user in the federal government,” last year added $1 billion in costs due to rising oil prices and, now, a range of changes may be coming to help curtail that.The Air Force operates a fleet of approximately 4,700 aircraft. To save fuel, pilots of some of those aircraft […]

It was wrong for the Social Security Administration to give confidential medical information about a pilot to the FAA, but that pilot can’t sue the government for emotional distress, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled recently. In a 5-to-3 decision (PDF) issued on March 28, the justices overturned a ruling by a California court and said […]

Aviation historians and warbird enthusiasts are drooling at the discovery of at least 12 and maybe as many 20 perfectly preserved brand-new Spitfire Mark 14s buried in Myanmar, which was formerly Burma. Thanks to the tenacity (and apparently considerable diplomatic skills) of British farmer David Cundall, the lost squadron of pristine fighters was found where […]

The Air Force will formally reopen the bidding process for a light air support aircraft contract on Tuesday with the release of a draft request for proposals. The decision will presumably allow Hawker Beechcraft to re-enter its AT-6B in the competition for the $1 billion deal, which was briefly awarded to Sierra Nevada Corp and […]

Hawker Beechcraft has warned shareholders it may not be able to stay in business in its current form. “Management has concluded that there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” the company said in a delayed year-end filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company had earlier warned […]

At least one of two RAF Typhoon interceptors broke the speed of sound over England Thursday responding to what appears to have been an errant hijack code entered into a helicopter’s transponder. When the code reached controllers, they attempted to contact the helicopter. When those efforts failed, a Quick Reaction Alert was issued and the […]

Don’t see a video screen?Try disabling ad blockers and refreshing this page.If that doesn’t work, click here to download the video directly. Italian aircraft manufacturer TECNAM flew a new offering, the 133-knot cruise, 180-hp, four-place, high-wing P2010 for the first time, Thursday. The aircraft is formed from carbon fiber and metal components and has a […]

The unorthodox five-place Synergy aircraft concept gained critical attention with its public introduction about one year ago and, as AVweb learned Thursday, it may soon be taking another enterprising turn. Aircraft are generally designed to do one thing very well (high-speed cruise, for example), often at the expense of other things (like fuel burn, slow […]

For the first time ever, Scaled Composites, in Mojave, Calif., will open the hangar doors on Saturday, April 21, and invite job-seekers to come in and talk to the staff about job openings at the company. “We have a lot going on and we need to do some hiring,” company spokesman Elliot Seguin told AVweb […]