The airborne laser program developed around a Boeing 747 and what was effectively a giant laser gun has been scrapped after 15 years and $5 billion. The program fitted a modified 747 jumbo jet with a mega-watt class chemical oxygen iodine laser fitted to a rotating nose turret and tracking system that could target and […]
Japan Wednesday said it may cancel orders for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 if costs or timelines increase, just days after the Pentagon said it was seeking ways to reduce the program’s projected $1 trillion cost. The Pentagon’s figure is an estimated lifetime cost, which includes maintenance and operation of 2,443 F-35 fighters over the next 50 […]
There has been a recent spike in reports of hypoxia-like symptoms by pilots of the F-22 Raptor — an oxygen delivery problem on a Raptor contributed to a fatal crash two years ago. Over the past six months nine pilots have reported hypoxia-like symptoms while flying the roughly $147 million (excluding development costs) per-copy jet. […]
The safety records of airplanes with glass panels are about the same as airplanes of the same model with analog cockpits, according to a new study by the Air Safety Institute, a division of the AOPA Foundation. However, “glass-panel aircraft may be more susceptible to accidents during takeoffs, landings, and go-arounds,” the study found. 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. The quiet world of competitive paper airplane flying got some unusual attention this weekend when Joe Ayoob, a former quarterback for the University of California at Berkeley, set a new world record for […]
Boeing delivered the first passenger version of it new generation 747 Tuesday, but it left the factory without the 467 seats most of its stablemates will carry. The first 747-I is going to an unnamed individual, but he or she won’t actually get to fly on it for a couple of years, long enough to […]
The Air Force Tuesday cancelled its contract for a Light Air Support aircraft with Sierra Nevada Industries and Embraer, will reopen competitive bidding, and has announced an investigation into the way the previous bid was handled. The Air Force raised eyebrows in December when it kicked Hawker Beechcraft’s AT6B out of the running for the […]
The heat energy produced by the friction of a passenger jet’s braking system during landing could be captured and converted into electricity, according to recent research by an engineering team in the U.K. “Taxiing is a highly fuel-inefficient part of any trip by plane, with emissions and noise pollution caused by jet engines being a […]
When the pilot of a P-51D was unable to extend the landing gear to land on Sunday afternoon, his ground crew found some expert help — they got former airshow pilot Bob Hoover, now 90 years old, on the phone to offer advice. Pilot Chuck Gardner was preparing to land in Mobile, Ala., after giving […]
The nine crew members aboard a Royal Canadian Air Force C-130 Hercules modified as a tanker escaped unharmed after an in-flight fire at NAS Key West last week. Photos obtained by Canadian Aviator magazine suggest the outcome could have been a lot different. The RCAF hasn’t said what caused the fire to put a big […]
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