News

Hawker Beechcraft is looking for a break from the holders of a $182 million revolving line of credit as it grapples with the rough economy. According to Bloomberg, the Wichita planemaker, jointly owned by Goldman Sachs and Onex Corp., is close to violating the terms of the loan agreement in which its cash flow must […]

Aircraft designer Burt Rutan has teamed up again with investor Paul Allen — who bankrolled Rutan’s winning entry in the 2004 X Prize — to build what they say will be the world’s largest airplane, “Stratolaunch,” capable of launching payloads into space. The composite aircraft, weighing 1.2 million pounds, with a 385-foot wingspan, resembles an […]

Pilots of transport-category airplanes should be taught to reduce the angle of attack as their first response to a stall warning, the FAA said on Tuesday. In a new proposed advisory circular, the FAA says it aims to provide “best practices and guidance for training, testing, and checking for pilots to ensure correct and consistent […]

LightSquared has offered to give up control of part of the frequency spectrum it owns in exchange for unconditional use of another part of the L-band frequency for its controversial proposed broadband network. In a proposal to the FCC (PDF), LightSquared says it will cede veto power over the use of half of its spectrum […]

A recent report from Forecast International predicts that 2012 will see a turnaround in the business-jet market, with modest growth expected, ending a three-year trend of declining sales. The recovery will be slow, according to analyst Raymond Jaworowski. The improvement in 2012 will be “minor,” he said, and “more substantial growth in build rates will […]

A new program offered by Build A Plane and Fly To Learn aims to help kids learn about science, technology, engineering, and math by building and flying virtual aircraft using X-Plane flight simulator software. “Not every school can or wants to build a real airplane,” said Lyn Freeman, founder of Build A Plane, “but now […]

Authorities in the Philippines are focusing on the fuel system of a Beech Queen Air that crashed into a school in the Manila suburb of Paranaque City on Saturday killing at least 13 people, including 11 on the ground, and leveling the school. Only the two pilots and one passenger were aboard the aircraft. Because […]

Air Canada officials told authorities that two rowdy passengers who caused the diversion of a Toronto-Beijing flight last week actually chewed through the restraints used by the crew and passengers to subdue them. The Vancouver Sun quotes CBC News as saying the pair, a couple of IT executives on a business trip, were so out […]

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has sent a letter to the FAA seeking designation as a spaceport and the ability to create facilities for that purpose. Colorado ranks third for highest state revenue generated from the aerospace industry, according to the governor. It also hosts 140 aerospace companies, the Air Force Space Command headquarters and NORAD. […]

Piper is seeking to renegotiate a deal it made with the state of Florida and Indian River County to avoid paying back some government incentives, TCPalm reported Thursday. In 2008, Piper agreed to repay more than $1.5 million of a $10.7 million incentive package it received from the state and county if it failed to […]