News

Crew members aboard U.S. aircraft carriers still use a scale model with miniature airplanes to keep track of all the activity on the deck, but the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is developing a computerized system to simplify that process. Prof. Mary Cummings and her students in the Humans and Automation Lab have designed a “deck […]

The FAA has granted supplemental type certification for the Hawker 800XPR, which replaces the XP’s original engines with more powerful new Honeywell TFE731-50R powerplants and adds winglets for another performance boost. The upgrade, available only at factory-owned service facilities, offers “significant performance and capability improvements,” the company said. The new engines improve fuel efficiency about […]

Cathay Pacific has suspended an upcoming ad campaign that promised its crews would “go the extra mile to make you feel special” after photos were posted online showing a pilot and flight attendant engaged in a sex act in a cockpit. The male pilot and female f/a, whose names were not released by the airline, […]

Gulfstream says it is maintaining its test schedule for the flagship G650 despite the crash of a test airplane that killed four people in April and the resulting two-month suspension of flight testing. The company says it is on track for certification “later this year” and will deliver 10 to 12 of the $65 million […]

By all accounts the Latin American Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (LABACE) was a major success with more exhibitors, more static aircraft and more delegates than the 2010 edition. Officials said up to 160 exhibitors and more than 60 aircraft were on view to a crowd that may have reached 16,000. Certainly, all the major […]

The current economic turmoil likely won’t be felt much by the general aviation industry but that’s because things couldn’t really get much worse for GA manufacturers. Most analysts believe the roller coaster stock market will stabilize without affecting the bottom lines of most companies. Still, it’s another reason for those thinking of buying an airplane […]

LightSquared said last week the GPS industry’s demands that it should not interfere with their signals are “irrational,” but AOPA and GAMA responded on Monday that LightSquared has failed to address safety of flight concerns. In a statement filed on Monday to the Federal Communications Commission, the advocacy groups ask the agency to terminate LightSquared’s […]

The federal government will spend up to $510 million over the next three years to develop “drop-in” biofuels for aircraft, ships, and ground transportation, for both military and civilian use, the Obama administration announced on Tuesday. The plan aims to jump-start biofuels efforts, while creating jobs in rural states. It requires private investors to put […]

Training for airline pilots should utilize more-realistic simulators and focus more on manual flying skills, according to a new report by a panel of experts, The Wall Street Journal reported this week. The 54-page report, which was requested by Congress, has been presented to the FAA but has not yet been publicly released. It includes […]

The FCC has essentially asked LightSquared and the GPS industry to cut the rhetoric and provide it with the facts it needs to make a decision on LightSquared’s plan to provide nationwide wireless broadband on radio frequencies and at power levels that have been shown to interfere with GPS signals. Last Tuesday, FCC Chairman Julius […]