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China’s stealth fighter, the J-20, has flown for the first time, Chinese officials said on Tuesday. The 15-minute flight took place Tuesday morning from the Chengdu airfield where it was seen last week. Chinese President Hu Jintao confirmed that the first flight had taken place when asked by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who is […]

NBAA and NATA have both responded to claims in the current issue of The Atlantic magazine that private aviation is a “public menace” due to inadequate security safeguards. In his commentary, Atlantic correspondent Jeffrey Goldberg says anyone who is rich enough, including a terrorist, can “buy [their] way out of airport security.” Eric Byer, vice […]

Free beer tomorrow; free lift today! That’s not the FAA’s new slogan but, instead, a reminder that some things in life – and flight – are free. Defend your free access to the sky by acing this free quiz. Take the quiz. More Brainteasers

At least 70 people died and 32 were injured when an Iranian airliner (possibly a Boeing 727) crashed in heavy snow in the mountainous northwestern area of the country Sunday. The plane was flying from Tehran to Oriumyeh; the accident may have happened on the aircraft’s second attempt to land. The snow, more than two […]

The interim mayor of Charlotte, N.C., is leading the effort to raise $250,000 needed to help US Airways Flight 1549 reach its final destination. The Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte recently announced that the Airbus A320 famously ditched in the Hudson River by pilots Chesley Sullenberger and Jeff Skiles two years ago would be put […]

The latest entry in the electric plane sweepstakes, the Elektra One by PC-Aero of Germany, is nearing first flight and the single-seat composite could be the first of several models to be produced by the company. The company says the Elektra One will have a maximum battery endurance of three hours on its 21-horsepower motor. […]

In what some might consider a paradox of modern politics on the use of private aviation, the new governor of Florida will donate the use of his own aircraft for his own travels around the 26th largest state while selling off the state’s own airplanes. He says anyone else in the government who needs to […]

The fatal accident rate for jet and turboprop aircraft rose 22 percent last year, according to Ascend, a London-based aviation consulting firm, but longer-term trends are positive. Four accidents, none attributed to U.S. carriers, accounted for 65 percent of total passenger fatalities, according to Ascend. They included an Air India crash at Mangalore, in May; […]

Constitutional rights issues aren’t the only problem; participants asked to sneak explosives past the backscatter X-ray machines now used at U.S. airports “did it with such ease,” according to one security expert, that “there is no case for scanners.” Security expert Edward Luttwak is a senior associate at the Center for International and Strategic Studies […]

Air Force and Navy variants of the F-35 fighter are progressing, but the Marine Corps’ short takeoff and vertical landing version has been put on a two-year probation and may be canceled altogether if concerns aren’t met. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters, “If we cannot fix this variant during this time frame, and get […]