Business & Military

\ AVweb‘s search of news in aviation found announcements from theUnmanned Safety Institute, theCivil Air Patrol, Airbus Helicopters and MAC Air Group.The Unmanned Safety Institute announced that it has launched the first-ever online training course designed by its team of leading aviation safety experts to teach drone enthusiasts how to fly safely and minimize risk. […]

That the death of John Glenn on Thursday came as no surprise made it no less sad. For my generation, Glenn was an indelible figure of towering accomplishment. Given his chosen profession and the risks that defined it, living to the age of 95 was itself a feat, never mind being launched into space twice. […]

Former astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn is in a Columbus, Ohio, hospital with an undisclosed illness. Glenn, 95, was the first American to orbit the Earth and the last surviving member of the original astronauts in the Mercury program. He was admitted to James Cancer Hospital more than a week ago, and a family […]

There will be no more rocket launches this year for SpaceX, which announced Wednesday it will not be ready to resume flights on Dec. 16 as the company had intended. The delay marks the second time the California company has had to postpone launch operations as the probe into the Sept. 1 rocket explosion at […]

As airlines continue to unbundle what’s covered by a basic fare, United Airlines announced this week that it will begin charging for the use of overhead space in its cabins. While discount airlines such as Spirit have charged for the overhead for several years, United is the first major airline to do so. The Washington […]

Famed aerobatic pilot and aircraft designer Walter Extra has set a new FAI record for time to climb in an electric airplane. According to Extra and Siemens, the manufacturer of the motor used in the Extra 330LE, the climb was 4:22 to an altitude of 3000 meters (9842 feet). That’s an average climb rate of […]

I know it’s fashionable to decry flying on the airlines as the mass transportation equivalent of a slave ship, but I’ve trained myself to tune out the insults and degradations of airline travel. The airlines usually get you there at a fare less than you can fly yourself over the same distance. That’s just economic […]

President-elect Donald Trump said in a tweet Tuesday morning that Boeing’s costs for the next Air Force One, now in development, are “out of control,” and added, “Cancel order!” The costs, according to Trump, are already up to more than $4 billion. Boeing responded with a short statement, noting that “We are currently under contract […]

U.S. pilots now can buy a factory-built FAA-type-certified autogyro for the first time “probably in at least 60 years,” Bob Snyder, program manager at AutoGyroUSA, told AVweb on Monday. The Calidus autogyro, which has been flying in Europe since 2009, recently was awarded a type certificate in the seldom-used Part 23 primary category by FAA […]

An unknown number of passengers and crew were injured when a Qatar Airways Boeing 777 flying from Washington to Doha hit severe turbulence and made an emergency landing in the Azores. Flight 708 was almost five hours into the 14-hour flight Saturday when it hit three minutes’ worth of really rough air. Passengers tweeted accounts […]