Business & Military

Software Upgrade Simplifies Carrier Landings

New software now ready for deployment is making it easier for pilots to stick the notoriously difficult aircraft-carrier arrested landing, the U.S. Navy said recently. The Navy worked with Boeing in June to test the new technology in sea trials aboard the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier. Dubbed Magic Carpet — short for Maritime […]

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Amazon Intros Cargo Plane Fleet

Amazon is working to expand its air-cargo operations, and over the weekend unveiled its first branded airplane, a refurbished Boeing 767-300. The Prime Air jet was shown off to the public in Seattle’s Seafair airshow. The company said they will have a fleet of 40 of the refurbished 767 jets up and flying in Amazon […]

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Report: Airport Fund Lost Up To $2 Billion

A change in tax law in 2005 has resulted in a loss of $1 billion to $2 billion to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released today. “The amounts lost to the Trust Fund as revealed today by the GAO are simply staggering,” said Andrew Priester, chairman […]

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GAMA Reports Declines In 2016 Aircraft Shipments

Airplane shipments are down for the first half of 2016, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association reported Friday. There were 970 units shipped for the first six months of the year, a 4.5 percent decline. Billings for new airplanes fell 11 percent to $9.3 billion, while rotorcraft billings saw a 32.5 percent drop over last year, […]

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FAA Changes Controller Applicant Rules

By law, the FAA has dropped the controversial “biographical profile” for prequalified (college program and military veteran) air traffic control trainee applicants and will hire 1,400 new trainees this year.Applications will only be taken from Aug. 8-15 at the U.S. government’s official jobs website but applicants can set up an online profile before that. In […]

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New This Week

AVweb‘s search of news in aviation found announcements from Cessna Pilot Centers, the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals,ELITE Simulation Solutionsand CiES.Cessna Pilot Centers’ use of the latest iPad technology gives pilots convenient access to their online courses even when they are offline. The CPC Companion app, a free download from the Apple App Store, allows […]

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Moon Express Gets OK For Lunar Mission

Moon Express, a Cape Canaveral-based private company, announced this week it has received government approval to send an autonomous lander to the moon and plans to do so next fall. The multi-agency collaboration with the company includes NASA and the FAA. The approval puts Moon Express in the lead among other contenders for the $20 […]

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Airbus Unveils Flying-Taxi Project

Airbus engineers based in Silicon Valley are working to develop “an autonomous flying vehicle platform,” called Vahana, that could provide transport for both passengers and cargo, the company has announced. Flight tests of the first vehicle prototype are slated for the end of 2017. Ultimately, the system could operate similarly to car-sharing applications, with the […]

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FAA: Drones Outnumber Airplanes

In the eight months since the FAA opened its online drone registration system, more than 500,000 hobbyists have signed up, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said today in Washington, already outnumbering the 320,000 registered manned aircraft. Huerta said the FAA now is taking further steps to ensure the drone industry can continue to grow “at the […]

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A Roomba For Your Airship

Lockheed Martin is serious about developing lighter-than-air vehicles, and now it has patented a new “spider” device that solves a maintenance problem for airship operators. Traditionally, teams of workers have been required to manually scan the airship envelope to find and repair tiny holes that couldn’t be found any other way. Now, Lockheed’s engineers have […]

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