Aero Electric Aircraft Corp.’s solar-electric Sun Flyer airplane made its first public appearance at Centennial Airport in Colorado Wednesday. The proof-of-concept model, in development as a low-cost, environmentally friendly trainer, will be the test aircraft for its FAA certification, AEA said. The company also announced during a rollout event it is partnering with the University […]
The FAA has certified Robinson’s two-place R44 Cadet helicopter, the company announced this week. The Cadet’s airframe, rotor system and Lycoming O-540-F1B5 powerplant are the same as the company’s R44 Raven I. However, in the Cadet, the rear seats have been removed to provide extra cargo space, the maximum gross weight has been reduced to […]
Chinese officials plan to invest $11.9 billion by the end of this year to expand aviation infrastructure, according to a recent report from Xinhua, the country’s official press agency. Most of the investment will go to airport construction, with 11 key new projects planned and 52 upgrades to existing facilities. “The general aviation sector, especially […]
New technologies that could detect and perhaps also take control of drones that fly too close to airports are now being studied by the FAA, the agency said in a news release this week. The FAA signed agreements with three private companies — Gryphon Sensors, Liteye Systems and Sensofusion — that have developed technology and […]
Two companies, Tailwind and Cape Air, are working to secure FAA approval to fly seaplanes out of Boston Harbor, providing service to Manhattan, the Boston Globe reported today. Both companies plan to fly nine-passenger Cessna Caravans on floats. Both also promise 90-minute service, direct from downtown to downtown, substantially beating the current options — train, […]
Hydrogen fuel cells have long been discussed as a potential power source for vehicles, including aircraft, and researchers at the German aerospace center, the DLR, believe that technical barriers can be overcome in the near term to make hydrogen a practical fuel source. Speaking at the first annual Sustainable Aviation Foundation symposium in Redwood City, […]
When I was listening to some of the presentations at the Sustainable Aviation Foundation symposium this week, it occurred to me that much of what I was hearing was simply an extension of the AUVSI event I covered earlier in the week. The lines between general aviation, manned aircraft in general and autonomous aircraft are […]
It has again become fashionable in some aviation circles to assert that if only we could return to ways and days of yore by getting rid of some or all of the Federal Aviation Regulations and those who enforce them, all would be well and general aviation would zoom into sunlit uplands and robust financial […]
Airplanes that fly themselves already exist and the accepted wisdom is that we’re not too far from the day when all airplanes will be robotically operated. But maybe not. At the first annual Sustainable Aviation Foundation symposium in Redwood City, California, three experts in the field were asked about the immediate prospects for commercial autonomous […]
Early-year new aircraft shipments are down in 2016, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association’s latest report. For the first quarter of this year, total GA airplane shipments fell 3.7 percent compared to 2015, GAMA reported Friday (PDF).Piston aircraft remained relatively steady with 191 shipments for the first quarter of 2016, with 193 for the […]
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