Business & Military

Our concept of drones is that they land—sometimes with grace, sometimes not—on a more or less flat surface when their mission is over. But researchers at Yale are working on a drone that can land and “perch” like a bat to save energy during portions of its mission. Where some studies have tested drones that […]

Southwest Airlines, Boeing’s biggest customer for the troubled 737 MAX, said this week that the airplane maker’s documentation incorrectly claimed that its aircraft had operable angle-of-attack disagree warning lights. But Boeing informed Southwest that the AoA function was actually inoperative only after the Lion Air crash in Indonesia last October. Even as Boeing finishes software […]

Addressing shareholders in Chicago Monday, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg spoke to reporters about the 737 MAX’s troubled MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System). “The MCAS system as originally designed met our design and safety analysis criteria,” he said. When asked if the MCAS was the cause of both Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines accidents, Muilenburg sidestepped […]

Airbus has been flying the ACJ (Airbus Corporate Jets) 319neo for only a couple of days, but has already set an endurance record. Thanks to additional fuel tanks compared to the airline version of the A319, the ACJ-neo was able to make a 16-hour, 10-minute test flight. As previously reported, the 319neo completed a short […]

Like peanut butter and jelly, Southwest Airlines and Boeing have been inextricably linked but maybe not so much anymore. Southwest officials have reportedly been asking questions about the Airbus A220, the highly regarded former Bombardier CSeries single-aisle program acquired by Airbus last year and now being operated by Delta, Korean Air and Swiss, among others. […]

Boeing is preparing its St. Louis F-15 factory for an order of 80 of the almost-50-year-old-design jets from the U.S. Air Force. The order is tucked into the Defense Department’s most recent appropriations request and Boeing says it wants to be ready if the Air Force needs the big twin fighters sooner rather than later. […]

Cathay Pacific and various authorities are investigating the mysterious “loss of visual acuity” experienced by two long-serving captains on separate flights in different aircraft types in January and February of this year. In the first instance, a 777 skipper with 4,000 hours in that left seat (27,500 hours total) had trouble seeing for about 30 […]

I was on descent into a congested metropolitan area when I had this exchange with the center controller. Center: “N12345, contact Approach on 124.4.” Me: “124.4 for N12345, thanks.” Center: “No, N12345, I’m sorry but I got that wrong. You should go to Approach on 128.75.” Me: “Got it, 128.75 for N12345, have a good […]

LAX 24L: A Runway With A Tragic History GREAT, well written article by Myron Nelson regarding the 24L accident at LAX. As a retired major airline captain with 35 years of experience flying into LAX, I could relate completely…Well done. Tom Rosen Great recap of the runway 24 L indecent. I remember it well because […]

Eviation has announced that it has selected the magniX magni250 propulsion system to power its all-electric Alice aircraft. According to Eviation, the 375-horsepower magni250 will be one of two propulsion options on the nine-passenger composite commuter. The company says magniX motors have undergone more than 1,500 hours in test facilities and have been tested “for […]