Business & Military

Lockheed Martin will create a preliminary design for a low-sonic-boom supersonic X-Plane, NASA officials announced on Monday in Washington, D.C. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden noted it’s almost 70 years since Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1. “Now we’re continuing that supersonic X-plane legacy with this preliminary design award for a quieter […]

Heli-Expo, the annual event hosted by Helicopter Association International, opened in Louisville, Kentucky, this week, with about 700 exhibitors and 60 helicopters on display. Two aircraft being shown for the first time are Bell’s flight-test vehicles for the 525 Relentless and the 505 Jet Ranger X programs. Bell officials said they have nearly 80 letters […]

In a market rich with tablet and smartphone navigation apps, Garmin has announced a new, purpose-built portable GPS navigator, the aera 660. It’s the company’s first dedicated aviation portable since the aera 796 appeared in 2011. Following the trend in smartphones, the aera 660 has a 5-inch capacitive touchscreen and more interface capability than any […]

Tarkio, Missouri, isn’t the sort of place someone like Rep. Bill Shuster would normally visit but sometimes a politician just has to do what a politician has to do. I suspect the urbane and well-connected Pennsylvania congressman, chairman of the prestigious Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, dug in his closet for a pair of old shoes […]

At its Kerrville, Texas factory, Mooney International has made significant investments to build the new Acclaim and Ovation Ultra aircraft. AVweb’s Paul Bertorelli recently toured the plant and shot this video. view on YouTube

Letter of the Week:Supersonic Adjustments Just wanted to correct Paul Bertorelli on Capt. Eric “Winkle” Brown’s obit, where you repeat the widespread myth that the XS-1 had to be modified to incorporate the M.52 tail in order to break the sound barrier. Brown RN was the pilot designate for the M.52 and wrote a book, […]

As part of AVweb’s Features, we’re starting an occasional series on innovators who are making a difference in general aviation—the young guns of GA, so to speak. We’ll be doing interviews with them where they can talk about what they’ve done and their vision for the future of the area of general aviation where they […]

The Air Force’s new long-range stealth bomber will be designated the B-21 and the first artist renderings of the aircraft show an angular flying wing with recessed engines and a smooth elongated teardrop fuselage. Reuters reportedthe bomber drawings were unveiled by U.S. Air Force Secretary Deborah James at the annual Air Warfare Symposium. The name […]

General aviation advocates cheered the demise of a controversial ATC privatization proposal as the latest version of the FAA reauthorization bill was shelved late Thursday. The decision by House of Representatives leaders to set aside the hotly debated spinoff plan allows GA to focus on other priorities that were rolled into the bill, including medical […]

The other day, I was floating along in the Cub listening to the radio chatter when it occurred to me that I hadn’t heard a native English speaker for several minutes. I listened for several more and determined that, sure enough, there were no native English speakers on the frequency. Judging by the accents, there […]