Business & Military

I came, I saw, I flew. After three years of trying, frustrated by weather, schedules and airplanes that just weren’t ready, I flew my first electric airplane this week, Pipistrel’s Alpha Electro. And? From the inside the cabin, it was underwhelming. Listening to it whistle by on the ground was quite another thing, however. As […]

DeltaHawk Engines, based in Racine, Wisconsin, has sold a controlling interest in the company to the local Ruud family, and plans to start production on their four-cylinder diesel/jet-A engine design sometime this year. The investment enabled the company to immediately hire seven engineers and make plans to hire 100 workers by the end of 2016. […]

United Technologies Corp., the parent company of Sikorsky, said on Monday at the Paris Air Show it plans to spin off or sell the helicopter company. “Our strategic review has confirmed that exiting the helicopter business is the best path forward for United Technologies,” said Gregory Hayes, CEO of UTC, in a news release. “Separation […]

After more than a year of speculation, the chairman of the powerful House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has formally announced his intention to separate air traffic control services from the FAA. In a speech to the Washington Aero Club Monday, Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., chairman of the committee, said he wants to create a federally […]

An amendment to a House transportation and housing appropriations bill would cut funding for the controversial biological questionnaire used by the FAA to pre-screen candidates for air traffic control training. In proposing the amendment, Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-Ill., said the FAA needs to stop using that part of the controller hiring process in light of […]

Airbus engineers made a small splash this week at the Venturefest business expo held in Bristol, England, with a display of their side project — the little-known two-seat electric Bristol Eco-Flyer. It could be called a single-engine cousin of the twin E-Fan, which Airbus has been showing around the world as it works towardflight certification […]

AVweb’s search of aviation news around the world found ADS-B upgrades by an unmanned aerial systems company, new features for the FltPlan app, a new award founded by the National Aviation Hall of Fame, and a celebrity addition to AOPA’s charitable arm, the Hat in the Ring Society. Robotic Skies has completed the first field […]

As expected, the Environmental Protection Agency opened the door to new emissions standards for commercial aircraft Wednesday, announcing through the Obama administration that the Clean Air Act should apply to the aviation industry. The EPA said its study of the issue concluded that jet fuel emissions harm human health by contributing to global warming, triggering […]

Kaman Corp., which suspended production of its K-Max heavy-lift utility helicopters more than 10 years ago, has revived the production line, the company said last week. First deliveries are expected in early 2017, with an initial production run of 10 aircraft. Manufacturing will take place at Kaman’s facilities in Jacksonville, Florida, and Bloomfield, Connecticut. Launch […]

Bloomberg is reporting that Embraer is considering closing its factory in Harbin, China, because of slumping demand. Orders for business jets in China have essentially stopped thanks to a crackdown on corruption. The wealthy are lying low trying not to attract the attention of increasingly aggressive government investigators and buying a business jet has fallen […]