Business & Military

The brief test flight of an unmanned SpaceX capsule on Wednesday was the first trial for a system that will allow astronauts to abort their launches should something go awry. It also marked progress for NASA’s plans to once again transport astronauts, replacing the retired space shuttle program with commercially made spacecraft. “I think this […]

The FAA wants to make it easier for drone operators to know if they’re flying legally so on Wednesday, it announced a new geographically sensitive smartphone app that will instantly inform drone pilots if they’re legal to fly in the airspace they’re in. The new app is called B4UFly and will be available later this […]

I can’t speak for every other reporter in the room, but the FAA’s announcement at AUVSI Wednesday that it was partnering up—and my how they love that word—with a major news network, a railroad and a drone company to advance the cause of sUAS operation in the national airspace was just a little hard to […]

Cirrus Aircraft will likely announce a new delivery center in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Wednesday. Tennessee officials, including Gov. Bill Haslam, have invited media to a news conference at McGhee Tyson Airport near Knoxville to reveal “a significant economic development announcement.” It’s unlikely the announcement has anything to do with aircraft production as new facilities and […]

NASA has successfully flown a remotely piloted aircraft powered by 10 electric motors that can take off vertically, then rotate its wing and tail surfaces and fly like an airplane. The aircraft, which weighs about 62 pounds, has a 10-foot wingspan, with eight motors on the wings and two on the tail. “During the flight […]

Continental Motors Group said today that it will purchase Danbury Aerospace, a group of aviation manufacturing companies that includes Engine Components International, the San Antonio, Texas-based manufacturer of PMA engine parts. Danbury is a privately held company and the dollar amount of the deal wasn’t disclosed by Continental. Because Continental is itself owned by the […]

The electrical systems on Boeing 787s need to be shut down and restarted before they reach 248 days of continuous power, the FAA said on Friday, to prevent a “loss of all AC electrical power, which could result in loss of control of the airplane.” The airworthiness directive was issued “straight to final rule,” without […]

NASA says it has successfully flight-tested wings that can change shape in flight without seams or gaps and is calling it a next-generation breakthrough in aircraft design. In cooperation with the Air Force and FlexSys Inc., the developer of the system, NASA mounted the morphing wings on a Gulfstream bizjet and put it through its […]

At the Electric Aircraft Symposium in Santa Rosa, California, on Saturday, I scribbled in my notebook a wry comment from Tine Tomazic of Pipistrel Aircraft, the innovative Slovenian company that’s an unabashed supporter—and maker—of electric airplanes. Tomazic said he hoped the era of electric conversions was coming to an end and he pointedly noted that […]

Is truly autonomous flight for aircraft—manned or not—lurking just around the corner? It depends on how you define around the corner, but some people in the autonomous flight field think it could be a reality within a decade and electric propulsion will both hurry it along and play a major role in its development. Sanjiv […]