Business & Military

Video: NASA’s Flying 747 Observatory

Original, Exclusive Videos from AVweb |Reader-Submitted & Viral Videos How do you cut a hole the size of a two-car garage door into the side of a 747 and fly with it at 0.8 Mach without turning the thing into a 300-ton organ pipe? In this exclusive AVweb video, find out how NASA did exactly […]

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Behind the Scenes: NASA’s Flying IR Observatory

In the wonderful documentary, In the Shadow of the Moon, there’s a revealing scene in which astronaut Alan Bean openly wonders if the engineers who designed the Saturn V booster really got the load calculations right, given how the thing shook and vibrated during the first-stage ascent. I thought of that last week when I […]

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Thielert Founder Jailed As Trial Proceeds

Frank Thielert, founder of Thielert Aircraft Engines, which produced Centurion diesel engines for the aviation market, last week was jailed by a judge in a German bankruptcy court who reportedly considered him a “flight risk.” According to the Google translation of a story in the Hamburg Abendblatt newspaper, the judge said Thielert faces several years […]

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Willow Run Preservation Campaign On

An ambitious campaign to save a unique part of aviation history is on in Michigan but just like the events that created the Willow Run bomber manufacturing plant, the volunteers trying to preserve it face a daunting challenge. The Ford-owned plant, which churned out B-24 Liberators at the astonishing rate of one an hour during […]

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Printed Airplane Parts

China’s AVIC Heavy Machinery has produced what it claims to be the world’s largest titanium aircraft part critical to an aircraft’s structure printed from a 3D printer — and with massive cost savings. The part, displayed at the 16th China International High-tech Expo, fits a J-20 or J-31 stealth fighter. According to the company, the […]

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Last’ Dornier Do-17 Raised From British Waters

A salvage crew Monday recovered the badly corroded but recognizable remains of a Dornier DO-17 that was shot down off England’s Kent coast during the Battle of Britain 70 years ago, delivering to the terrestrial world what may be the only example of its kind. The aircraft’s propellers were separated and dangling from wreckage, the […]

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FAA Proposes To OK EFVS For Zero Visibility

A new rule proposed by the FAA this week would permit aircraft to land at airports with zero visibility using an Enhanced Flight Vision System. The proposal also would allow commercial operators to dispatch aircraft when the destination airport is forecast to be below minimums, and would establish training and proficiency criteria for pilots. An […]

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Warbird Gathering Offers Free Flights For WWII Vets

About 90 vintage military aircraft have registered to take part in the Gathering of Warbirds and Legends in Topeka, Kan., from Aug. 2-4 and in keeping with the cooperative and community-service nature of the event, Second World War vets are being offered free rides on rare aircraft from the era. “We have owners lined up […]

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Personal Fighter Design Gets Press

A new two-seat personal aircraft program announced by a former Air Force pilot and inspired by military fighter jets is winning attention on the internet, which, so far, is the only place the aircraft, the Saker S-1, exists. In announcing the aircraft, program leader Sean Gillette said the jet will have: a 0.95 Mach cruise, […]

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Video Shows Drone, Airliner Near-Collision

Don’t see a video screen?Try disabling ad blockers and refreshing this page.If that doesn’t work, click here to watch on YouTube. It was 2004 when a small Luna reconnaissance drone almost collided with an Ariana Airbus A300 over Kabul, but the video was posted online this week by Der Spiegel and is adding fuel to […]

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