Business & Military

A couple of news stories this week about Virgin Galactic’s progress in putting tourists into space raises the perennial question: Can it made safe? Flying in space will never be truly safe, but then again, flying in the atmosphere is not completely safe, either. There are risks involved any time you accelerate a person to […]

One of two A-10 Thunderbolt II “Warthog” close ground support attack jets Wednesday downed two protective static cables above power lines that cross Stockton Lake, Missouri, the Air Force Reserve has confirmed. Neither pilot was injured and both jets returned safely to the base. The single-seat twin-engine jets were operated by the Reserve’s 442nd Fighter […]

The SpaceShipTwo space tourism vehicle operated by Virgin Galactic is expected to fly into space this year during testing with commercial operations to commence “not too long after,” the company said Tuesday. Virgin Galactic is finalizing customer options and says there will be different price ranges for different experiences. Some 580 customers ranging in age […]

Original, Exclusive Videos from AVweb |Reader-Submitted & Viral Videos At the European Business Aircraft Conference & Exhibition in Geneva this week, Pilatus unveiled its design for a new twin-engine jet that can operate from short and unpaved runways. Don’t see a video screen?Try disabling ad blockers and refreshing this page.If that doesn’t work, click here […]

Business aviation leaders say there is a “fragile” recovery underway and urged governments all over the world to amend or establish policies to shore up the industry. On the eve of the opening of the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva on Monday, CEOs of major airframers and business aviation associations urged […]

A retired Air Force Lt. Colonel and a former NASA space shuttle commander have been hired to fly space tourists in Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, the company has announced. Michael “Sooch” Masucci has 30 years of civilian and military operational and test flying, according to the company, has served as a U-2 pilot with the Air […]

The U.S. Navy this week announced it has — for the first time — successfully launched the X-47B combat-capable aerial vehicle from an aircraft carrier and, separately, set a new record for flight endurance with a fuel cell-powered UAV with the Ion Tiger. The X-47B’s testing Tuesday saw it launch from the deck of the […]

Two pilots sat in the cockpit of 16-seat BAE Jetstream 31 and did nothing as it flew for 500 miles from England to Scotland in civil airspace, controlled by an operator on the ground, according to news reports this week. The flight reportedly took place sometime last month. The on-board pilots handled the takeoff and […]

NASA is providing a half-million-dollar prize for Phase 1 of a Centennial Challenge that aims to develop technology to help unmanned aircraft operate safely in the national airspace system, the agency has announced. The first phase of the UAS Airspace Operations Challenge will focus on safe airspace operations and robustness to system failures, NASA said. […]

A DC-9-32 owned by the U.S. Department of State is up for auction May 15, with a starting bid of $50,000 and, according to the seller, the aircraft was “part of Air Force Two” and “may have acted as Air Force One.” According to auction documents provided by the government, “In the thirty years this […]