Business & Military

With their giant satellite-launching high-altitude plane now preparing for first flight, Stratolaunch announced on Monday they are developing “a new family of launch vehicles” that will begin regular service in 2020. The vehicles will launch from the airplane and carry satellites to orbit to “make access to space convenient, affordable and routine,” the company says. […]

Operations at Manila Airport in the Philippines have returned to normal almost two days after a Chinese airliner left the runway on landing late Thursday. The Xaimen Airlines Boeing 737 ended up in a muddy infield after a second landing attempt in heavy rain. None of the 165 people on board were seriously hurt in […]

One of India’s largest airports will be closed until at least Aug. 26 after torrential rains put ramps and runways under about three feet of water. Cochin Airport, in the southeastern state of Kerala, has had almost three times the normal rainfall this monsoon season and the airport was closed last Thursday. The airport, which […]

This week, AVweb‘s weekly news roundup uncovered reports on National Aviation Day celebration at the Air Zoo and a visit from members of the U.K.’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation. In honor of National Aviation Day, Portage, Michigan’s Air Zoo will be offering free entry to its Flight Discovery Center from noon to 5 […]

The FAA has issued a statement warning operators of unmanned aircraft (UAS/drones) to stay away from wildfires. The agency emphasized that while proper use of drones for firefighting missions can provide a lot of useful information, unauthorized flights risk lives, especially since firefighting operations typically occur in the same airspace as the majority of hobby […]

Unleaded Avgas “Regardless of which fuel is selected, on that first takeoff, what will YOU be thinking?” I’ll be thinking “I’m glad I’m not flying behind a high-HP engine that needs 100-octane fuel” 😉 Joking aside, I’ve been saying that I’ll be glad to do away with TEL because I won’t have to worry about […]

The U.S. Navy has awarded Boeing a contract to configure nine F/A-18E and two F/A-18F Super Hornets for the Blue Angels demonstration team. Since the team’s first performance in 1946, the Blue Angels have used eight aircraft models, including the F11F-1 Tiger, F-4J Phantom II and A-4F Skyhawk II. They have been flying F/A-18C/D Hornets […]

After more than ten years in development, the Privateer Amphibian made its first successful flight last week. The single-engine pusher from Privateer Industries was designed by John Meekins and Bill Husa. As seen in the video below, the flight went well, although it has been reported that minor instrumentation issues prevented some of the planned […]

Gulfstream Aerospace has announced that it is beginning FAA certification field performance testing on its Gulfstream G600 long-range business jet. The aircraft made its first flight on Dec. 17, 2016. Since then, Gulfstream says its five G600 test planes have made more than 600 flights and accumulated over 2,290 flight hours. “We continue to make […]