Recent Updates

NASA now has an official development timeline for its Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) X-plane that, according to the administration, will lead to the X-59’s first flight in the next three years. NASA committed to the timeline after a Key Decision Point-C (KDP-C) review confirming funding and achievability of the project. The administration says the KDP-C […]

Helicopters are ideal for lots of useful tasks, but speed over the ground has never been their strong suit, with a world speed record of only about 220 knots. That could change if a new Russian design in development lives up to its promise — an official at a technical conference last month revealed plans […]

A couple of third-place victories were recorded by U.S. pilots in the season finale of the Red Bull Air Race series Sunday in Fort Worth. Michael Goulian earned the third spot overall among the 14 Master Class pilots on the season while Kirby Chambliss was third in the Fort Worth race. He ended up in […]

The massive runway at the Kennedy Space Center that was the primary landing site for the Space Shuttle could again be used for privately operated space missions. The FAA has released a “Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact/Record of Decision” on the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Cape. The facility encompasses 4,432 […]

A well-known Texas pilot who gave numerous rides to veterans in his P-51 “Pecos Bill” was killed along with a passenger when the warbird crashed into an apartment building parking lot in Fredericksburg, Texas, on Saturday. Cowden Ward Jr. and the unidentified passenger, believed to be a Second World War B-17 pilot, were taking part […]

The Naval Air Station at Belle Chase regularly uses New Iberia, LA (KARA) as a refueling stop. I was flying my Piper PA‑32 into KARA to get fuel for myself and contacted the Tower. Tower: “Piper Three Five Eight One Whiskey, enter a left base for Runway 34. You are following two F‑18s on a […]

B737 MAX Crash Paul, From a 14,000 hour ATP rated pilot that has flown all B737 types (except the Max), my guess is that your guess is right. Crews these days rely so much on information that when a glitch happens their minds turn into jello and become passengers themselves. The same effect happened to […]

This week,AVweb‘s news roundup found stories about new simulators for Central Washington University, the launch of a program for aspiring pilots, a training management system agreement for Jet2.com and flight data analysis software for Aeromexico. Central Washington University (CWU) hasawarded Seattle-based one-G simulation a contractfor five Foundation Advanced Aviation Training Devices (AATD) and a Piper […]

Following the Lion Air crash in Indonesia last month, the FAA is focusing new scrutiny on the control architecture of the Boeing 737 MAX and may require the company to engineer a fix for an auto trim system installed on the airplane. The system wasn’t well documented and reporting has revealed that pilots and airlines […]

Italian aircraft manufacturer Tecnam announced confirmed orders for 30 aircraft from Chinese Anhui Lantian International Flight Academy (ALIFA) at the biannual Zhuhai International Air Show last week. The ab-initio academy will acquire Tecnam P2006T twin-engine trainers, as well as P2010 models to replace its fleet of legacy training aircraft. “We are so proud to partner […]