Recent Updates

Joby Aviation announced on Thursday that it has essentially finished the second of five stages required by the FAA to type certify its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. According to Joby, it is the first eVTOL company to complete this step, which lays out the means of compliance with the certification basis established […]

Former NASA astronauts Roy Bridges and Mark Kelly will be inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame as its class of 2023. A retired U.S. Air Force Major General, Bridges piloted the Space Shuttle Challenger for the STS-51F mission in July 1985 and served as director of NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center from […]

Who else noticed not one…or two…or three…but four unusual, slab-sided, negative-staggered cabin biplanes outside the International Aerobatic Club (IAC) headquarters at AirVenture 2021? The well-known comedian Steven Wright once punned, “You can’t have everything, where would you put it?” As pilots it seems we all want everything in an airplane, right? Ideally we would have […]

During the EAA’s Homebuilder’s Week series of seminars, Van’s Aircraft offered an update on the high-wing RV-15’s development, which has been fairly quiet since the airplane’s thunderous reveal at AirVenture last year. Van’s VP Greg Hughes outlined some significant changes to the airplane as the result of the extensive and detailed flight-test program. (The whole seminar is posted to […]

A Zenith CH 750 Cruzer kit aircraft powered by an electric motor has completed its first flight at England’s Old Buckenham Aerodrome (EGSV). The CH 750 was built and flown by U.K.-based nonprofit organization NUNCATS, which partnered with kit manufacturer Zenith Aircraft Company and several investors for the project. According to Zenith, the flight is […]

The Government Accountability Office says the FAA is dragging its feet on integrating drones into the National Airspace System and confounding industry efforts to get their businesses off the ground. In a report published last week, the GAO says the agency needs to step up its efforts to create a comprehensive strategy for drones to […]

The Rutan Aircraft Flying Experience, a nonprofit organization based in Covington, Tennessee, is dedicated to preserving, flying and training pilots in Burt Rutan’s canard designs. Ryszard Zadow, the founder and prime mover behind RAFE, had a dream—he wanted to acquire a flying example of each Burt Rutan homebuilt design and fly them at places like the […]

The Government of Canada has finalized an agreement with the U.S. government and Lockheed Martin to acquire 88 F-35 Lightning II fighter jets for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Valued at C$19 billion ($14.3 billion), the deal also includes associated equipment, sustainment setup and services and the construction of fighter squadron facilities in Bagotville […]

The FAA has signed a Declaration of Cooperation with the Korea Office of Civil Aviation (KOCA) to collaborate on future advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft development and operations. According to the FAA, the agencies will “work together to promote the safety oversight of AAM, including airworthiness, licensing, and operations.” Similar partnerships are in place with […]

Edge Performance of Notodden, Norway, has been around for little more than a decade, but their EFI and Rotax upgrades have quickly become popular, setting a high bar with race-quality components. I’ll be putting the EP912sti in the SR-1 race plane—not only does it have exceptional power to weight (important given the 661-pound weight limit for […]