Recent Updates

Canadian officials say they’ll talk to their counterparts in India after air traffic controllers reportedly ignored a series of Mayday calls from an Air Canada Boeing 787 and ordered the crew to enter holds instead. The Dreamliner had finished a 16-hour flight from Toronto to Mumbai on Sept. 18 but a runway overrun by a […]

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has the go-ahead to use a fleet of balloons to restore internet and communication services to hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico. The balloons, recently deployed in Peru for the same purpose, were developed by Loon, an Alphabet subsidiary and sister company to Google. The balloons are about the size of a tennis court […]

It’s not easy being me. No sooner do I get my pants unsnagged from one electric airplane idea than another one comes along literally days later. How’s a guy supposed to keep up? Mark this date on your calendar: 2022. That seems to be when the promised magic of electric airplanes will come together and, […]

It’s been called absurd by Bombardier and the Canadian government and aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia agrees that the 300 percent import duties proposed against CSeries airliners by the U.S. Commerce Department are unprecedented. He also told AVweb’s Russ Niles the crushing penalties may actually help Bombardier. Duration: 10:01 File Size: 7 MB download here

After punishing Bombardier with a 219 percent tariff on the CSeries airliner last week, the U.S. Commerce Department slapped another 80 percent levy on the jet this week. Responding to a complaint from Boeing, the Commerce department found that Bombardier’s prices on the CSeries in a sale to Delta Air Lines amounted to dumping or […]

The House bill sponsored by Republican Bill Shuster to privatize the U.S. air traffic management system failed to appear on the Congressional schedule for the week of Oct. 9—seemingly a surprise to the Pennsylvania congressman and Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, who had expected it to come to a vote next […]

Safran, the French multinational aerospace and technology firm, celebrated the start of ground testing for its Open Rotor concept engine earlier this week. The Open Rotor is a variation on the propfan or unducted fan concept where a turbine engine drives one or more external fans. The Open Rotor utilizes two counter-rotating, unshrouded fans, which, […]

Boeing announced on Thursday it plans to acquire Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation, a technology company that specializes in autonomous systems and robotic aircraft. “The combined strength and innovation of our teams will advance the development of autonomy for our commercial and military systems,” saidGreg Hyslop, chief technology officer and senior vice president of Boeing Engineering, […]

Zunum Aero, a startup based in Seattle that plans to build a family of hybrid-to-electric regional aircraft, released details of its initial design on Thursday. The aircraft, the company said, will seat up to 12 passengers, and will be ready for flight tests in 2019 and first deliveries in 2022. The company also announced the […]

After a fashion, airplanes are toys. No, not all of them, because an Air Tractor earns its keep applying chemicals and Caravans haul skydivers and boxes. But if you own an old taildragger or a beater Cherokee, it’s a recreational toy. With that in mind, I’ve noticed some new developments in the toy market and […]