Recent Updates

XTI Aircraft Company, which has been working since 2012 to develop a ducted-fan VTOL design, said on Monday they will work with Bye Aerospace to develop a hybrid-electric prototype of their TriFan aircraft. The new propulsion system will “significantly reduce” the weight and cost of producing the aircraft, according to TriFan CEO Robert LaBelle. Because […]

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta defended the agency’s rollout of the NextGen air traffic control modernization program to a blue-chip business audience last week, saying it’s ahead of schedule and its completion will be worth the wait. Huerta gave pointed remarks to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Summit in response to President Donald Trump’s comments after […]

The New Age Space Conference will convene March 11 at the MIT Samberg Conference Center to discuss the future of the commercial space industry. Barret Schlegelmilch, the conference organizer and an MIT graduate student, told AVweb the conference is “is one of the only places where you’ll find entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, astronauts, startup founders and […]

We often wonder why there are so many rules governing everyday life but some British Airways ramp attendants have provided an example. The airline had to remind workers at London Heathrow to please not urinate in the cargo holds of its aircraft rather than hike back into the building to a washroom. “Basically the guys […]

Several hundred pieces of software written by NASA engineers for air and spacecraft design, business optimization, systems interaction and biomedical applications have been released by the agency for free public use. The software is being made available through the NASA Technology Transfer Program (motto, “Bringing NASA Technology Down to Earth”). The available codes are listed […]

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the EU equivalent of the US FAA, published today long-awaited rules broadening the permitted use of single-engine turbine (SET) aircraft in commercial operations. Previously, commercial operators, both charter and cargo, were not permitted to operate any single-engine aircraft at night or in instrument meteorological conditions. Today’s rule lifts those […]

Senior executives from commercial-service airports large and small pleaded with the House Subcommittee on Aviation to increases the maximum authorized Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) in hearings Wednesday. “The PFC program allows the collection of fees up to $4.50 for every enplaned passenger,” says Sean Donohue, CEO of Dallas/Ft. Worth International. This maximum charge hasn’t been […]

Australia’s biggest airshow, the Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition, runs all this week at Avalon Airport, with about 350 civil and military aircraft on display and nearly 700 exhibitors. The event operates as a trade show Tuesday through Thursday and opens to the public Friday through Sunday, with a range of airshow […]

It’s getting so a poor blogger can’t catch a breath around here. No sooner do I write about NASA considering sending the first Orion mission around the moon than along comes Elon Musk to say, never mind, we’re going next year. While fellow billionaire Richard Branson struggles to shoot a few tourists on a crummy […]

The pilot of a drone that hit a building, then fell into a crowd watching a parade and hit a 25-year-old woman, knocking her unconscious, has been sentenced to 30 days in jail by a Seattle municipal court. Paul Skinner, 38, of Washington, who owns an aerial photography company, was convicted of reckless endangerment, which […]