Recent Updates

The B-29 “Doc” will return to the air on July 17, the warbird’s restoration team announced Friday. The Superfortress’ first flight is slated to take place atMcConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, adjacent to the restoration hangar where volunteers worked for years to rebuild the four-engine heavy bomber. Doc’s Friends spokesman Josh Wells told AVweb […]

The first Chinese-produced transport airplane, the Y-20, officially entered service this week with the nation’s air force. After several years of development and testing with few details released, the heavy airlifter was touted as a reliable, modern workhorse with a maximum takeoff weight of about 200 tons.“The Y-20 entering into service marks a crucial step […]

AVweb‘s search of aviation news around the world found announcements from Appereo,Capital Air Ambulance,Air Capital Interiors andEnviro Systems.Appareo announced that its Stratus ESG transponder has received Technical Standard Order (TSO) authorization from the FAA. Stratus ESG is a panel-mounted 1090 ES transponder that helps aircraft owners meet the 2020 mandate by providing ADS-B Out and […]

Somewhere in the considerable reading I’ve done on the Apollo program, a comment from William Anders stuck with me. Anders was the lunar module pilot on the historic Apollo 8 mission in 1968. It marked the first time a manned spacecraft had departed earth orbit to journey to another body in the solar system. Anders […]

European regulators have long restricted the use of single-engine turbine and turboprop airplanes for commercial operations at night or in instrument meteorological conditions, but that’s about to change. After 20 years of work and negotiations between industry and government agencies, a key EASA committee has voted to approve a new regulatory framework that will allow […]

I was flying an A-36 Bonanza through the SFO Class Bravo a few years ago and there was quite a bit of airline traffic departing at the time. ATC advised me of a Southwest 737 climbing out at my 1 o’clock and I let them know I had it in sight. Controller: “Southwest 9999 traffic […]

AVweb actually has a policy about ignoring coverage of “youngest pilot” aviation exploits since they can and have led to disaster but a story out of the U.K. is one of the exceptions. Budget carrier easyJet has welcomed the U.K.’s youngest airline pilot and he said few have noticed, which is as it should be. […]

Boeing is considering a new twin-aisle airliner that would bridge the gap between its 737 and the 787. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported last week that Mike Delaney, Boeing’s VP of airplane development, said that the company believes there’s a market for up to 5000 aircraft that would seat up to 270 and […]

A California man has become the first to have his private pilot certificate revoked for allegedly operating a drone illegally. Ralph Rebaya is appealing the emergency revocation of his ticket, which happened June 1, more than six months after he allegedly violated about 20 conditions of his FAA exemption for drone operation. Among the requirements […]

That we live in interesting times is made ever more evident by an email I got from reader Matthew Sawhill following last week’s fatal crash of a Tesla Model S being operated on the car’s much-touted autopilot feature. Conceding that cars aren’t airplanes, Sawhill asked: “Why can’t the auto industry and mass media learn from […]