Recent Updates

A Russian-made airliner designed to compete with the top makers of mid-range passenger jets rolled out this week in Irkutsk. The MC-21 will make a first flight in 2017 and start service the following year with Russia’s largest airline, Aeroflot, according to a Seattle Times report. The manufacturer is Irkut, part of a state-supported conglomerate […]

Airbus introduced the first 3D printed airplane at the recent International Aerospace Exhibition in Germany, demonstrating what the company calls the future of aerospace manufacturing. The 13-foot-long unmanned airplane, somewhat resembling a full-scale Airbus jet but with propellers, is named Thor, short for “Test of Hi-tech Objectives in Reality,” according to a report from phys.org. […]

AVweb‘s search of aviation news worldwide found announcements from the Farnborough International Airshow, the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission, Nextant Aerospace/Constant Aviation and AOPA. Nearly 45 years since his flight to the Moon, and more than half a century since graduating from the U.K.’s esteemed Empire Test Pilot School, the Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot, Al Worden, […]

Flying cars are a staple for futuristic magazine covers—mostly Popular Mechanics—because even though the idea is unlikely to ever work, writing about lost causes just has an irresistible entertainment value. Now, as the exciting world of electric airplanes emerges, we have a new opportunity: just change the definition of flying cars. That’s what seems to […]

The first Ovation Ultra completed its first flight on Saturday, Mooney announced this week. Chief test pilot Mike Miles flew for about an hour after launching from Kerrville, Texas. The four-seat retractable-gear airplane is a fully FAA-conforming aircraft and will be the first FAA-certified copy of the design, the company said. Miles said performance and […]

EHang, a Chinese company developing a passenger-carrying drone, plans to conduct flight tests in Nevada in hopes of certifying its 184 Autonomous Aerial Vehicle. EHang, which has set up branch offices in Asia, Europe and the U.S., won the attention of Nevada officials in January with its test drone at the Consumer Electronics Show in […]

Without nearly enough fanfare, some excellent guidance on a subject that is becoming increasingly critical for pilots was released two weeks ago. Entitled Flight Safety in the Drone Age(FSDA), it is a three-page document that should be read and digested by every pilot. While the FAA has enacted regulations concerning drone operations and the respected […]

The pilot of an Embraer Phenom failed to turn on crucial de-icing equipment during an approach to the airport in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on December 8, 2014, causing a deadly crash, the NTSB said in its probable-cause hearing today. All three people on the jet and three on the ground were killed. “Pilots must rely on […]

With a $20 million X Prize in play, 16 private companies are vying to be the first to launch a mission to the Moon, and now one of the contenders, Moon Express, may be just weeks away from being the first to gain government approval for its plan. “Until now, only governments have undertaken space […]

Aurora Flight Sciences has successfully tested new technology that will enable pilots to remotely fly standard helicopters, the U.S. Defense Department said last week. The sensor package, called the Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System, or AACUS, enables a soldier to control the aircraft via an intuitive application on a tablet computer. “The AACUS is a sensor […]