Recent Updates

The Mountain States Legal Foundation has launched a class action lawsuit against the FAA over an abrupt change in its air traffic controller hiring practices. As we’ve reported, two years ago, the agency announced that rather than give preference to graduates of college ATC programs, it was administering a “biographical” test as the first qualifying […]

The FAA has reminded more than 30 RC model and drone clubs in the Washington, D.C., area to at least temporarily shut down or risk enforcement action. In mid-December, the agency sent an email to the clubs saying it’s strictly enforcing a 30-mile zone around Reagan National Airport in which anything that flies must be […]

When it comes to the buying of gasoline, I may be the quintessential American in one sense and the atypical American in another. Regardless of what it costs, I’m going to buy it and do what I plan to do. I’m the last guy to care if one station has a price a nickel less […]

AVweb’s search of what’s new in aviation found a milestone for Rolls-Royce engines, this year’s Spirit of Flight Award winner, a new marketplace for drones and a new startup company for pilot training devices. Rolls-Royce AE civil engines have powered the Embraer ERJ series of regional jets, Embraer Legacy 600 and 650 corporate jets, Saab […]

An unmanned aerial system that can take off and land on destroyers and other small military ships is nearing reality. After completing initial design phases, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency this month awarded a contract to Northrop Grumman Corp. to build a full-scale demonstration model of the yet-to-be-named UAS.DARPA’s goal is to build a […]

The Port of Seattle has partnered with Alaska Airlines and Boeing to set an ambitious goal — powering all airline flights at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport with sustainable aviation biofuel. The partners have launched a $250,000 study to assess the costs and infrastructure they would need to deliver a biofuel/jet-fuel blend to all airline flights at […]

The entrepreneurs behind Morgan Aircraft, a startup based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, planned to develop and build a twin turboprop VTOL business aircraft, but they have now shut down the company and filed for receivership, according to local news reports. The receivership process is similar to bankruptcy, and allows the company’s assets to be sold off […]

Vandals cut though a chain-link fence Sunday night at the Van Nuys Airport near Los Angeles and sprayed three corporate jets with graffiti. It was the first time vandals have struck at the airfield since a similar incident two years ago. The jets were parked on a ramp outside of a hangar. “This happened in […]

This year has been the most profitable ever for China’s airline industry, growing 76 percent from last year and generating $8.5 billion in profits, according to local reports, despite an overall slowdown in the economy. Over the last five years, passenger traffic grew about 10 percent per year, nine new airlines launched, and the number […]

As 2015 draws to a close, it’s time to take a few reflective moments to consider the year just past, to wonder at the marvel of flight, to appreciate its sheer poetry and to give thanks for that rarified privilege we all reverently share. And also to attempt to make feeble but pointless amends for […]