Recent Updates

General aviation airplane shipments fell 9.1 percent in the first half of this year compared to last year, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association reported Friday. GA rotorcraft shipments also dropped this year so far, with 447 delivered, down from 502 in the first half of 2014. Piston airplane deliveries rose between the first quarter and […]

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg announced Thursday his social networking company just finished building an unmanned aerial system that can “beam down Internet connectivity from the sky.”It’s called Aquila, and demonstrates not only solar-powered flight, but a new way to connect to the Internet.The project is part of Internet.org, whose mission is to get the Web to […]

An airspace system for unmanned aerial vehicles – perhaps with flight plans and air traffic control – is the topic at a symposium this week hosted by NASA. The agency and the Silicon Valley chapter of the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International metwith interested businesses at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. […]

AVweb’s search of aviation news around the world found a new fire-containment product for air crews, a UAV safety campaign from the agricultural aviation industry, a new executive announced by Skanska USA, and a university scholarship for the 2015-2016 school year.Innovint Aircraft Interior GmbH, based in Hamburg, Germany, has developed the PED Containment Bag (CB) […]

I have argued many times in the past that in order for commercial space operations to succeed, they need to be given the opportunity to fail. The truth is, aviation did not grow up in a bloodless environment. Many died learning the lessons that we take for granted today. Commercial spaceflight may indeed have to […]

Lockheed Martin Flight Services is stepping up UAS awareness with its recently introduced unmanned traffic management (UTM) service. Aimed at increasing situational awareness when it comes to sharing the airspace with commercial drone operations, UTM includes an evolving set of functions and services — including a simplified and automated UAS NOTAM filing process, online graphics […]

Spike Aerospace has been working since 2011 to develop a supersonic jet for the business market, and recently they released an updated version of their design concept. The design now features a modified delta wing, and eliminates the tail surface. The two engines, which previously were depicted side-by-side atop the tail section, now are placed […]

A rocket-drive theory that was discussed at a scientific meeting this week has the Internet buzzing, but critics say the research is flawed and violates well-established laws of physics. The electromagnetic-drive research was presented by Martin Tajmar, a professor for Space Systems at the Dresden University of Technology in Germany, at a meeting of the […]

It would appear the latest political gambit to reform pilot medical regulations will die Wednesday when the House extends existing funding for highway projects and gets ready to go on summer holiday. CNN reported House Speaker John Boehner told members Tuesday the House would vote on a three-month extension rather than consider a Senate bill […]

Watching the last-minute machinations over legislative efforts to eliminate or at least curtail the Third Class medical requirement reminds me of arguments I used to have with my Dad when I was kid and wanted something forbidden. When all the logic a 10-year-old could summon seemed to be backing the old man into a canyon […]