Recent Updates

Terrafugia has requested an exemption from the FAA to allow its Transition roadable aircraft to weigh up to 1,800 pounds and have a stall speed of 54 knots and still be classified as an LSA. The LSA rules set the maximum weight at 1,320 pounds and a maximum stall speed of 45 knots. “I think […]

Back in the dark ages when j-school looked like it might lead to a sort of career, I was asked on a fall registration form to “state minor course of study, if any.” With all the thoughtful consideration a 21-year-old could muster, I checked the box next to Asian history. Somehow, sociology seemed boring and […]

The first flight of the KC-46 tanker test program was successfully completed on Sunday, Boeing and the U.S. Air Force have announced. The airplane, a Boeing 767-2C, took off from Paine Field, Washington, at 9:29 a.m. local time and landed three hours and 32 minutes later at Boeing Field. The jet is essentially a commercial […]

A joint effortby Cambridge University and Boeing has created a hybrid-powered version of a Czech single-seat motorglider. The aircraft is powered by a 10-kilowatt (14-horsepower) electric motor and a 7-kilowatt (10-horsepower) four-stroke gas engine that work together when lots of power is needed. The motor becomes a generator driven by the gas engine in low-power […]

It was a big enough day for Nevada that the governor and a couple of congressmen were there to mark the occasion of the first flight of an unmanned aerial system at the state’s new test range and of course the digital cameras were rolling. Unfortunately the technology wasn’t quite up to the auspiciousness of […]

Much like the FAA’s Christmas-week safety campaign for those who received unmanned aerial vehicles as gifts, The UK’s aviation regulators sent the message (PDF) to consumers that disruptive or unsafe use of drones could result in hefty fines. The Daily Mail of London reported on Christmas Day that the Civil Aviation Authority said drone users […]

The B-29 Superfortress crash site in Lake Mead, Nevada, will once again be open to guided tours pending the selection of businesses to operate the dives, theNational Park Service announced on its website.The agency is taking applications for two business opportunities operating guided scuba diving at the wreckage. The historic site, now managed by the […]

AVweb’s search of news in aviation worldwide turned up new appointments at Thales and CybAero, FAA approval for one-G’s new training simulator, and a Boeing delivery for aircraft interior company Greenpoint Technologies.At the meeting of the Thales Board of Directors on Dec. 23, Patrice Caine and Henri Proglio were co-opted as directors, following the resignations […]

Emily Howell Warner, the first U.S. female airline captain, now has a Colorado airport named after her. The Grand County Board of Commissioners this month approved the name change of Granby-Grand County Airport (KNGB) to Granby-Grand County Emily Warner Field, the Sky-Hi News in Granby reported. A native of Denver, Warner, 75, kept a home […]

The team at Atol, in Finland, has started water-taxi testing on the production prototype of their LSA seaplane. The aircraft “worked as planned and proved to be even better than expected,” according to the company’s blog. The testing took place last week on the river Kemijoki, at the Arctic Circle. “We have been waiting for […]