Recent Updates

The Wall Street Journal is reporting (subscription only) that structural failure, rather than an engine explosion, is the initial focus of the NTSB investigation into the loss of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo on Friday. It is quoting unnamed sources as saying the preliminary video and data analysis is turning the focus to an aerodynamic breakup, although […]

Investigators probing the crash of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo are focusing on a potential uncommanded deployment of the vehicle’s unique feathering tail structure designed to create drag and control speed during atmospheric entry. In a press conference Sunday evening, NTSB acting chairman Christopher Hart said that early data indicated the crew activated one of two controls […]

Friday’s loss of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo was as inevitable was it was tragic. If anyone believes-as I think some do-that attaching “tourism” to space flight somehow erases the risk of flight beyond the atmosphere, this accident should disabuse them of that notion. But I wonder if it will. Promoting space tourism has gotten quite beyond […]

One test pilot has died and another has been seriously injured in the crash of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo during a test flight from Mojave Air and Space Port, California. The company said that the spacecraft suffered an anomaly that resulted in loss of the vehicle. Parachutes were reportedly sighted in the area. One witness said […]

Shortly after liftoff of Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares Rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia on Tuesday, Oct. 28, it became apparent to the operators that there was a problem with the launch and they hit the destruct button. Barron Beneski, vice president of corporate communications at Orbital, confirmed that the flight termination system was […]

AVweb’s weekly foray into the latest aviation news uncovered news of a new president at MicroAerodynanics, a special aircraft sale by Quicksilver, no delay CFI insurance and staff additions at the EAA. After several years as the Flight Test Director and Vice President at Micro AeroDynamics, Ms. Anni Brogan has become President of the company. […]

The FAA is warning drone operators that overflying sports venues could lead to jail time. In a posting Monday on its TFR website, the FAA states ” … unmanned aircraft and remote controlled aircraft” are prohibited within three nautical miles and 3,000 feet AGL over “any stadium having a seating capacity of 30,000 or more […]

Solar Flight has released plans for the SunStar, a solar-powered airplane designed to act as an unmanned telecommunications platform, able to remain in flight for months at a time. Eric Raymond, president of Solar Flight, said, “What we are designing is known as an atmospheric satellite, which operates and performs many of the functions as […]

A Hawker Hunter owned by Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC), a civilian tactical airborne training organization, crashed Wednesday on approach to Naval Base Ventura County, near Point Mugu, California. The pilot was declared dead at the scene. No one on the ground was injured. An investigation into the cause is underway. ATAC’s website says it […]

The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) is reporting that it is increasingly confident that a piece of aluminum it found on Nikumaroro Atoll in the south Pacific is from the Lockheed Electra flown by Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan on their ill-fated circumnavigation attempt in 1937. In a carefully worded statement, TIGHAR personnel […]