U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced new appointments to the FAA’s Drone Advisory Committee (DAC) on Tuesday. According to the FAA, the twelve new DAC members represent unmanned aircraft systems (UAS/drone) interests in areas such as industry, research, academia, retail, technology, and state and local government. Members will serve a two-year term. “As […]
A series of transitions defines every pilot’s life. For Bill Anton of Satanta, Kansas, retiring after 35 years as an ag banker coincided with maturing flying desires, “from cross-country and aerobatics to fun flying out in the boondocks.” Now 72, “I’m thinking of how many more years of good flying I might have left,” he […]
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced last week that his company is making plans to attempt to catch its reusable Super Heavy rocket with the arm of the launch tower. Currently in development, the Super Heavy is the first stage of the company’s Starship system. While SpaceX hasn’t yet tried anything quite like the launch tower […]
The FAA is proposing a total of $182,000 in fines to an unlicensed drone pilot who was warned three times to stop making illegal flights around Philadelphia. After a warning letter was sent in October of 2019, the FAA contacted him twice more in November of 2019 to explain the ways in which he was […]
Urban air mobility (UAM) company EHang has launched an aerial tourism service using its two-seat EH216 autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV). Conducted in partnership with real estate company Greenland Hong Kong Holdings Limited, the service will include an aerial sightseeing program and aerial media shows at Greenland Hong Kong’s Forest Lake real estate project in Guangdong, […]
Unmanned aerial vehicles operating in FAA airspace will soon be required to have Remote ID identification capabilities. Initially proposed one year ago, the Remote ID rule will go into effect 60 days after its publishing in the Federal Register, which is expected to happen in January. Remote ID transmits the location and identity of the […]
Bell Textron has announced that its Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) flew successfully with a payload of 110 pounds, completing an 8-mile route over the company’s testing site near Fort Worth, Texas, last week. According to Bell, it plans to begin demonstrating a series of military and commercial applications for the aircraft in 2021. The company […]
SpaceX’s latest Starship prototype exploded during landing following a successful high-altitude flight test on Wednesday. The uncrewed prototype, serial number 8 (SN8), flew for 6 minutes 42 seconds, completing a series of planned maneuvers and returning to the landing pad before the crash. The test took place at SpaceX’s facility in Cameron County, Texas. “Successful […]
Most of you probably remember the heady days of the early 2000s, when every year saw the FAA’s listing of the total number of homebuilt aircraft rise by a thousand airplanes or more. Every year, excited articles were triggered when the Experimental/Amateur-Built (E/A-B) fleet size expanded. “We’ve hit 30,000 E/A-B! 32,000! 33,000!” Haven’t seen such […]
NASA has chosen 18 astronauts who will train for missions on and around the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. The Artemis Team was introduced by Vice President Mike Pence during the eighth National Space Council meeting at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday. The program aims to land the first woman and […]
Get the latest stories & special offers delivered directly to your inbox
SUBSCRIBE
