Recent Updates

The first FAA-approved commercial flight by an unmanned aircraft launched in the Chukchi Sea, above the Arctic Circle, on Sept. 12, the FAA said on Monday. The flight “went off safely and without a hitch,” the FAA said. A ship chartered by ConocoPhillips carried four Insitu ScanEagle UAS to conduct marine-mammal and ice surveys required […]

An Aviation Rulemaking Committee is expected to tell the FAA this week that the use of certain electronic devices in airline cabins should be allowed, The New York Times reported on Monday. The new guidelines, which would likely take effect next year, according to the Times, would allow passengers to use their tablets to access […]

Lufthansa and two leasing companies have placed orders at a combined total of roughly $19 billion (not including discounts) for large jets that don’t yet exist in Boeing’s line-up, the 787-10 and the 777-9X. The jets currently exist only as computer designs. Planned production of the 787-10, which will be the largest of the Dreamliner […]

China is expecting to lead the region’s demand for new commercial pilots as it takes delivery of more than 5,500 aircraft over the next two decades, and its current pilot population may already be stretching work hours to meet demand, so changes are likely coming. China’s civil aviation had a shortfall of 10,000 pilots in […]

The Air Force, through Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh, has publicized an account (perhaps the first) involving the engagement of an F-22 Raptor and Iranian F-4s flying within 16 miles of an MQ-1 Predator drone as the UAV flew over international waters off the coast of Iran. Welsh delivered the account Tuesday, saying the […]

The stretched version of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, the 787-9, can carry 290 passengers (40 more than the 787-8) over a greater distance and took its first flight, Tuesday, at Boeing’s Paine Field in Everett, Wash. The jet landed with no significant squawks and is ready to continue flight testing this week without the need to […]

Students and faculty at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University have developed a robotic vehicle that can take care of the monotonous task of airport security patrols. The Ford Escape Hybrid has been equipped with an autonomous control system that allows it to scoot around the airport to detect any kind of security or safety breach. It’s being […]

The Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association (LAMA) and LAMA Europe are recommending Light Sport aircraft manufacturers think long and hard before they apply to the FAA for a weight exemption for their products. The agency allowed Icon a 250-pound weight increase for its A5 amphibian to allow it to incorporate structures Icon says will make the […]

First reports regarding the fatal crash of a Lancair 320 piloted by U.S. pilot David Riggs while flying in northeastern China for a movie state that he was attempting to “waterski” the aircraft across the surface of a lake, on its wheels, in bad weather. Chinese officials said Wednesday that a substantial portion of the […]

Cessna unveiled a twin-engine military interceptor/utility jet that CEO Scott Ernest told his local Rotary Club will diversify the company’s product line and provide a relatively inexpensive alternative to traditional fighter aircraft in some roles. The Scorpion was built in secret over the last 18 months by Cessna engineers at a facility in Wichita. It […]