Recent Updates

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded contracts for the purchase of two new aircraft on Monday. One will be a modified Gulfstream G550, which NOAA says will be used for missions including hurricane and tropical storm forecasts and atmospheric research. The second addition will be a Beechcraft King Air 350 CER turboprop. […]

Bell’s Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) 70 unmanned aircraft system (UAS/drone) successfully completed its first autonomous flight on Monday at the company’s testing site near Fort Worth, Texas. Bell says it intends to continue testing the APT 70 under an experimental type certificate for the rest of 2019 with the goal of holding a simulated commercial […]

Sierra Nevada Corporation subsidiary 328 Support Services GmbH (328SSG) announced on Wednesday that it has formed new aircraft original equipment manufacturer (OEM) DRA GmbH to build an upgraded version of the Dornier 328 twin-engine turboprop, called the D328NEU. To that end, 328SSG and U.S.-based Sierra Nevada Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding with German federal […]

Airbus Aerial has received a waiver from the FAA to conduct urban unmanned aircraft systems (UAS/drone) flight operations beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) and without requiring a visual observer in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The flights will be conducted under the North Dakota Department of Transportation’s UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP), an FAA-sponsored public-private […]

Australian airline Qantas has announced that it will be conducting three research flights to study the effects of ultra-long-haul routes on passengers and flight crew. The flights will make use of planned deliveries of three new Boeing 787-9s, which would typically be flown empty from Boeing’s facility in Seattle, Washington, to Australia. Instead of going […]

Embraer has announced that it will be building new facilities at its Eugênio de Melo unit in São José dos Campos, Brazil. The company plans to invest approximately $30 million in the project, which will include the construction of four new buildings along with the expansion and improvement of existing facilities. According to Embraer, the […]

German urban air mobility developer Volocopter introduced its fourth-generation electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) design on Wednesday. The VoloCity, which is intended for use as an urban air taxi, is expected to have a range of 35 km (19 NM), a top airspeed of 110 km/h (59 knots), and a payload capable of […]

The Air Force has flown a Cessna 206 with a robotic pilot it says can essentially turn an aircraft into a drone and then get turned back into a manned aircraft. The ROBOpilot flew a two-hour autonomous test flight at Utah’s Dugway Proving Ground Aug. 9 handling the takeoff, flight maneuvers and landing without human […]

Tecnam’s P2012 Traveller has been awarded its FAA type certificate, the company announced on Friday. The 11-seat commuter was designed by company founder Luigi Pascale, who passed away in March 2017. It is powered by two 375-HP Lycoming TEO-540-C1A engines, has a maximum cruise speed of 194 knots, greater than 950-NM range and useful load […]

Boeing is delaying development of the 777-8, the ultra-long-range version of its widebody 777X family, which includes the 777-8 and the slightly larger 777-9. While the company had not previously announced a planned entry-into-service date for the 777-8, it is being considered alongside an ultra-long-range version of the Airbus A350 for Qantas Airlines’ Project Sunrise, […]