Recent Updates

While flying on a pleasant Sunday afternoon near Northwest Missouri, I heard the following on a local Unicom frequency. After several seconds of nothing but screaming, I was expecting to hear a “Mayday” call. Instead, a slow, calm voice said, “Jumpers away over Lexington. Use caution 10,000 and below.” You could still hear the screaming […]

Superior Air Parts has grounded all of its XP-382 and XP-400 experimental engines due to detonation problems found in some XP-400s, according to AVweb sister publication Kitplanes. The company has also implemented a mandatory buy-back program for both engine types. Both the grounding and the buy-backs are effective immediately. “Throughout Superior Air Parts’ 50-plus year […]

The FAA has issued a new rule prohibiting the transport of lithium ion cells or batteries as cargo on passenger aircraft. This revision of the Hazardous Materials Regulations also requires lithium ion cells and batteries to be shipped at not more than a 30 percent charge on cargo-only aircraft and limits the use of alternative […]

Rolls-Royce has removed itself from the competition to power Boeing’s proposed New Midsize Airplane (NMA) platform. The company announced on Thursday that while it believes the NMA platform complements Boeing’s existing product range, it isn’t able to commit to the planned timeline for the project. Rolls-Royce says it will continue to develop the next-generation UltraFan […]

Bombardier will be quadrupling the existing footprint of its Singapore Service Center, according to an announcement from the company on Tuesday. The expansion, which is taking the 100,000-square-foot service center to approximately 430,000 square feet, will add heavy structural and composite repair capabilities, a paint facility, a parts depot and new customer facilities as well […]

The FAA has partnered with drone operations software company Kittyhawk to redesign the agency’s B4UFLY mobile app for recreational unmanned aircraft systems (UAS/drone) operators. According to the FAA, the new version, which is scheduled to launch in April 2019, will be aimed at improving user experience. Until the new app is released, the FAA says […]

NASA’s latest mission is to watch the weather. Space weather, that is. Planned to launch in August 2022 to the International Space Station, the Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) will “focus on colorful bands of light in Earth’s atmosphere, called airglow, to determine what combination of forces drive space weather in the upper atmosphere.” “Space weather […]

Update:Captain Daniel C. Wells, Atlas Air captain and president of the Airline Professionals Association, Teamsters Local 1224, released the following statement on the Atlas Air plane crash. Teamsters Local 1224 members flying for Atlas were on the flight. “Our union stands together as a family and in support of our members’ families. Our focus is […]

As the final link in the chain joining Embraer and Boeing in a critical strategic partnership, the Brazilian company’s shareholders have overwhelmingly approved the deal. Boeing’s ownership stake of the partnership in commercial aviation and services will be 80 percent to Embraer’s 20 percent. The agreement affects Embraer’s commercial unit only, with its defense and […]

The idea of a combat drone isn’t really new, but Russian arms manufacturer Kalashnikov is trying to bring the scale and cost of UCAVs (unmanned combat aerial vehicles) to a new low. Introduced at the International Defense Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi last week, the KUB-UAV is just 4 feet wide, perhaps ushering […]