Trying to avoid bankruptcy liquidation, Hawker Beechcraft has been trying to sell itself. It thought it had a buyer in Superior Aviation Beijing Co, but talks broke down. With no other buyer, Hawker is going to tighten its belt and try to stay afloat on its own. They hope to sell off their line of jets but, again, nobody’s buying and the line might just be closed. Hawker will focus its efforts on what it sees as “high growth potential” markets of turboprops, piston, special mission and trainer/attack aircraft while also relying on parts, maintenance, repairs and refurbs.
The FAA is under pressure to find a way to meet a 2015 deadline to integrate unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace. R3 Engineering says it has developed an autonomous sense-and-avoid system to resolve midair conflicts for UASs that operates with no external control inputs. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency says it has successfully tested safe and autonomous in-flight refueling with a pair of drones. Can scheduled UAS passenger service be far off?
