Stephen Pope

Eurocopter is bringing its X3 experimental hybrid helicopter demonstrator to the United States this month for a summer tour that could include a visit to a town near you. The first stop will be American Eurocopter’s headquarters in Grand Prairie, Texas, on June 20. Where it heads from there is anybody’s guess. The X3 is […]

We’ve heard a lot lately about biofuel breakthroughs, batteries and solar power as potential replacements for avgas at some point in the not-so-distant future, but what about liquid hydrogen? The maiden flight of Boeing’s Phantom Eye UAV last week proved that hydrogen could indeed serve as a replacement for traditional fuels in piston-powered airplanes. Phantom […]

A Cold War-era Lockheed P2V tanker crashed in western Utah on Sunday, killing two pilots who had been battling a lightning-sparked wildfire. Eyewitnesses said it appeared a wingtip hit the ground in a rocky canyon as the airplane was dropping its fire retardant. The P2V disintegrated on impact, leaving a 1,000-foot-long debris field, officials said. […]

During its inaugural dealer conference last week in Albuquerque, New Mexico, ** Eclipse Aerospace** announced the official production launch for the Model 550, the successor to the original Eclipse 500 very light jet. To mark the occasion, members of the Eclipse management team and board of directors on Friday signed the fuselage of the first […]

Members of the House General Aviation Caucus have sent a letter to congressional leaders opposing an amendment to a federal transportation bill that some say could kill the nation’s air tour industry. Eighteen representatives signed the May 30 letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Rep. John Mica (R-FL), whose committees will be considering a […]

The first privately built spacecraft to travel to the International Space Station returned home on Thursday after successfully completing a historic mission that proved commercial firms can indeed take over duties that until now have been reserved for large governmental space agencies. Descending beneath three giant red-and-white parachutes, the SpaceX Dragon capsule ended its nine-day […]

They say in life nothing’s certain but death and taxes, but you can add to that list the people who watch a cool video on YouTube and just have to proclaim it a fake, whether it is or not. It happened with an amazing (and obviously very real) video clip posted last week showing the […]

The families of three drunk passengers killed in a May 2010 floatplane crash off Vancouver Island are suing the airline, saying the pilot never should have let them on board in the first place. The airplane crashed into the water not long after takeoff, killing the three passengers and pilot Damon York on impact. Canada’s […]

The NTSB has asked Canada’s Transportation Safety Board to take over the investigation of a midair collision over Virginia between two light airplanes owned by employees of the FAA and NTSB. On Monday afternoon a Piper Cherokee registered to an FAA employee and a Beechcraft Bonanza owned by an NTSB employee collided in flight near […]

GippsAero, the Australian aircraft maker, said it has successfully completed the first flight of its new turboprop single, the GA10. Powered by a Rolls-Royce 250 turboprop engine, this latest model from GippsAero is a 10-seat multirole airplane based on the piston-powered GA8 Airvan utility airplane. The first flight took place at GippsAero’s home base at […]