Search Results for: drones

Two general-aviation aircraft designs, the Turbine Mallard and the all-metal tandem SAM LSA, are up for sale. Thierry Zibi said he enjoyed designing and building the SAM, but doesnt want to run a production company. The SAM is certified in Canada as an Advanced Ultralight, and is compliant with the LSA rule in the USA. Frakes Aviation acquired classic Grumman Mallards type certificate some years ago, and upgraded the fleet with turbine engines. The TC is back on the market now, as the current owners are ready to retire. Were looking for someone to take on the entire project, said Sam Jantzen, of Mallard Aircraft, who is working with Frakes. That would include not just the type certificate but the inventory of parts and several partially-built aircraft now owned by Frakes and based in Texas.

The FAA has issued an emergency Certificate of Authorization (COA) to the National Institute of Standards and Technology of Gaithersburg, Maryland, for the use of a drone to aid in the search for a 23-year-old woman who disappeared recently near Plano, Texas. The request to the FAA came from the Plano Police Department. The emergency […]

Several groups comprised of research universities, commercial drone operators and model aircraft hobbyists have filed federal lawsuits challenging the FAA over its rules relating to unmanned aerial vehicles. Three lawsuits filed on Friday ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to review the validity of a June directive issued by the […]

The long, slow process to find an alternative to leaded aviation fuel took a step forward in July when the FAA said it will start to evaluate nine possible replacement fuels from five producers. Avgas is the only transportation fuel in the U.S. that still contains added lead, a substance banned from most fuels due to its toxicity. The FAA has set a goal to find a new, unleaded aviation fuel by 2018. This summer, the FAA will analyze the candidate fuels in terms of their impact on the fleet of 167,000 lead-fuel-burning GA aircraft, the production and distribution infrastructure, their environmental impact, toxicology, and cost. By September 1, the FAA will select several of the fuels for further testing. The nine proposals now under evaluation were received from Afton Chemical Company, Avgas LLC, Shell, Swift Fuels, and a consortium of BP, Total, and Hjelmco.

Although it hasnt released the final report to the public, the FAAs unleaded avgas transition rulemaking committee (UAT-ARC) will recommend a fuel-approvals process stretching out as long as 11 years and will be asking Congress for at least $60 million to fund the project, plus as much as $13 million from the industry. The snowball is starting to turn down the hill, said Lycoming General Manager Michael Kraft What it does is to give anyone…

After six weeks of digging in Burma, British aviation enthusiast David Cundall suspended his search for the dozens of pristine Spitfires he believes were buried at an airfield by British troops at the end of World War II. His main backer pulled out when officials limited the crews operations and the initial efforts failed to turn up any supporting evidence. The authorities will not give us permission to dig because of the risk of undermining…

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, nobodys 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 first FAA-approved commercial drones launched on September 12 from a ship in the Chukchi Sea, off the North coast of Alaska. The ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system weighs just 44 pounds and has a 10-foot wingspan. It will conduct surveys of ice and marine mammals in the vicinity of drilling rigs. The UAS will be allowed to fly 24 hours a day at heights up to 2,000 feet and out of the line of sight of operators on the ground. The U.S. Air Force also said in September it has successfully flown the first of its mothballed F-16 fleet as a drone, which will be used for target practice.

lectric-powered airplanes may still be far from mainstream, but interest in this technology continues to grow. In late April, Airbus engineers successfully flew the E-Fan, a tandem two-seater with a pair of electric-powered ducted fans on the tail. The batteries, carried in the wings, provide 30 minutes of flight.

Until the FAA has finalized its integration of UAVs into the national airspace system, an order that was mandated to be complete by 2015 but is likely to be delayed, the controversy over the use of drones continues. In the most recent debacle, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has […]