Airbus

The first Airbus jetliner produced in the United States has successfully completed its first test flight, launching a new era for the European conglomerate, which is proudly flaunting its “Made in the USA” milestone. The Airbus A321 took off from the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley in Mobile, Alabama, at 9:36 a.m. on Monday, performed its […]

Airbus Helicopters reached a major milestone in the development of its all composite H160, which previously went under the codename X4, this week as the second prototype of the twin-engine helicopter took its first flight on Tuesday. This prototype is the first to fly with the 1,100 shp Turbomeca (Safran) Arrano engines. This is the […]

Airbus is claiming it has wrested away the title of the world’s best-selling aircraft manufacturer in its ongoing battle with rival Boeing, but the European jet maker still has a way to go to catch up in actual plane deliveries. Airbus said it received 1,036 orders for its jets in 2015, well above the 768 […]

Marking a milestone for the exclusive power plant for the Airbus A330neo, the Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 demonstrator engine has run for the first time. “This is a great moment for everyone at Rolls-Royce – we have achieved an important program milestone on the journey to deliver our latest Trent engine,” said Chris Davie, director of […]

Airbus Helicopters successfully completed the first flight test of its high-compression diesel engine demonstrator aircraft at the Marignane Airport in Marignane, France. “The first result of the 30-minute flight confirms the advantages of new-technology high-compression piston engines for rotorcraft in offering reduced emissions, up to 50 percent lower fuel consumption depending on duty cycle, nearly […]

In 2004, Aerion introduced the first design of its supersonic business jet. More than 10 years later, the project is gaining traction, with the company gaining backers, solidifying collaborations with partner Airbus and searching for a factory site. Still, the first supersonic business jet won’t hit the market anytime soon; the Aerion AS2’s first flight […]

Perlan 2 — the glider slated to fly to the edge of space next year — has lifted off for the first time. The successful first flight was conducted yesterday from Roberts Field Airport in Redmond, Oregon. The glider was pulled off the ground by an agricultural airplane and released to soar to an altitude […]

The French commercial jet manufacturing giant Airbus this week held the official opening of its first manufacturing facility in the United States, at a sprawling new plant in Mobile, Alabama. The facility has been in operation since July and Airbus expects to deliver its first U.S.-built airplane next year. The $600 million, 53-acre facility will […]

Disrupt or be disrupted. It’s one of the hard lessons emerging in today’s tech-fueled economy, in which the frenetic pace of innovation means not only seeing new ideas materialize with dizzying speed but also watching as they threaten to obliterate entire industries that came before them. We’ve glimpsed this trend in aviation already with everything […]

Since the earliest days of powered flight, propulsion technology has mattered more than anything else in humankind’s quest to break the bonds of earth and rise triumphantly into thin air. For the Wright Flyer it was a 180-pound, 12-horsepower gasoline piston engine built by Orville and Wilbur’s trusty mechanic, Charles ­Taylor. For the P-51D Mustang, […]