Aircraft

Dassault rolled out the first new** Falcon 8X** at its headquarters in Bordeaux-Merignac in the South of France on Wednesday before an audience of customers, operators, suppliers and government officials. Launched in May at the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva, the Falcon 8X is a larger stable mate of the fly-by-wire […]

A sleek looking single-place airplane named CEA-311 Anequim, the Portuguese word for great white shark, recently took flight in Divinópolis, Brazil. The airplane looks a lot like a racer but it was designed specifically to break speed records. Anequim was designed and built by professor Paulo Iscold and a team of students at the Federal […]

We’ve all seen spectacular air show performances with fighter jets or aerobatic piston airplanes flying in formation of various configurations. But it is not every day that you see five 590,000-plus-pound commercial passenger jets flying an Echelon or Diamond formation. Airbus recently released a video of just such a flight with five A350 XWB (extra […]

Researchers at NASA have started flight testing new software that the agency says could make the National Airspace System far more efficient and reduce noise associated with airplanes near major airports. The software has been named Airborne Spacing for Terminal Arrival Routes, or ASTAR for short. The purpose of the software is to develop more […]

In the wake of Gulfstream’s blockbuster introduction of its flagship G650 (and now G650ER) fly-by-wire, ultralong-range and high-subsonic beauties, I guess I should have stopped being surprised by any large-body wonders the company puts in the air. The G650 Gulfstream jet set the standard for the ultralong-range category, leaving its two large-cabin, ultralong-range rivals staring […]

Daher-Socata today announced it has signed on as a major partner with Airbus Group’s VoltAir subsidiary for the design, development and certification of a new electric airplane unveiled earlier this year called the E-Fan 2.0. The all-electric two-seater is the first product in what is being billed as a full-scale electric aircraft development program, launched […]

If you love going to airshows to watch military jet teams such as the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds, next year will present opportunities to enjoy the performance of one of the best aerobatic formation teams in the world — the Breitling Jet Team. The team will make its North American debut on April 26 at […]

AOPA is urging the FAA to take steps to address the safety risks of small recreational UAVs, including stipulating penalties for pilots who operate them recklessly. The association made the recommendation yesterday in prepared comments at a House aviation subcommittee hearing on UAV operations. AOPA told the subcommittee that an “increasing number of incidents” involving […]

The FAA yesterday issued another five exemptions for commercial UAS operations to four companies under Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. The new exemptions greatly broaden the spectrum for legal commercial UAS uses, which has previously only been approved for movie making operations operating in controlled environments. The companies that […]

With media attention increasingly focused on the safety of UAVs, the House aviation subcommittee will hold a hearing this week on the status of drone integration into U.S. airspace. The hearing will focus on the state of the emerging UAV industry in the United States, including the FAA’s efforts to safely integrate unmanned drones into […]