Aviation News

Every pilot remembers that often gut-wrenching feeling when the CFI reaches over, retards the throttle and announces a practice engine failure. “Now what do you do?” Get it down in one piece, of course, is the unspoken answer. But instructors don’t practice engine failures only because it’s required in the Airman Certification Standards. They guide […]

Tamarack has received approval from the FAA, European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) for its ATLAS Active Winglet system’s AFMS (Aircraft Flight Manual Supplement), publicly confirming the performance improvements of the system. The system in question is designed for the Cessna Citation C525 series of bizjets: the CJ, CJ1, […]

Slovenian aircraft maker Pipistrel is forging ahead with production plans for the Alpha Electro electric-powered two-seater and hybrid Panthera four-seater in a deal with a Chinese entrepreneur to build airplanes in China. Pipistrel founder Ivo Boscarol owns 51 percent of the newly formed Pipistrel Asia-Pacific joint venture, with the remaining 49 percent controlled by Chinese […]

A California man’s multiple attempts at dropping anti-media pamphlets over NFL stadium crowds landed him in jail after flying over Oakland Coliseum and Levi’s Stadium during Sunday’s games. Tracy Mapes, a 55-year-old Sacramento resident, was cited and released by Santa Clara police for flying the drone in violation of a local municipal code, department spokesperson […]

Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Siemens this week announced a partnership that the companies claim will be a “significant step forward in hybrid-electric propulsion for commercial aircraft.” The E-Fan X hybrid-electric technology demonstrator is set to take flight in 2020, with the goal of this new partnership being a revolution in flying that will be clean, efficient […]

“Oops.” That’s presumably the PG version of what American Airlines officials are thinking this week after it was revealed that a “computer glitch” gave all of the company’s pilots the ability to take time off during and around Christmas week. BREAKING: American Airlines says computer glitch allowed all pilots to take vacation over Christmas week. […]

The Commemorative Air Force’s restoration of the airplane that led the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944 in Normandy, France — a C-47 named That’s All, Brother — is progressing quickly. The team is closing in on first flight activities less than three years after the CAF committed to restoring the historic airplane. The C-47 […]

In about two weeks, Santa Monica Municipal Airport (SMO) will close to allow for the planned shortening of Runway 3-21. Operators of many airplanes that are based at and frequent the nearly 100-year-old airport will have to find new alternatives. Since the runway-shortening project began on October 23, the airport has been closed nightly from […]

Professional drone racing pilot Ken ‘FlyingBear’ Loo is used to racing the likes of Paul ‘Nurk’ Nurkala, Nick ‘Wild Willy’ Willard and Jordan ‘Jet’ Temkin through extravagant tracks in cool locations, later to be aired on ESPN. Racing a NASA-built autonomous drone? Not so much. “We pitted our algorithms against a human, who flies a […]

It’s impressive how much buzz Elon Musk can generate with a simple tweet. He recently offered the world the first look at the Tesla Roadster and caused his fans and followers to freak out with a simple description: “0 to 100 km/h in 1.9 sec.” More than 123,000 retweets later, you’d think that would be […]