Aviation News

Boeing has linked with China’s Commercial Aircraft Corp. (Comac) to explore using waste cooking oil to create jet fuel. The project is headquartered in Beijing at the new Boeing-Comac Aviation Energy Conservation and Emissions Reductions Technology Center. The center is part of the Beijing Aeronautical Science and Technology Research Institute (BASTRI). The research is overseen […]

The FAA is edging its way toward tighter control of light sport aircraft (LSA) manufacturers. Under FAA 8130.2G Change 1, which took effect in July, FAA air safety inspectors (ASIs) and designated airworthiness inspectors (DARs) are required to notify FAA headquarters when a new LSA (make or model) is presented for their approval. Also, the […]

The International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST), a government-industry cooperative effort to cut the helicopter accident rate by 80 percent by 2016, is calling for an immediate “culture change” to stem a problem that appears to be growing worse instead of better. The IHST issued its warning after four deadly helicopter crashes occurred this month in […]

A Maryland company named R3 Engineering reported yesterday it has completed successful testing of an ADS-B-based fully autonomous collision avoidance sequence. The “sense and avoid” system installed in an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) received and processed ADS-B signals from another aircraft, and the UAS’s on board computer determined that their courses constituted a threat of […]

As traditional meals on commercial flights go by the wayside, one Atlanta aviation catering company is giving travelers one more reason to fly privately: Handcrafted meals created for the increasingly health-conscious flyer. In an attempt to enhance the bizjet experience, Tastefully Yours has added a full-time nutritionist, Heather Hibbin, to its staff who will be […]

Continental Motors president Rhett Ross says that his company’s** Zulu storefront simulator training center** is paying dividends, as it passed a number of significant milestones recently. Zulu opened for business on July 13th. Today it has 18 students and has trained students who have earned private and instrument ratings. Perhaps the most significant milestone was […]

Rockwell Collins test pilots in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, have begun flight testing the company’s new touch-screen version of the Pro Line Fusion integrated avionics system. The system is installed in Rockwell Collins’ Beech King Air B200GT. “We’re on track to bring this innovation to market as planned,” said Rockwell Collins vice president and general manager […]

California Democrat Rep. Henry A. Waxman sent a letter this week to Michael Huerta, Acting FAA Administrator, urging him to “expand the use of unleaded fuels to reduce toxic lead emissions from general aviation aircraft,” particularly around airports located near residential areas. With input from the EPA, the FAA has committed to developing a replacement […]

A pair of students at the University of Virginia posted a YouTube video of a “printed” plastic turbofan engine. The video led to a summer job designing a new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for the Army. They used what’s called three-dimensional “printing,” a technology that produces actual objects, such as aircraft or engine parts, using […]

At Redbird’s annual migration on Tuesday, Pete Bunce, president of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, gave an update on the FAA’s efforts to modernize the agency’s airplane certification paradigm. The idea is to make it easier for manufacturers to certify airplanes as appropriate to the airplane’s complexity instead of, in Bunce’s words, certifying them to […]