Aviation News

Sources within Iran have claimed that the American RQ-170 Sentinel drone shown in celebratory photographs last week was captured by Iran through the use of spoofed GPS signals. The story was first reported in The Christian Science Monitor. An Iranian engineer claimed that his country sent fake GPS signals to the drone, so that its […]

The FAA’s AeroNav division held a meeting in Washington, D.C., this week to which it invited around 70 prominent players in the app developer community. Specifically excluded from the event were the public and the press — Flying and at least one other aviation news outlet requested to attend and were turned down. The ostensible […]

Despite bold predictions by LightSquared that the firm’s proposed mobile satellite service would soon win FCC approval, Department of Transportation officials on Wednesday said the company’s 4G broadband technology does indeed interfere with “the majority” of global positioning system receivers and poses dangerous disruption to aviation safety systems. The findings, announced after recent testing by […]

The FAA has certified the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210S turbine engine that powers Sikorsky’s S-76D, an achievement that comes after the completion of more than 10,000 hours of rig and fight testing and takes the helicopter one step closer to full certification. The engine certification issued on Dec. 5 follows the issuance of a […]

The top three execs at Google have offered to pay NASA the $33 million needed to restore Hangar One, the iconic California landmark built in the 1930s to house the U.S.S. Macon. The offer comes with a caveat, however. The search engine bigwigs, who own eight private jets between the three of them through a […]

GE reached a new milestone in its H80 turboprop program when the powerplant earned approval from European authorities. The engine has been fitted to a couple of airplanes, neither of which is certified yet. The Thrush 510G agricultural airplane — is “crop duster” politically incorrect these days? — is on track for certification now by […]

Last year thousands of flights were brought to a standstill for days on end when Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted, scattering thick clouds of ash over much of Europe. To prevent a similar recurrence of events, Dr. Fred Prata of the Norwegian Institute of Air Research has developed a technology aimed at alerting pilots of the […]

So much for Burt Rutan’s “retirement.” Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen on Tuesday announced he is teaming with the legendary aerospace designer to launch a new space-tourism company called Stratolaunch Systems that plans, among other accomplishments, to design and build “the largest aircraft ever constructed” – which will be used to carry a 490,000-pound rocket to […]

A veteran airshow pilot says an unleaded biofuel gasoline undergoing testing in his Sukhoi Su-26M is providing power similar to conventional 100LL aviation fuel while greatly boosting his range. It is the latest sign that an alternative to leaded avgas may be within reach. Rick Volker of Rick Volker Air Shows in Niagara Falls, New […]

LightSquared, the company that is rolling out a nationwide broadband network operating in frequencies very near those of GPS, claims it is closing in on final approvals from the Federal Communications Commission after the successful completion of the latest round of interference testing. The company said it believes the FCC will make a decision on […]