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Aviation
GE and NASA to give open-rotor jet engine systems a spin
By Jude Garvey
06:31 June 15, 2009 PDT
GE Aviation and NASA will run a wind tunnel test program over the northern summer to evaluate and test counter-rotating fan-blade systems for open-rotor jet engine designs. The newly improved rig for testing was originally used by GE and NASA in the 1980s on scale models of counter-rotating fan systems, which led to the development of the GE36 engine. The test program also demonstrated that an open-rotor jet engine consumed 30 percent less fuel compared to similar-sized conventional jet engines. Just think what a 30 percent drop in fuel consumption would deliver today, not only to an airline industry struggling to keep ticket prices down, but also the positive benefits to the environment. Read More
Boeing P-8A Poseidon lifts-off
03:35 April 28, 2009 PDT
Boeing's P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine and long-range surveillance aircraft has completed its first flight. In the latest development milestone for the plane scheduled to replace the P-3 Orion, the T-1 test aircraft completed a series of systems checks during three hours and 31 minutes in the skies above Seattle on April 25. Read More
NASA investigating the SMART shape changing helicopter rotor
By David Greig
20:04 March 26, 2009 PDT
Can you imagine a world full of large, relatively quiet rotorcraft making short hops between cities such as New York and Washington, carrying as many as 100 passengers at a time in comfort and safety? This, amongst other technological improvements, would require helicopters with greatly improved rotor blade efficiency, allowing them to travel much quieter, smoother and further with the same amount of fuel. NASA is currently conducting research in their wind tunnels on the SMART rotor hub, which has rotor blades made with shape-changing materials that could one day make this scenario a reality. Read More
Solar Powered hybrid aircraft - Sunseeker II
By Paul Evans
16:58 February 28, 2009 PST
A variety of solar powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) have been setting world records for flight duration and altitude in recent times, there are even plans for solar powered craft that can remain aloft for years at a time. But it's not just aircraft of the unmanned variety that stand to benefit from solar technology, with planes that carry pilots now starting to take to the skies. Based on glider/sailplane construction methods, the Sunseeker II is the only manned solar airplane flying in the world, and according to SolarFlight, it has logged more time in the air than all other manned solar powered airplanes combined. Read More
Air New Zealand completes biofuel test flight
19:58 January 1, 2009 PST
Air New Zealand has successfully undertaken the world's first commercial aviation test flight using the second-generation biofuel jatropha. A series of key performance tests were conducted at various altitudes during the two hour flight over New Zealand's North Island in which a 50:50 jatropha and Jet A1 fuel blend was used to power one of four Rolls-Royce RB211 engines on the Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400. Read More
WhiteKnightTwo completes historic maiden flight
17:37 December 22, 2008 PST
WhiteKnightTwo (WK2), the carrier aircraft that will become the launch platform for Virgin Galactic's sub-orbital spaceline has taken to the skies over California in its maiden test flight. Powered by four Pratt and Whitney PW308A turbofan engines, the mammoth, 140-foot wingspan carbon composite aircraft launched from the Mojave Air and Space Port on Sunday morning and completed an hour long test flight without a hitch. Read More
Finnair's future fleet: flying into the 21st century
By Kyle Sherer
20:54 December 4, 2008 PST
To celebrate its 85th anniversary, Finnair has served up a blue-sky vision of what the next 85 years of aviation could hold. Concentrating mainly on potential developments in environmentally friendly technology and lightweight material, the Departure 2093 website lists five aircraft that could grace our sky later this century. Read More
SJ30 breaks light jet speed record from London to Dubai
By Kyle Sherer
16:39 November 20, 2008 PST
The London to Dubai route is probably going to see a lot of private business air traffic in the coming years and Emivest Aerospace has used it to showcase the high speed capabilities of its SJ30 Business Jet. The aircraft has set a speed record for its class, flying from London to Dubai in seven hours and seven minutes, including a 41-minute refueling stop in Istanbul. Read More
F-35 Lightning II breaks sound barrier
By Kyle Sherer
13:30 November 18, 2008 PST
Lockheed Martin has promised that its fifth gen F-35 fighter will allow pilots to “do things that were previously considered impossible, and to think things that were previously unthinkable.” Almost two years after its maiden flight, the F-35 Lightning II has reached another development milestone – supersonic flight. Test pilot Jon Beesley accelerated the F-35 AA-1 to Mach 1.05, with a full internal load of dummy weapons. Read More
Biofuel-powered jet completes transcontinental flight
21:53 November 12, 2008 PST
Following on from its breakthrough flight in October last year, Green Flight International has set another green-aviation record, this time flying a jet across the U.S. using environmentally-friendly Biofuel. Piloted by President and CEO Douglas Rodante and Chief Pilot Carol Sugars, BioJet 1 completed the flight from Reno, Nevada to Leesburg, Florida in just over 11 hours at altitudes ranging from 13,000 to 17,000 feet. While 1,776 miles where flown on 100% Biofuel, a 50/50 mix of Biofuel and standard jet fuel was used for the remainder of the 2,486 journey in order to compare performance data and also demonstrate the ability to blend these fuel types. Read More
Air New Zealand moves closer to biofuel flight
By Kyle Sherer
16:15 November 2, 2008 PST
Air New Zealand, Boeing, Rolls-Royce and UOP aim to power one of four engines on a Boeing 747-400 on Jatropha-based fuel. The first test flight using the environmentally sustainable oil is scheduled to take place in Auckland in December after fuel testing is completed. Read More
Zeppelin Airship travel makes U.S. comeback
By Kyle Sherer
17:23 October 14, 2008 PDT
Starting this month, Airship Ventures is offering tourists the chance to travel aboard a 246-foot long, semi-rigid Zeppelin NT – the first giant Zeppelin to grace the skies of the US since the Hindenburg tragically caught fire more than 70 years ago. Passengers can enjoy birds-eye views of the San Francisco Bay, Silicon Valley, Sonoma/Napa wine regions, and the Monterey/Big Sur coastline. Read More
Sky Warrior unmanned aircraft demonstrates automatic takeoff and landing
23:04 October 12, 2008 PDT
General Atomics' Sky Warrior unmanned aircraft system (UAS) has for the first time demonstrated automatic takeoff and landing capabilities under control of the Extended Range/Multi-Purpose (ER/MP) One System® Ground Control Station (OSGCS). Three landings and three takeoffs took place during August and September at the El Mirage Flight Operations Center in Adelanto, California and represent another milestone for the system which is due to be fielded in mid 2009. Read More
Pterodactyl-based UAV design for urban combat scenarios
By Kyle Sherer
16:29 October 7, 2008 PDT
Scientists have designed a highly-maneuverable UAV modeled on a 228-million-year-old pterodactyl. The 30-inch robotic craft would alter its wing shape to “squeeze through confined spaces, dive between buildings, travel under overpasses, land on apartment balconies, and sail along the coastline.” Read More
Historic WWII Ford airplane to go under the hammer
By Emily Clark
18:08 October 2, 2008 PDT
This rare 1929 Ford 4-AT-E Tri-Motor airplane is set to be auctioned in a No Reserve sale by the Barrett-Jackson Auction Company in January 2009. Recently restored to its original specifications, the plane has a fascinating history, having survived bullet fire during the World War II attack at Pearl Harbor. Read More
Historic Moller flying car prototype up for sale
22:06 October 1, 2008 PDT
Moller International is selling its Jetson-like M200X 2-passenger VTOL prototype on eBay. Although it's a long way from the latest designs to rise from the Moller drawing-board like the hybrid flying car, the M200X is a significant piece of aviation history, having completed over 200 manned and unmanned flight demonstrations since 1989. Read More
Fraunhofer develops technology for the bonded aircraft
By Jack Martin
05:44 September 9, 2008 PDT
An aircraft is held together by hundreds of thousands of rivets. Fully automatic machines install rivet holes and rivets with precision in numerous materials. A new hybrid technology combines this mechanical joining technique with adhesive bonding. The lighter an aircraft is, the less fuel it consumes. Given the need to cut carbon dioxide emissions, this is a key aspect of materials research. Aircraft manufacturers are therefore pinning their hopes on particularly lightweight construction materials. These include not only lightweight metals, but also fiber composite plastics, particularly carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs). Whenever two CFRP components have to be joined together, this has so far been accomplished primarily by riveting. Read More
AeroVironment receives funding for perch-and-stare micro-UAV
10:46 August 20, 2008 PDT
AeroVironment has been awarded $4.6 million in funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a new generation small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) with "perch-and-stare" surveillance capabilities. The micro-air vehicle will be based on the company's smallest existing UAS platform - Wasp. Read More
SpaceShipTwo mothership revealed
12:19 August 4, 2008 PDT
Virgin Galactic has achieved another milestone in its push to become the world’s first private commercial spaceline with the unveiling of the WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier aircraft. Built at the Scaled Composites facility in Mojave, California, the twin fuselage WK2 is a formidable engineering feat. It is the world’s largest all carbon composite aircraft and the main wing, which spans 140 ft, is the longest single carbon composite aviation component ever built. Christened “EVE” in honor of Sir Richard Branson's mother, the aircraft can can fly across the US non-stop and reach altitudes of 50,000 ft - the height from which SpaceShipTwo (SS2) will be air launched. Read More
ICON A5 amphibious sportsplane completes first test flight
03:52 July 16, 2008 PDT
ICON Aircraft has passed a key hurdle in the development of its innovative, amphibious sport plane design by successfully completing its maiden test flight. The full-scale prototype of the composite carbon fiber, two-seater A5 took to the skies at an undisclosed lake location in California on July 9, demonstrating the aircraft’s performance and flying characteristics during take-off, landing, and low-speed maneuvering flight as well as it on-water capabilities. The versatile A5, which has a folding wing design for easy transport and storage as well as retractable landing gear for flying off land and water, is set to undergo a series of test flights throughout the next year with a view to putting the finishing touches on the design and building a pre-production model for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and ASTM compliance. Production is expected to commence in late 2010. Read More
Etihad buys up big at Farnborough Airshow
15:52 July 15, 2008 PDT
Soaring oil prices might be putting the squeeze on margins for airlines around the world, but that hasn't deterred United Arab Emirates national carrier Etihad from splurging more than $20 billion on orders for Boeing and Airbus aircraft. Read More
The Parajet Skycar: Britain's zero-carbon flying dune buggy aims for Timbouctou
By Loz Blain
01:56 July 14, 2008 PDT
July 14, 2008 The race is well and truly on to develop a functional flying car, and innovators around the world are finding several different ways to accommodate the needs of a road-registerable flying vehicle. The Moller Skycar and Cell Craft G440 use complicated quad-turbine tilting jet engines to achieve VTOL and flight capability. The Terrafugia Transition and Skyblazer roadable aircraft have decided to go for a folding-wing convertible aeroplane design, and Larry Neal's Super Sky Cycle is a simple and cheap modification that turns a standard, safe gyroplane into a road-going trike. And now there's the Parajet Skycar, a Yamaha R1-engined, biodiesel-powered all-terrain dune buggy that's capable of extremely safe flight as a powered paraglider. The Skycar Expedition team plan to take the eye-catching vehicle from London to Timbouctou in 2009, using a combination of flight and driving to battle the tough Saharan terrain. There's a commuter model in the pipeline - and you won't need a pilot's license to fly it. Read More
ICON Aircraft unveils fold-up amphibious sports plane
17:32 June 15, 2008 PDT
A recurring theme at Gizmag in recent times has been the growing accessibility of the recreational sports aircraft, with manufacturers offering increasingly versatile and user-friendly designs combined with falling price points. Like the Cessna SkyCatcher, the ICON A5, which was officially unveiled last week in Los Angeles, is a case in point. Powered by a 100hp Rotax 912 ULS engine achieving an estimated maximum speed of 105 kts (120 mph) and a range of 300 nm, the amphibious, two-seat, composite carbon fiber plane features a sportscar inspired cockpit and retractable landing gear for flying off land and water, but the standout element is the folding wing design which allows the plane to be towed on the road like a speed boat and stored at home rather than paying for space at an airport. Read More
Airborne Laser completes activation tests
By Kyle Sherer
19:35 June 1, 2008 PDT
Boeing and the US Missile Defense Agency have completed the first laser activation testing for the Airborne Laser missile defense program. The tests involved circulating water through the laser to verify its integrity, before circulating chemicals through the laser to confirm sequencing and control. Read More
Airborne Laser completes activation tests
By Kyle Sherer
19:35 June 1, 2008 PDT
Boeing and the US Missile Defense Agency have completed the first laser activation testing for the Airborne Laser missile defense program. The tests involved circulating water through the laser to verify its integrity, before circulating chemicals through the laser to confirm sequencing and control. Read More
Celeste H Calabro
- July 5, 2009 @ 22:20 UTC
