Boeing on Thursday said it plans to add a 787-10 “Explorer” to its ecoDemonstrator program this year while it moves ahead with its assessment of 19 technologies under study with the program’s 777-200ER. The first ecoDemonstrator Explorer will conduct flight tests in June from Seattle to Tokyo, Singapore, and Bangkok to demonstrate how coordinating navigation across global airspace jurisdictions can improve operational efficiency and reduce fuel use and emissions by up to 10 percent.
The plan calls for Boeing and air navigation service providers in the U.S., Japan, Singapore, and Thailand to collectively sequence the airplane's routes to achieve the optimal flight path across multiple regions, taking account of conditions such as weather, air traffic, and airspace closures. The airplane will fly on the highest available blend of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at each location.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a safety alert advising on the risks and preparation necessary to perform circling instrument approach procedures and maneuvering. The alert, “Circling Approaches: Know the Risks,” was released as the NTSB has been preparing a report on its investigation of the July 2021 Bombardier Challenger 605 accident in Truckee, California, that involved an unstabilized circle-to-land approach. In addition, the Safety Board released the alert to coincide with the Air Charter Safety Foundation’s Safety Symposium last week.
Board member Michael Graham was among the slate of speakers at the ACSF event, providing an overview of the publicly available facts in the Truckee accident. He cited that accident—as well as ones that involved the May 2017 Learjet 35A crash in Teterboro, New Jersey, and the December 2021 Learjet 35A accident at Gillespie Field in El Cajon, California—in the development of the safety alert.
Magpie Aviation says it has successfully demonstrated the world’s first automated aircraft tug, or “aerotow,” connecting two airplanes mid-flight. In theory, the company says the aerotowing concept could enable large electric passenger airplanes to fly farther by connecting with smaller, uncrewed airplanes packed full of batteries.
With Magpie’s concept, an autonomous tow aircraft would grapple a passenger airplane’s nose with an “active hook” before tugging it along through the atmosphere. While the airplane is being towed, it can idle to preserve power, providing passengers with a “smooth and quiet” ride, Magpie claims. For longer flights, multiple tow aircraft could take turns escorting the passenger airplane, taking off from different airports along the way.
It is symbolic of the malaise cloaking aviation as it celebrates the centennial of powered flight that, for the first time since Orville and Wilbur Wright made history in 1903, mankind will have to settle for flying more slowly than before. Concorde, the airplane that opened supersonic flight to anyone with the means to buy a ticket, will retire this year after 27 years of service with British Airways and Air France.
The British flag carrier has said it will operate its last Concorde flight on October 24, five months later than Air France, which terminated its scheduled supersonic transport operations on May 31.
One of Mexico’s most captivating locations is Mexico City, its capital, which is built on the ruins of the ancient Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. One of the oldest and largest cities in the Americas, it has a metro population of over 22 million.
It's a place of crazy contrasts. The sprawling landscape runs from modern skyscrapers to neighborhoods of Spanish-style mansions with flowering purple jacaranda trees. Colonial architecture, iconic artwork, spicy cuisine, and a rich cultural heritage offer visitors endless activities. But expect noisy and congested traffic.
Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) has undertaken the first flight of the Hürjet advanced trainer/light attacker. Flown by a single test pilot and accompanied by an F-16 chase aircraft, the unpainted prototype made a 26-minute inaugural voyage on April 25, reaching an altitude of 14,000 feet and a speed of 250 knots. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced the achievement on Twitter with an accompanying video.
TAI began the Hürjet program in August 2017 as a privately funded project. It gained official backing from the Türk Hava Kuvvetleri (THK, Turkish air force) in July 2018. The Hürjet draws on the modern avionics architecture developed for the company’s Hürkus turboprop trainer, but applied to a supersonic jet-powered aircraft. Power comes from a General Electric F404-GE-102 afterburning turbofan that provides 17,600 pounds of thrust. This gives the Hürjet a projected top speed of Mach 1.4 and a climb rate of 39,000 feet per minute. The airframe is rated at +8/-3 g loading, with a planned sustained turn capability at Mach 0.9 of 5.5g. Estimated range is 1,200 nm.
One of the more subjective directives in the federal aviation regulations is found in 91.155 where VFR pilots are instructed, in certain airspace, to maintain “clear of clouds.” The definition of “clear of clouds” is both straightforward and ambiguous.
While it logically means that pilots should refrain from entering clouds, the presence of scattered, or even lightly broken, cloud layers allow opportunity for pilots to skirt immersion in a clouded environment. (This might explain why online searches for the phrase will also bring up discussions of scud-running.)
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