The Texas-based agricultural aircraft manufacturer Air Tractor showed off its military-modified AT-802U Air Truck at the 2009 Paris airshow in June. The 802U is a modification of the standard Air Truck 802 agricultural “crop-duster”—a machine that has already been deployed successfully by the US State Department on operations for the spray-control of drug crops in overseas theatres. The turbine-powered ...

The first Airbus A320 off the new Chinese production line is due for delivery to its owners in late June, after successful flight-testing in May. Dragon Aviation Leasing owns the aircraft and will be managing it on behalf of Sichuan Airlines.

The Chinese assembly plant is a vitual carbon-copy of Airbus’s Hamburg facility and is scheduled to ...

As the global market for UAV systems explodes in terms of both volumes and mission diversity, Singapore-based Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies used the Paris Airshow to showcase its “Aeropak” hydrogen fuel cell for small electric UAVs in the 5–10 kg class.

The company is a leader in applied hydrogen fuel-cell technology and unveiled a high-tech fuel-cell powered ...

Future-Proof—The Canterbury Way

When Leigh Neil visited the Canterbury Aero Club/International Aviation Academy in Christchurch, he discovered that what separates “great times” from “grim times” appears to be attitude and determination. Smiles on the faces of a winning management team and a fleet of new glass-cockpit trainers spell “great times ahead” for CAC/IAA.

There and Back

Few ...

In a report released this May, the US Office of Inspector General (OIG) says that general aviation presents only limited (and mostly hypothetical) threats to security due to specific attributes that terrorists find unattractive in GA aircraft, such as their small size, lack of fuel capacity and minimal destructive power.

The report was requested by U.S. Representative ...

By Leigh Neil.

The decision to purchase a new fleet of training aircraft is a brave call in the current economic climate, so the decision by Canterbury Aero Club/International Aviation Academy to purchase six new planes could, at first glance, be viewed as somewhat rash. However, as Leigh Neil found out, nothing could be further from ...

On June 23, Boeing announced that the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner would be postponed due to a need to reinforce an area within the side-of-body section of the aircraft.

According to Boeing, the need was identified during recent regularly scheduled tests on the full-scale static test aeroplane. Preliminary analysis indicated that flight test could proceed ...

Cirrus announced in June that around 50 recently laid-off workers will be called back at its facilities in Duluth, Minnesota, and Grand Forks, North Dakota, after the decision was made to boost production from six to eight aircraft a week. This news came only 45 days after production was increased to six aircraft a week, following nearly six ...

According to the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority, the use of new tests that have been developed in London would see 35% of pilot applicants who now fail the colour-blindness exams passing them in future.

The UK CAA has published an in-depth report in which the research is said to be deemed necessary due to the lack of ...