The $6,200,000,000 redesign of the F-35B has borne fruit with the first vertical takeoff and landing of the F-35B. Projected unit cost of at least $112M a copy, but nice video, so I guess it's worth it. (www.youtube.com) More...
As a parent of three kids I am very familiar with kids movies, and I honestly don’t mind going to them as long as they are entertaining, which many of them are. But, there is a movie coming out that I would gladly see all by myself, as will most avgeeks out there. Disney’s Planes! (www.aviationguy.com) More...
A couple who had intended to fly from Los Angeles to Dakar, Senegal, ended up 7,000 miles away in Dhaka, Bangladesh, because of an airline error. Sandy Valdivieso and her husband Triet Vo, 39, told the Los Angeles Times that they didn't think anything was amiss when they got their Turkish Airlines boarding passes for their flights from Los Angeles to Dakar, the capital of Senegal. Their passes had them going from LAX, the airport code for Los Angeles International Airport, to IST, Istanbul, to… (www.usatoday.com) More...
In a lonely corner the Sahara Desert, Google Earth shows what looks like a tattoo on the sun-parched sands: a dark graphic blot amid the vast remoteness of Niger's Tenere region. The negative space in the center of the dot forms the shape of a DC-10 jet plane. Four arrows outside the circle point in each direction, like a compass. (www.gadling.com) More...
Finding a suitable runway to launch your multibillion dollar fighter jet from isn't always as easy as it sounds. That's why the F-35B Lightning II is designed to with the ability to both take off and land without ever needing to taxi. Here's the first look at its vertical launch. (gizmodo.com) More...
A Brazilian pop star who calls himself Latino has put TAM Airlines in the hot seat after he was allegedly invited to sit in the captain's chair during a cross-country flight from Recife to Rio de Janeiro. Pictures of the singer in the cockpit of an Airbus A320-200 were circulated on Instagram and posted to the musician's website the day after the incident, but were later removed. (www.gadling.com) More...
Lockheed Martin just completed the latest high angle of attack test series. It was a complete success, as this video shows. The video footage is spectacular, especially that unreal first shot... (gizmodo.com) More...
Southwest Airlines announced it will launch new service between Houston and Washington, D.C. on August 4, 2013. Initially, the airline will operate one daily flight to and from the cities... (www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com) More...
Amtrak said it plans to resume regularly scheduled rail service between New York and Boston on Wednesday. Service was suspended following a derailment involving Metro-North Railroad trains near Bridgeport, Connecticut on May 17. No substantial increase in traffic was reported at the area's airports, where Amtrak competes with shuttles operated by Delta and US Airways. (www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com) More...
Boeing Business Jets (BBJ) is displaying a BBJ 3 for the very first time at the European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (EBACE) 2013. The interiors look amazing! (www.theaviationwriter.com) More...
Hooray. Godspeed. Is this the first revenue flight in the world since January? Thanks to flight aware, I can track this great event. (news.yahoo.com) More...
A 41-year-old Texas man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to shooting at an airplane ... a federal offence. (www.aero-news.net) More...
Here’s a story for Boeing 777 fans! Philippine Airlines (PAL) has taken delivery of its fifth Boeing 777-300ER, bringing the national carrier’s total fleet count to a respectable 45. The new aircraft, which arrived from Seattle, will complement PAL’s route expansion in Asia, Australia and the Middle East. (www.theaviationwriter.com) More...
Pilatus scored a double first at EBACE with the launch of its first business jet - the PC-24 - and a new self-styled aircraft category dubbed the "super versatile jet" (SVJ). (www.flightglobal.com) More...
American Airlines has extended preferential boarding to customers flying with small or no carry-on bags. Beginning today, the carrier says customers not needing to stow a bag in its overhead storage bins will be able to board between the Group 1 and Group 2 boarding queues. American gives boarding priority to its first-class and elite-level fliers before moving on to Groups 1 through 4. (www.usatoday.com) More...
The U.S. Next Generation Air Transportation System's low-hanging fruit—satellite-based procedures—could be within the grasp of a growing number of airlines with legacy fleets, if the market opens up for lower-cost avionics providers. (www.aviationweek.com) More...
Oklahoma's airport, Will Rogers International Airport, has also suffered damage from yesterday's massive EF-4 tornado. The airport is located just 1.5 miles from some of areas that were completely destroyed by the tornado. The death toll as risen to 90... (www.thefloridanewsjournal.com) More...
"US Marine Hornet flown to a successful barricade arrestment aboard the USS Nimitz on or about October 24th, 1997 due to nose landing gear hung in the "up" position. Captain Scott Slater was the Marine aviator flying the jet. This was the first attempted barricade arrestment of an F/A-18 in Naval history. Captain Slater's fuel state at time of landing was excessively low. Credit for the successful landing goes to both pilot and the ship's crew for endless hours of training and… (www.youtube.com) More...
On the day that United Airlines re-launched Boeing 787 commercial service from the airline’s hub in Houston, the carrier has provided details of new 787 services it plans to begin this summer. (www.airlinesanddestinations.com) More...
