Bell 525 simulator receives FAA qualificationnews Terry Spruce 19 Nov 25 0Bell Textron revealed at this week’s European Rotors event in Germany that the Bell 525 Flight Simulation training device at the Bell Training Academy has… Read more
HI Uplift: Joby’s Blade acquisition ‘speeds path to commercialisation’news Mike Stones 15 Aug 25 0Joby Aviation’s acquisition of Blade Air Mobility will accelerate the eVTOL developer’s path to commercialisation of its air taxi services, a spokesperson tells us. “Blade… Read more
Joby to acquire Blade’s passenger businessnews Yves Le Marquand 4 Aug 25 0Joby Aviation has agreed to acquire Blade Air Mobility’s passenger transportation business. Passenger operations are expected to continue as normal, remaining under the leadership of… Read more
Certified eVTOLs to operate in US before end of 2028: FAA chiefnews Yves Le Marquand 4 Jul 25 0Operations involving eVTOL aircraft will be certified in the US before the end of 2028, according to FAA acting administrator Chris Rocheleau. The agency is… Read more
Wisk to take SkyGrid under wing as pair work more closely on autonomynews Yves Le Marquand 10 Jun 25 0Wisk is set to make SkyGrid a subsidiary as the Boeing companies align more closely on autonomous operations. The pair will work to address the… Read more
FAA approves Skyryse to begin for-credit flight testingnews Yves Le Marquand 22 May 25 0Skyryse has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to begin for-credit flight testing with its Skyryse One helicopter. Built on a Rolls-Royce-powered Robinson R66 platform,… Read more
Longer S-92 inspection intervals ‘boost availability and lower costs’news Mike Stones 21 Nov 24 0Sikorsky S-92 helicopter operators can look forward to increased availability and lower operating costs, after the manufacturer raised the scheduled inspection intervals from 375 flight… Read more
The path to powered-lift operations: FAA publishes final SFAR rulenews Yves Le Marquand 22 Oct 24 0The FAA has published its Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) for powered-lift aircraft such as air taxis and cargo delivery. Passed in less than 18 months,… Read more
HI Uplift: ‘Twice is nice for FAA’s R66 parts extension’news Mike Stones 4 Oct 24 0The FAA’s recent approval to double the service life on specific Robinson R66 helicopter components from 2,000 to 4,000 hours will find favour with the… Read more
HI Uplift: Milestone puts firefighting S-92s to worknews Mike Stones 19 Aug 24 0It’s a marriage made, if not in heaven, then at least in fire-torn skies. As wildfires worldwide intensify, lessor Milestone Aviation and Helitak Fire Fighting… Read more
Milestone and Helitak win FAA certification for FT5000 fire tank for S-92Anews Mike Stones 5 Aug 24 0Milestone Aviation and Helitak Firefighting Equipment – the Australian firefighting equipment manufacturer – have received an FAA Supplemental Type Certificate for the FT5000 fire tank… Read more
Bristow signs MOU to purchase 50 eSTOLs from Electra.aeronews Alasdair Whyte 26 Aug 21 0Bristow Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to purchase 50 eSTOL (electric short take-off and landing) aircraft from developer Electra.aero. The company said… Read more
Volocopter to bring electric air taxi services to US citiesnews Alasdair Whyte 15 Jan 21 0German air taxi start-up Volocopter announced that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) accepted its application for Type Certificate validation on December 22nd 2020. Volocopter has… Read more
Five-blade Airbus H145 gains EASA approvalnews Yves Le Marquand 22 Jun 20 0The new Airbus’ five-bladed H145 has been certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The foldable bladed helicopter is due for its first deliveries… Read more
FAA issues new airworthiness directives for EC225snews Alasdair Whyte 21 Oct 19 0The Federal Aviation Administration has issued new airworthiness standards for the troubled Airbus EC225LP ‘Super Puma’. The new airworthiness directive requires owners to: “Determine the… Read more
Sikorsky registers first S-100 helicopternews Alasdair Whyte 8 Aug 18 0Sikorsky has registered a new helicopter model named the S-100 with the FAA. Without any announcement or fanfare, Sikorsky has submitted a new helicopter to… Read more
Airbus Aerial looking beyond line of sitenews Alasdair Whyte 23 May 18 0Airbus’s drone-services subsidiary Airbus Aerial will be working with the FAA to develop ‘beyond visible line of sight’ technologies. The FAA’s unmanned aircraft integration program… Read more
Xcel becomes first US operator to be granted BVLOS exemptionnews Alasdair Whyte 20 Apr 18 0One of the most-pernickety regulations hampering the commercial drone market from taking off right now are the beyond visual line-of-sight regulations, or BVLOS for short.… Read more
Commercial US drone market to grow to four times its present size by 2022.news Alasdair Whyte 19 Mar 18 0The FAA expects America’s commercial drone fleet to be the largest growing drone market over the next few years, growing to at least four times… Read more
FAA to automatise drone registrationnews Alasdair Whyte 13 Mar 18 0The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is testing a new drone authorisation programme to automatise US Drone registration. Announced at the FAA’s UAS symposium in Baltimore,… Read more
