Aircraft Parts: Private Equity Spikes Costs, Sustainability in Question By Russ Niles One of the biggest players in aircraft parts and systems says it’s investing in its aviation companies and intends to continue strengthening “their manufacturing and service capabilities and better serve aircraft owners and operators.” The quote is part of a written response by Arcline, an investment company that...Read More

Airbus advises some A330neo operators to anticipate tail inspections Potential checks follow an isolated quality problem found during production, while the final aircraft population is still being determined with EASA By Ricardo Meier Airbus has advised some A330neo operators to anticipate possible inspections of the aircraft’s horizontal tail plane during scheduled maintenance after a quality problem was found on a...Read More

BOAC’s First Transatlantic Jet Service By Lee Cross Fouth of October in 1958, British Overseas Aircraft Corporation (BOAC) launched the world’s first jet-powered transatlantic flight. Using the de Havilland Comet 4, BOAC beat rival Pan American to the post by just three weeks, operating the first jet service across the North Atlantic to New York. This was despite Pan Am...Read More

EASA grounds Elixir fleet after fatal test flight accident All Elixir aircraft have been grounded following a fatal accident involving an aircraft operated by the French manufacturer. EASA issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive on Friday 2 October suspending all flight operations by the type from 3 October. The directive applies to every Elixir aircraft, regardless of serial number, and has...Read More

Atlas Will Build Electra’s EL9 Hybrid-electric Prototypes Wichita-based aerospace manufacturing group has partnered with the U.S. start-up By Charles Alcock Electra has reached an agreement for Atlas to manufacture and assemble airframes for early examples of its EL9 Ultra Short hybrid-electric aircraft. Under a partnership announced on Tuesday, the companies said work will begin this month at Atlas’ facilities in...Read More

Why aircraft electronics are becoming harder to cool More capable avionics, onboard computing and electrification are putting additional heat aboard aircraft and changing how engineers approach cooling. By Samantha McGrail Putting more computing power aboard an aircraft creates another engineering problem: the electronics have to get rid of the heat they produce. That challenge grows as vehicles add more capable avionics,...Read More

JetZero secures US$100 million financing as Z4 program moves toward full-scale flight By Ricardo Meier JetZero has secured a credit facility of up to US$100 million to support development of its Z4 blended-wing aircraft , including work on the full-scale Jet1 demonstrator and the manufacturing infrastructure required to eventually produce the unconventional commercial and military platform. The senior secured term...Read More

COMAC crosses global milestone By Swati. K China’s homegrown narrowbody has crossed its first international border, but matching Boeing and Airbus will depend as much on maintenance, certification and supply chains as aircraft production. When Air China Flight CA723 landed in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on August 12 after departing Beijing aboard a COMAC C919, the two-hour journey became one of the...Read More

Heart Aerospace cleared for X1 flight tests FAA issues experimental airworthiness certificate for hybrid-electric aircraft demonstrator By Jonathan. S Heart Aerospace has received a Special Airworthiness Certificate in the Experimental Category (SAC-EC) from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), clearing the company to begin flight testing of its X1 demonstrator aircraft. The approval marks a significant milestone in the development...Read More

FAA Certifies Boeing 737-7, Clearing Smallest MAX Variant for Delivery By Helwing Villamizar The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has certified the Boeing 737-7, clearing the smallest member of the 737 MAX family to move toward customer deliveries after a flight-test and analysis program that began in 2018. The regulator granted Boeing an amended type certificate for the 737-7 design, Boeing...Read More