Sometimes an organization can be doing everything right by the book but still have lots of room for improvement.

Modern Singapore is as much the creation of one man, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who led the country with an iron hand for 30 years.

It comes as a surprise to many, but Tokyo's Narita International Airport until recently operated with only one runway.

Researchers are all too familiar with the huge costs, high risks and frustratingly slow pace of high-speed flight testing, not to mention the scarcity of opportunities. Now a Colorado-based team is developing a small supersonic UAV (below) for low-risk testing at a fraction of the cost of existing systems. Dubbed the Gojett (graduate organization jet engine technology team), the ambitious project is aimed at breaking the supersonic test paradigm and filling part of the void left by retirement of reusable flying testbeds like the legendary X-15.

The photo on page 11 of last week's issue should have been credited to Joe Walker.

Last summer, Boeing announced its decision to build the 737 MAX as a response to the refresh of the A320 family that Airbus made with its New Engine Option program. Once again, the industry's two largest airplane makers are engaged in a high-stakes struggle for narrowbody sales. Only this time, they face challenges from the Bombardier CSeries, the Comac C919 and the Irkut MS-21.

Europe's safety agency says inspections will assess how severely a new set of wing cracks are affecting the Airbus superjumbos.

The worldwide demand for special-mission aircraft for everything from drug interdiction to medevac is leading to a corresponding need for visual enhancement systems. The increase in drug-trafficking activity in many parts of the world has stimulated growth in the market for smaller special-purpose aircraft engaged in surveillance and targeting of illegal activity. To help meet this demand, nearly all manufacturers of regional/commuter business jets and corporate turboprops now offer variants that can serve in multiple roles.