Aerospace

With venture-capital backing from Boeing and JetBlue, startup Zunum takes the wraps off its first product, a 12-seat hybrid-electric regional aircraft for delivery beginning in 2022.

Flights of a modified Airbus A340 are the most representative tests yet of natural laminar flow and will determine if the drag-reducing design is practical.

New 2,500-3,000+ shp turboshaft builds on Safran’s RTM322 and Tech3000 experience.

Leonardo plans to certify and bring to market the derivative AW189K fitted with the Safran Aneto-1K by the end of 2018.

The company has submitted its final bid to NASA for development of the agency’s Quiet Supersonic Transport or QueSST low-boom flight demonstrator; it is one of two competitors to do so.

Tests demonstrate stable combustion and reliable start-up for the LE-9 main engine of Japan’s H3 space launcher.

Sponsored by Boeing, the three-phase $2 million Go Fly competition is aimed at developing a safe, viable personal air vehicle and encompasses a wide range of parameters.

Air traffic management optimization looks like low-hanging fruit for fuel efficiency, given the results of recent extended arrival management tests in Europe.

Uncertainty about the U.S. defense spending forecast and concerns about share prices are part of the explanation.

Fly/ride range extender; Volocopter flies in Dubai; EasyJet thinks electric; Drone+van delivery; Passenger Drone’s eVTOL.

As airliner connectivity broadens to benefit passengers, a cybersecurity threat may be opening to more crucial aircraft systems.

Electronics miniaturization coupled with propulsion and airframe upgrades are making smaller unmanned aircraft increasing capable in a widening range of roles.

Russia and China each have plans for an engine for the widebody now called the CR929. But they have agreed to cooperate.

DARPA taps Reaction Engines to conduct high-temperature testing of the precooler technology for its proposed hypersonic air-breathing, Sabre rocket concept.

Congress may push back on Trump’s Air Force One cost-cutting plan, the Kiowa Warrior’s last flight for the U.S. Army, Raytheon radar clears third test, and Indonesia takes delivery of Airbus helicopters.

Lockheed Martin is ramping up development of hypersonic system technology as observers report the first sightings of a demonstrator vehicle believed to be linked to the Skunk Works’ planned SR-72 high-speed aircraft project.

General Electric’s advanced inverter could be a precursor to viable hybrid-electric aircraft propulsion.

Development has taken longer than expected, but engine testing is an important milestone in realizing Paul Allen’s new space vision.

The purpose-built Seeker is a bug-eyed, butt-ugly beauty.

Has the commercial aviation industry finally vanquished the cycle? Even thinking such a thing sounds hubristic, but it is difficult to argue with the numbers.

Areas underserved by rail—including the U.S.—are potential targets for hybrid-electric propulsion regional aircraft.

The French engine-maker says turbofan improvements will continue while parallel studies of hybrid and all-electric propulsion studies ramp up.

LeoLabs teams with Planet; Swiss demo U-space; fuel cell powers multicopter drone.

Aviation Week’s team of more than two dozen editors casts a wide net around the globe, but we don’t see everything. That is why it is vital that we receive outside nominations. Know of an individual or achievement in the last year that deserves recognition? Nominate them for the 2018 Laureate Awards.

The Raider’s hard landing is blamed on a flight-control software issue, not coaxial rigid-rotor technology, Sikorsky obtains backing to finish the demonstration.