Reading Time: 2 minutes The hefty, double-bodied Stratolaunch airplane — its wingspan of 385 feet (117 meters) is the widest in the world — recently reached a new milestone that brings it one step closer to leaving the ground. In runway tests conducted on Sunday (Feb. 25) at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California, Stratolaunch achieved […]

Reading Time: 2 minutes GE Aviation’s Advanced Turboprop engine, the first clean-sheet turboprop engine to hit the Business and General Aviation (BGA) market in more than 30 years, successfully completed its first engine test run at GE Aviation’s facility in Prague, Czech Republic. “Running the Advanced Turboprop engine this year was our biggest and most important goal,” said Brad […]

Reading Time: < 1 minute On October 17 2017, the first test MC-21-300 aircraft flew from the airfield of Irkutsk Aviation Plant to the airfield of Flight Research Institute n.a. M.M. Gromov (Ramenskoye, Moscow Region), to continue flight tests. The aircraft flew nonstop 4 500 km for 6 hours at the altitude of 10 000 meters. Mr Oleg Kononenko, the […]

Reading Time: 2 minutes After test flights were successfully completed in June, the Russian built single-aisle twinjet MC-21 is now being prepped for a second round of testing. Deliveries are expected to start in 2018 and Russian state media has said numerous contracts with domestic and foreign carriers have already been agreed, although it is largely expected to fill […]

Reading Time: < 1 minute The flying prototype of Russia’s new Irkut MC-21-300 narrowbody airliner has completed the first stage of factory testing, OEM Irkut Corporation reports. The final, sixth flight as part of the first stage was performed on June 23. During the first phase the aircraft was tested for stability and controllability with different configurations of the wing […]

Reading Time: < 1 minute The A350-1000 successfully completed  its first and unique “Early Long Flight” with 310 passengers on board, including 10 Airbus Flight Test crew members and 13 Virgin Atlantic cabin crew. Test aircraft MSN065 took off from and landed in Toulouse on May 11th after a 12 hours flight. During the long-haul flight the passengers, comprising Airbus […]

Reading Time: 2 minutes Russia’s Irkut MC-21-300 narrowbody pogram has passed an important milestone in static tests. The aircraft’s composite wingbox was destroyed by exposing it to loads that were higher than 90% of the ultimate load. The aircraft’s designer, Irkut Corporation, told Russian Aviation Insider that the wing fatigue testing had been completed at the end of February. […]

Reading Time: < 1 minute Tests of Russia’s Beriev A-100 airborne early warning and control (AWACS) prototype aircraft are set to begin in July 2017, said Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov. “This is one of priorities of the current arms procurement program. I can tell you that works are on schedule and we will be carrying out state-run joint […]

Reading Time: < 1 minute The first A350 XWB for Thai Airways has rolled out from cabin furnishing & engine installation at the Airbus Toulouse Final Assembly Line. The aircraft is now ready to proceed to further ground and flight testing. This first A350-900 for THAI is scheduled for delivery in Q3 2016. Bringing new levels of efficiency and comfort […]

Reading Time: 2 minutes Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. today announced the Gulfstream G500 has completed flutter testing, achieving another milestone in the new aircraft’s flight-test program. The first G500 test aircraft, T1, performed the tests over the course of more than 50 flights. “The G500 has accomplished a great deal since we launched the flight-test program in May 2015,” said […]