Collins prepares for pilotless helicopter rescue with digitally-controlled hoist
Foreseeing a day in the not-too-distant future when pilotless helicopters may fly to people in need of rescue, Collins Aerospace’s next generation hoist, the Pegasus, will have the ability to be controlled digitally – even eventually wirelessly.
Why Universal Avionics sees pilot shortage driving boom in wearable displays
Universal Avionics believes that a lack of helicopter pilots in the future will mean operators will increasingly need to rely on solo pilots aided by automated technologies, such as helmets with augmented reality glasses, to handle workloads while flying missions.
Swiss completes A340 interior upgrade programme
Swiss has completed a cabin refurbishment programme on its five remaining Airbus A340s, to bring their interiors in line with the Lufthansa subsidiary’s Boeing 777 long-haul fleet.
A350-1000 demonstrates vision-based automatic take-off
Airbus has demonstrated a fully-automated A350-1000 take-off using a vision-based system which tracks the runway centreline and rotates the aircraft without side-stick input from the pilot.
Aerion selects more suppliers for in-development supersonic business jet AS2
Supersonic business jet developer Aerion Supersonic has selected several more suppliers of components for its in-development AS2 jet, which the company hopes will conduct first flight in 2024.
Intense scrutiny on Boeing overshadows unaddressed lessons from 737 Max crashes
Boeing’s 737 Max updates have largely addressed concern about the aircraft’s flight control system, however broader risks involving pilot training and aircraft maintenance remain unresolved, say aviation safety experts and commercial pilots.
Spirit AeroSystems to halt 737 airframe production in January
Wichita airframe manufacturer Spirit AeroSystems will suspend production of Boeing 737 fuselages in January 2020 in what amounts to a massive fallout from the grounding of the 737 Max.
Phenom 100 gets approval for Garmin G1000 NXi upgrade
Garmin has secured US certification for the next-generation G1000 NXi integrated flightdeck on the Embraer Phenom 100, and says its will perform the first upgrades on the entry-level business jet “very soon”.
China Eastern receives first A350 with cockpit touchscreens
China Eastern Airlines has taken delivery of the first Airbus A350 to be fitted with a touchscreen option for the large displays in the aircraft’s cockpit.
Zipair Tokyo reveals cabin for 787-8s
Japanese start-up carrier Zipair Tokyo has equipped its first Boeing 787-8 aircraft with Jamco and Recaro seats.