Los Angeles-based Ampaire unveiled its prototype electric-powered plane, the Ampaire 337, in a test flight above Camarillo Airport in California on June 6. This is the largest a hybrid-electric aircraft that has flown. The twin-engine plane will be able to carry seven to nine passengers and boasts a range of up to 100 miles (160 …
Elon Musk indicates that electric motors and batteries with over 400 Wh/kg will be able be a cross over point for electric planes against jet fuel planes. Israeli startup Eviation is making a nine-passenger all-electric regional passenger aircraft by 2021. It will take 9 passengers up to 650 miles at a cruise speed of 240 …
China’s Meter Wave Radar Can Guide Missiles to Destroy F-35 and F-22 Stealth Fighters
U.S. arms sales offers to the Middle East totaled $78.8 billion in 2018 which is down from $102 billion in offers during the Obama administration peak in 2010. There was a sharp shift in the regional breakdown in U.S. arms offers between 2017 and 2018. Europe and Eurasia was the top recipient region in 2018, …
The US Air Force requires $1.2 billion in FY2019 and $3.7 billion in FY2020/FY2021 of supplemental funding to rebuild Tyndall Air Force Base and recover Offutt Tyndall Air Force Base. Without supplemental funding, the US Air Force would have to cut critical facility and readiness requirements, driving Air Force wide operational risks and negatively impacting …
Most people fear plane crashes, airplane terrorism and nuclear power accidents. However, these fears have resulted in stupid policies that increase deaths. Planes are far safer than cars. The TSA and anti-terrorism pre-flight checks are ineffective at catching terrorism and create delays that cause people to change to driving for short and medium flights. People …
Boeing successfully completed the first test flight of its autonomous passenger air vehicle (PAV) prototype in Manassas, Virginia. Boeing NeXt, which leads the company’s urban air mobility efforts, used Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences to design and develop the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and will continue testing to advance the safety and …
Airbus chief technology officer (CTO) Grazia Vittadini predicts a quantum era in aerospace. Vittadini made this prediction in a Wall Street Journal article. Quantum computing research is being applied to tough flight physics problems. This is even with the small quantum computer systems that are available today. Nextbigfuture believes the pre-error corrected quantum computers that …
Instanbul Airport in Turkey and Daxing Airport in Beijing will both open in 2019 to add huge competition for international airport megahubs. The airports are state-supported and will provide airport competition and extra capacity for a combined 160 million passengers. This should lower airfares. More planes and companies will have space and the effect should …
MIT engineers have built and flown the first-ever plane with no moving parts. Instead of propellers or turbines, the light aircraft is powered by an “ionic wind”. Ion wind propulsion systems could be used to fly less noisy drones. Eventually ion propulsion could work with more conventional combustion systems to create more fuel-efficient, hybrid passenger …
China’s J-10 fighter has been upgraded with thrust vectoring controls. This allows for better aerial movement. The J-10 is a copy of the American F-16. The Chinese J-10 was built with Israeli assistance from Israel’s F-16-based Lavi fighter. It is about fifteen years behind the F-16 platform and much further behind the F-35 stealth fighter. …
