Aircraft
From autonomous flying-taxis to experimental hypersonic aircraft, check out what's new in the world of aviation.
Random related stories from our 25-year archives
There are no powered spinning propellers in nature. When evolution has found an advantage to producing thrust in a fluid, it has done it mainly by flapping things back and forth - and a new VTOL aircraft propulsion system aims to do the same with a series of flapping wings mounted in large ducts.
The UK's Reaction Engines has announced the details of a joint venture to create its compact, lightweight ammonia reactor intended to decarbonize difficult sectors like shipping and off-grid energy generation – and surprisingly, also aviation.
Honda Aircraft has taken the wraps off its latest business jet, the HondaJet Elite S. The upgraded version of the Elite has an increased takeoff weight of 200 lb, allowing for an additional passenger or an extra 120 nm of range.
Czech company Zuri has commenced hover testing on its first near-scale VTOL air taxi tech demonstrator. With a hybrid powertrain on board, this team promises real-world range figures up to 720 km (447 miles) at cruise speeds up to 320 km/h (200 mph).
British defense and aerospace company BAE Systems is looking to revolutionize how we measure airspeed, replacing conventional, air-pressure-based systems with tech that bounces around ultraviolet lasers to get the job done.
Mantis, the largest fully-autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) ever to be built in the UK, has completed initial flight trials in Woomera, South Australia.
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November 12, 2026 | Omar KardoudiFlorida Polytechnic University says its campus is about to have America's first flying police officer. The department's Jetson ONE, nicknamed Astro, isn't on patrol just yet, but its chief says the FAA has signed off. Now it just needs its papers. -
November 11, 2026 | Omar KardoudiSkyways' Skyreach hybrid VTOL takes off like a drone, cruises like a plane and burns jet fuel to stay up for more than 18 hours, delivering parts to offshore rigs and remote sites with with no pilot at the controls. -
November 09, 2026 | David SzondyQantas Airways has entered the Guinness Book of World Records after the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) verified that the airline's Airbus A350-1000ULR passenger liner completed the world's longest commercial flight from Melbourne to Toulouse. -
November 06, 2026 | Omar KardoudiUAVOS says its solar-powered ApusNeo high-altitude platform recently flew for 29 hours over the Canary Islands, reaching 47,600 ft and running through the night on batteries, in a test aimed at keeping a permanent eye on wildfires. -
October 29, 2026 | Omar KardoudiVirgin Galactic hasn't flown anyone to space since 2024. On Wednesday it finally showed off the spaceship it hopes will change that. Called Apeiron, it is designed to carry six passengers to the edge of space twice a week, for more than 500 missions. -
October 16, 2026 | Abhimanyu GhoshalRemember DeLorean, the 80s one-hit automotive wonder whose DMC-12 steel sports car with gullwing doors appeared in Back to the Future? It's making a comeback – by getting into high-speed aerial racing. -
October 02, 2026 | Omar KardoudiAn unmanned Sceye airship flew from New Mexico to Japan and back, beaming mobile service to ordinary phones from the stratosphere. Still a test, but SoftBank – one of Japan's major mobile carriers – eyes commercial service in Japan from 2027. -
September 28, 2026 | David SzondyLufthansa Technik has received approval from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency to install its AeroSHARK bionic skin on an Airbus A330-300 Discover airliner so it can fly as efficiently as a shark swims. -
September 25, 2026 | Omar KardoudiBye Aerospace's eFlyer 2, a fully electric two-seat trainer, just completed its first test flight. The company says the aircraft could cut flight-training costs by as much as 80% compared to conventional trainers. -
September 23, 2026 | David SzondyBAE Systems is giving its Persistent High Altitude Solar Aircraft (PHASA-35) solar-powered stratospheric drone an upgrade under a £15.7-million (US$21 million) contract to install a system allowing it to use energy beamed from the ground. -
September 20, 2026 | David SzondyJoby Aviation has scored a world first, completing the first-ever fully autonomous flight from sea to shining sea across the continental United States – a distance of 3,199 miles (5,148 km) – with zero control inputs from an onboard human pilot. -
September 10, 2026 | David SzondyHermeus has unveiled its latest plans for the Quarterhorse supersonic aircraft, which will be used to launch a high-Mach test vehicle called Ramjet-X. The new platform will allow clients to test components under realistic high-speed flight conditions. -
September 02, 2026 | David SzondyOne of the world’s most unusual aircraft has taken to the air in its first crewed flight. Regent Craft's Viceroy is an all-electric "seaglider" that combines a floating hull, wing-in-ground (WIG) effect technology, and hydrofoils into a single vehicle. -
August 19, 2026 | Etiido UkoEver been stuck in traffic and wished you could simply fly above it all, straight to your destination? Well, that dream is one step closer to reality, as the world's first airport for flying taxis has just received regulatory approval. -
August 13, 2026 | David SzondyAnother record falls as the world's largest all-electric airplane makes its maiden flight. On August 12, 2026, Heart Aerospace's 25,000-lb (11,340-kg) X1 demonstrator aircraft took to the skies over Plattsburgh, New York for a 27-minute FAA flight test.
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