Aircraft

Another 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.

Mention Zeiss, and it's likely to bring up planetarium projectors and advanced optical lenses, but aerospace products wouldn't get much of a look-in. That is, until now, as New Atlas gets hands-on with Zeiss's new holographic technology for aircraft.

A radically new concept in VTOL aircraft design has made its debut with the first flight of Sikorsky's Nomad 100 rotor-blown wing prototype. Announced during the Farnborough International Airshow, the milestone marks the official takeoff of the Nomad family.

BAE Systems unveiled a full-scale mock-up of its newly announced Brontanax autonomous strike plane at this year's Farnborough International Air Show. It is billed as Britain's first home-designed uncrewed autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft.

The Farnborough International Airshow in the UK is one of the world's premier aerospace events, where major industry announcements and billion-dollar deals are as common as muffins. New Atlas is on the ground at this year's record-breaking event.

Researchers from Australia and the UK have built a robotic kestrel to decode how birds handle turbulence. Their findings reveal a suite of wing-and-tail tricks that could reshape the next generation of small drones.

The FAA is clearing the way for the return of commercial supersonic air travel by revamping regulations for faster-than-sound aircraft for the first time since 1973 – to reflect progress in aviation engineering and the removal of prejudicial attitudes.

Toyota-backed SkyDrive's multicopter has achieved stable flight at 100 km/h, proving its wingless design handles real aerodynamic loads. The milestone feeds Japan's JCAB certification process and keeps 2028 commercial launch in sight.

For more than a century, pilots have relied on the same basic toolkit to steer a plane: flaps, ailerons, rudders – hinged surfaces that physically deflect airflow to change direction. A radical new experimental drone aims to throw all of that out.

Electra provides a glimpse of the airliner of 2050 with its hybrid aircraft concept capable of carrying over 100 passengers while using electrification, advanced aerodynamics, and integrated airframe-propulsion design to up efficiency and cut emissions.

To cut costs and emissions, Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport is rolling out a pilot program using a semi-robotic ground tug called TaxiBot that allows pilots to taxi airliners around the airport without using their main jet engines.

If it's ever been your dream to spend 22 hours on a non-stop flight from Sydney to London, then good news: Airbus has announced the maiden flight of the world's longest-range airliner, the Airbus A350-1000ULR, with a range of almost 10,000 nautical miles.