Flying

Business class passengers flying with United Airlines will soon be able to enjoy a newly spruced-up experience in not just the aircraft cabin, but the airport lounge too. The United Polaris premium lounge and cabin are aimed at providing serene environments to leave passengers feeling well rested.

Perhaps the key to good long-haul aircraft cabin design is to make passengers forget that they're stuck in a long-haul aircraft cabin. Virgin Australia's new International Business Class cabin may help to do that, with queen-length beds, 18-in HD screens and and a bar at which to booze and schmooze.

​The German physicist behind the Evolo manned multicopter and the Volocopter 2-seater has just taken his first flight aboard another remarkable aircraft: a flying electric scooter.

Emirates has completed the first flights on its 8,833-mi (14,215-km) new route between Dubai and Auckland, which is believed to be the longest scheduled commercial flight in the world. It picks up the baton from a Qantas route between Dallas and Fort Worth, which covers 8,578 mi (13,805 km).

Regular business flyers will know that planning trips is time-consuming, and that prices can fluctuate significantly. US startup OneGo, however, is out to change all that. It allows customers to pay a fixed monthly fee for unlimited flights on major airlines​.​

If the window seat doesn't cut it for you when flying, how about a roof seat? The SkyDeck, designed by aerospace engineering firm Windspeed Technologies, will give passengers 360-degree views from a transparent bubble installed on the top of a plane.

People have actually claimed to have seen living pterosuars, although those alleged sightings tend to be confined to far-flung places. That could be about to change, however. PaulG Toys is raising production funds for a radio-controlled pterodactyl, that flies by flapping its wings.

First-class passengers flying Qantas between Australia and the U.S. will soon be able to enjoy a virtual reality experience while in mid-air. This is thanks to a tie-up between the airline and Samsung, which are adding Gear VR headsets to long-haul flights.

Here's one for Star Wars diehards. A group of drone pilots have taken their vehicles to a dense forest in the French Alps, weaving in and out of trees in a spectacle that paid homage to the high-stakes pod races of Episode 1: The Phantom Menace.

Aaron Wypyszynski, founder of Alabama-based Wyp Aviation, is looking to combine elements of wakeboarding, skydiving and wingsuit flying with WingBoarding, which sees a rider towed behind a plane atop a winged board.

Bird populations around airports, landfills, and farms can be a nuisance or even dangerous; a new robotic flying bird of prey is claimed to be able to control such populations by scaring them away for good.

The hangar doors have closed on Oshkosh EAA AirVenture for another year with over 500,000 visitors having passed through the gates. Here's a closer look at the sights on offer at one of the world's biggest aviation gatherings.