The World of Aviation

A new plume of ash from the erupting Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland has forced Irish aviation authorities to ground all flights in and out of the country, while UK authorities will close some airspace around Scotland. The Irish Aviation Authority moved to impose restrictions on all flights in and out of the country on May

Gulfstream Aerospace has announced that the G650 has passed structural load limit testing and has also reached its top speed of Mach 0.925, placing it well on track for entry into service in 2012. The limit load testing was conducted on its primary structural components, including fuselage, wing, vertical and horizontal stabilisers, main landing gear,

Continental Air Lines and United Airlines have agreed to a US$3bn (A$3.2bn) all-stock merger which will make the combined entity the biggest airline in the world. The boards of the two airlines announced that an agreement had been struck on May 3 under which Continental shareholders will receive 1.05 shares in the new United Continental

Northop Grumman and Bell Helicopter are partnering to develop a medium range vertical unmanned aerial system (VUAS) based on Bell’s 407 light single helicopter. To be known as Fire-X, the optionally manned VUAS will integrate the unmanned systems architecture developed by Northrop Grumman for the US Navy’s MQ-8B Fire Scout program. The Fire-X will be

Lockheed Martin’s executive vice president and JSF program general manager, Dan Crowley, has been promoted to the newly created position of chief operating officer of the company’s Aeronautics sector. Crowley, who worked in partnership with fellow program executive vice president and JSF program general manager, Tom Burbage, will be succeeded by F-22 program manager Larry

The B-1B Lancer bomber, more colloquially known as the ‘Bone’ as a play on its B-1 designation, celebrated 25 years in USAF service on April 29. Originally designed and built by Rockwell (since merged into Boeing) at Palmdale north of Los Angeles, the first supersonic B-1B entered service on April 29 1985. Rockwell built 100