Also: Starliner Problems, NATA Update, NBAA v Congress, Iran Fails, Jerks on Planes

Airbus has revealed MAVERIC (Model Aircraft for Validation and Experimentation of Robust Innovative Controls) its “blended wing body” scale model technological demonstrator. At 6.5 feet long and 10.5 feet wide, with a surface area of about 24 square feet, MAVERIC features a disruptive aircraft design that Airbus says has the potential to reduce fuel consumption by up-to 20 percent compared to current single-aisle aircraft. Launched in 2017, MAVERIC first took to the skies in June 2019. Since then the flight-test campaign has been on-going and will continue until the end of Q2 2020. The culmination of the GoFly global competition ... the GoFly Final Fly Off ... is slated for February 27-29, 2020 at Moffett Federal Airfield at NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California. The GoFly Prize, a $2 m

Also: Madrid Airport Drone Sighting, UAV Power Line Inspection, senseFly, Remote ID NPRM

The New Zealand Government and Wisk have announced an MOU to establish a passenger transport trial in  Canterbury, New Zealand. Wisk’s self-flying, all-electric air taxi, called Cora, is the aircraft selected for the trials. In October 2019, the New Zealand Government announced that it was establishing an industry-wide Airspace Integration Trial to work with leading, innovative domestic and international industry partners to safely test and demonstrate unmanned aircraft. Wisk, based in the United States and New Zealand, was announced as the first industry partner to join this program. Navmar Applied Sciences Corporation (NASC) has successfully completed a test flight of the NASC TEROS UAV, Technology Demonstrator at the NASC Unmanned Aerial Systems Flight Operations and Training Center at the Griffi

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If there was any doubt that the model aviation community has a problem with the current direction and policies of the FAA, the 13,000 comments posted to the FAA’s NPRM in just the last few weeks should kill those thoughts, pronto. Despite a short window for commentary and the FAA’s inexplicable denial of a deadline extension, thanks to the EAA, the comments are coming in at a near record pace... and while the current numbers aren’t a record for an NPRM, they could be, before this is all over. A Horizon hobby video, narrated by Horizon Hobby Marketing Director, Steve Petrotto, has many in the drone community, especially FPV flyers, up in arms. The video was published in order to address Horizon’s concerns about the remote ID proposal... but over the course of the few minutes of the vid

Intends To Accelerate Deleveraging Through Sale Of Transportation Division To Alstom

Bombardier has made the strategic decision to focus exclusively on business aviation and plans to accelerate its deleveraging through the sale of its rail business.

Industry Flagship Commences Flight-Test Program

The all-new Gulfstream G700 made its first flight late last week, demonstrating the program’s maturity and officially launching the rigorous flight-test program of the most spacious jet in the industry with the longest range at the fastest speeds.

Saw No New Orders And Only 13 Deliveries To Start 2020

January is, in most instances, a slow month for airplane orders and deliveries. But Boeing may have set a new standard in the first month of 2020. The planemaker recorded no new orders and delivered only 13 airplanes in the first month of the year.

Increasing The Additional Duty Rate Imposed On Aircraft Imported From The EU To 15 Percent

Under President Trump's leadership, the United States won the largest award in WTO history on October 2, 2019 when it was authorized to take countermeasures on $7.5 billion in goods after a victory in its unfair trade practices case against the European Union, France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Leigh Hubner Of Locust Grove, Georgia Takes The Honor

The 2019 Winner of the L. Paul Soucy Trophy is Leigh Hubner of Locust Grove, Georgia. Originally from Australia, he moved to Los Angeles, California in 2012.

Follows Incident In Which An SF50 Caught Fire During Ground Operations

The FAA has issued an Emergency AD for Cirrus Design Corporation (Cirrus) Model SF50 airplanes. This AD applies to Cirrus Design Corporation Model SF50 airplanes, serial numbers 0005 through 0176 and 0178, certificated in any category.

Aircraft Specifically Designed For Automated Industrial Inspections

 Black Swift Technologies (BST), a specialized engineering firm based in Boulder, CO, has announced the availability of the Black Swift E2 UAS, an American-made, advanced unmanned aerial system (UAS) specifically designed for automated industrial and structural inspections.