LandSpace ZhuQue-3 Reached Orbit, But First Stage Exploded During Landing

The maiden flight of LandSpace’s ZhuQue-3 rocket on December 3 was one for the books… for both its successes and failures. The rocket reached orbit before the first stage booster recovery attempt resulted in an explosion near the edge of the landing pad.

Following Up On The Initiatives Established With The Affordable Flying Expo, MOSAIC Day Promotes A Posiive Future For All Of Aviation

Attendees and exhibitors of the Affordable Flying Expo were the first to hear about a powerful new initiative for the 52nd annual SUN ’n FUN Aerospace Expo, April 14-19, 2026. Produced by the Aero-News Network and SUN ’n FUN Aerospace Expo—on top of our pre-show SNF Innovation Preview, the all-week-long SUN ’n FUN Digital Daily, Morning Brief, Airborne video news programming, and Saturday Flight Live coverage of the day and night airshows (plus dozens of stories and video segments each day)—we’re adding something big. REALLY BIG. 

Composite Engineering And High-Efficiency Aerodynamics Redefine Performance

Taking up a pivotal slot at the 2025 Affordable Flying Expo, Porto Aviation Group is an aerospace innovator and manufacturer based in Cremella, Lecco, Italy, that specializes in dynamic, high-performance aircraft made of advanced lightweight carbon-fiber composites. The company’s primary models are the ultralight Risen 912iS and the Risen SV 916 Super Veloce -- and their appearance invokes stares at every turn. Alberto Porto first conceived his Risen aircraft in 1995 but knew it would take years to bring it to fruition, and in fact it was put on hold while he focused on his

Latest Model Is The Twin-Engine Ultralight MultiCruiser

Hummel Aircraft has been building its all-metal light sport and ultralight aircraft since the early 1980s when James Morris “Morry” Hummel built and for his first aircraft, what became known as the Hummelbird. After a long career in aviation manufacturing and engineering, Morry’s innovations and the company’s technical advancements have provided kit-built aircraft for homebuilders and enthusiasts for over four decades. Hummel’s passion for flight and love of hands-on craftsmanship led to the first Hummelbird, with its compact, efficient, and rugged singleseat design that have carried through to the company’s other models. Morry’s designs emphasiz

Samaritan’s Purse Caravan Was Able to Land and Meet National Security

A Samaritan’s Purse humanitarian flight was hijacked on Tuesday, December 2, while attempting to supply a mobile medical unit in South Sudan. Authorities were able to meet the aircraft on the ground and take the suspect into custody without further incident.

Also: IAE Acquires Diamond Trainers, Army Drones, FedEx Pilots Warning, DA62 MPP To Dresden Tech Uni

The danger to the flight training industry and our future pilots is clear. Donald Frano, a member of the Central Florida Pilots Association, posted a statement as an urgent warning about the increasing number of airports using or considering using a third-party vendor to send landing fees to pilots based on ADS-B data. This began in Florida and is a growing threat that the aviation community needs to stand up to and strongly oppose. Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), Chair of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation, has thrown

Russian Cosmonaut Allegedly Took and Distributed Photos of Sensitive Technology

A Russian Cosmonaut has been abruptly removed from SpaceX’s upcoming Crew-12 mission after reportedly violating US national security regulations during pre-flight training. Oleg Artemyev, a veteran Roscosmos astronaut with more than 560 cumulative days in orbit, has now been replaced by fellow cosmonaut Andrei Fedyayev.

Also: Trailblazing Aviator Betty Stewart, Wind Farm Scrutiny, Chatham Ban Overturned, Airbus Shares Dive

A Thunderbird pilot, ID'ed alternately as Thunderbird 5 or Thunderbird 6, (but not yet confirmed officially) ejected from his/her Lockheed Martin F-16CM-52-CF Fighting Falcon Wednesday (12-03-25) during a training mission in California. The accident occurred near Trona Airport on an unoccupied dry lake bed area south of the airport in San Bernardino County. The pilot ejected safely just before the airframe impacted the ground. Air India somehow misplaced a 43-year-old Boeing 737-200 and forgot about it for over a decade. The Kolkata airport did

Commander Sergey Ryzhikov Will Hand Over A Symbolic Key NASA astronaut Mike Fincke In Change of Command

Big changes coming for the crews aboard the ISS as Expedition 73 swapped commanders this weekend before three crew members return to Earth on Monday. Expedition 74 officially begins once the home bound trio undocks from the Rassvet module inside the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft the following day. Veteran Roscosmos cosmonaut and station Commander Sergey Ryzhikov will hand over a symbolic key representing command of the orbital outpost to four-time space flyer NASA astronaut Mike Fincke at 10:30 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Dec. 7. Fincke will formally take responsibility of station operations  and lead the new Expedition 74 crew at the moment Ryzhikov

Pilots Have Vote Overwhelmingly to Authorize Strike

Air Transat pilots have voted overwhelmingly to strike if continuing negotiations with Air Transat management fail to produce 'a modern contract.' Of the 98 percent of eligible pilots who could vote, 99 percent voted in favour of a strike, if necessary. This result provides the Air Transat Master Executive Council (MEC) with the authority to declare a strike when legally permitted, which could be as early as the morning of December 10. “This vote sends an undeniable message to Air Transat management: We are unified, resolute, and have earned a contract that reflects today’s industry standards, not the standards from 2015,” said Capt. Bradley Small, Air Transat MEC chai

Also: Elfin 20 Journey, BASE Jumper Rescue, Pipistrel Makes Waves, EAA Hall of Fame, Affordable Flying Expo 2026

Like most of the industry, kit manufacturer Sonex has been hit by the ever-increasing costs of parts and materials, and is being forced to pass some of the burden off to customers beginning December 15. Still, Sonex’s prices remain well under par, with many of its complete airframe kits available for under $40,000. The company detailed the price shifts for Complete Airframe Kits, Quick Build Kits, and AeroVee engine packages. Produced jointly by the Aero-News Network and SUN ’n FUN—in addition to the pre-show SNF Innov

Also: SpaceX Starship Carries on, Hartzell Adds Lamar, Mar-a-Lago TFR Ooopppss, CAF Lobo Wing

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association issued the Third Quarter 2025 General Aviation Aircraft Shipping and Billing Report, covering results worldwide, and the result for the first nine months of 2025, when compared to the same period last year, show increased shipments in the business jet sector as well as an increase in the overall value of aircraft shipments. Airbus released an update on the deployment of precautionary fleet measures on its approximately 6,000 A320 family of aircraft. The actions were required after several aircraft experienced

Also: ‘Fat Albert’ Heads To UK, Samson Patent, Western Global Pilot Furloughs, 1700th Ipanema

An inflight incident that took place on a JetBlue flight from Cancun, MX, to Newark, NJ, on October 30 has resulted in serious cautions for the 11,300 aircraft in the Airbus A320 series. The scheduled flight, Flight 1230, required an emergency landing at Tampa, FL, with several people requiring hospitalization after a flight control issue and a sudden uncommanded pitch change. Cleveland officials are again attempting to close a beloved community airport, this time by exploiting a federal loophole. Mayor Justin Bibb and Cuyahoga County Executiv

Also: USAF Reaper Accident, Baikonur Damage, Horizon eVTOL IFR/FIKI, New Glenn Update

Honda has outlined its clearest timeline yet for its entry into the world of electric vertical-lift, confirming that its first full-scale eVTOL prototype will be finished by the end of 2025. The inaugural flight is slated for March 2026, marking the company’s transition from years of under-the-radar development to a much more public testing phase. Arctus Aerospace announced it raised $2.6 million from Version One Ventures, South Park Commons, gradCapital, and several angel investors in a pre-seed round to accelerate the development of its large, unmanned ai

Klyde; R&D Stands For 'Ripoff and Duplicate' In China...

FMI: www.klydemorris.com

Third-Edition Resource Guide is Getting Ready… But It’s Waiting on You

The third edition of the SportPlane Resource Guide—soon to launch as the expanded, fully digital eSPRG—is almost ready for release. The layout is there, dozens of instructional chapters are written, and hundreds of aircraft write-ups are complete. This edition will be bigger, more detailed, and easier to update than the previous 1,100-page print version (probably settling in at more than 2000 pages!), with the potential to far exceed even our own anticipations with S-LSA, E-LSA, ultralights, avionics, and accessories. The only major thing slowing it down is one simple piece: more data from manufacturers.

Dozens of Companies Unveiled Innovative Products Ahead of the 51st SnF Aerospace Expo

Kicking off the 51st SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo, we hosted the second annual SnF Innovation Preview to give more than 20 companies just enough time in the spotlight to debut their new planes, products, engines, accessories, and more… In other words… it was a LOT of news, and it’s all still up for your viewing pleasure.

With The eSPRG Only Weeks Away From Its Start Date, A-AF Will Help To Support Sport Flyers, Worldwide

With the all-new and all-digital SportPlane Resource Guide getting ready for publication early next year, the Aero-News Network is pleased to announce yet another addition to the Airborne video news programming roster… Airborne-Affordable Flyers. Dedicated to keeping people up-to-date on the most affordable aspects of sport and general aviation, Airborne-Affordable Flyers is one of our most exciting offerings yet. A-AF will delve into more than just the current LSA community, but look at all aspects of aviation to examine and ev

From 2022 (YouTube Edition): Carrying the Legacy of The B-29 For Generations to Come

We had a chance to chat with the Executive Director of B-29 Doc, Josh Wells, during their stop at Wings Over the Rockies Exploration of Flight in Centennial, Colorado. He stated that their mission is to tell the stories of the greatest generation, to make sure their legacy carries on for generations to come. It involves letting people “get up close and personal with the B-29, see it, feel it, hug it, crawl through it, make sure that they understand what it may have been like for our men and women, wartime heroes, to have served in these

While Landing In The River, The Extended Landing Gear Contacted The Water And The Airplane Nosed Over, Resulting In Substantial Damage

Analysis: The pilot of the amphibious airplane stated that he departed from a turf runway at his home airport but forgot to raise the landing gear. He planned a short flight to a nearby river where he would make a water landing, before returning to his home airport. While landing in the river, the extended landing gear contacted the water and the airplane nosed over, resulting in substantial damage to the forward portion of the fuselage.

We’re Hiring Editors, Developers, Video Journalists, Oh My!

Yes, despite the last few years being one of the most unpredictable stretches in aviation media we can remember, ANN is still standing… and somehow, still expanding. The pandemic didn’t exactly make life easy, but we’ve come through it with enough energy to tackle our next round of projects. Fortunately for you, they are already stacking up faster than we can keep up with. Moving forward, we’ll be ramping up efforts on an expanded “Airborne Unlimited,” launching the third version of the SportPlane Resource Guide in a digital format, rolling out coverage for all the greatest airshows, and diving into new Aero-Reality programmin

And That's But One Of Over A Dozen Major Developments Planned For The Next Year Or So

Aero-News Network is now available on Roku and Amazon FireTV! That’s right folks. You can now get your daily dose of aviation news… right on the ol' giggle box! This is an EPIC development for our network, one of many to come, and we’re thrilled to offer you this new way to watch our news programming. Whether you’re a traditional website reader, podcast listener, or YouTube subscriber, we’re dedicated to giving you quality, honest, aviation news that you can trust and broadening our reach and audience aggressively in the coming years, so that we may both Grow and Inform the aviatio

SportPlane Resource Guide (NG) Volume 3 is Bigger, Bolder, and a Whole Lot Easier to Carry

The SportPlane Resource Guide has, like many old kit builds, been collecting dust for years. Over the next year, the book is finally getting a third edition…and this time, it's going digital -- uit HAS to... its simply too big to carry around. Aero-News Network is well on its way to debuting the new e-book with a renewed focus on affordable, entry-level flying mach

Brand New! Avoid The Need For A Comeback... Get Your Marketing Right, Right Now!

Some time ago, the Aero-News Network, responding to numerous requests, established a marketing and communications sister company by the name of AEROPRENEUER... and it's been doing amazing work under these difficult circumstances -- and getting results! We're getting rave reviews from our clients, and working hard to earn the trust of a number of new marketing partners along the way. ANN's Amber Cedroni has come up with a few tips to help aero-businesses stay alive in these tough times, and

Whether You’re a Reader, Watcher, or Listener, ANN Has Got the Coverage You Need

Aero-News Network has been delivering aviation and aerospace news for thirty years (!!!), and by now, we’ve wiggled our way onto just about every platform out there. Whether you’d rather read, watch, or stream, there’s a way to keep ANN in your daily routine. Here’s a quick rundown of where you can find us...  

Aero Linx: Beech Aero Club The Beech Aero Club (BAC) is the international type club for owners and pilots of the Beech Musketeer aircraft and its derivatives, the Sport, Super, Sundowner, Sierra, Duchess and Skipper, aka Beech Aero Center aircraft. It traces its roots to the Spring of 1999 when James Fairhurst contacted Bob Steward for help in starting an e-mailing list for owners of the Beech Musketeer. James met Bob through the Grumman Gang, a similar mailing list for owners and pilots of Grumman aircraft.

Dead Reckoning Dead reckoning, as applied to flying, is the navigation of an airplane solely by means of computations based on airspeed, course, heading, wind direction, and speed, groundspeed, and elapsed time. 

New Form Makes Subscribing, Unsubscribing Even Easier

While we're very proud of our newly-redesigned website, we know that some folks really enjoy the convenience of having their Aero-News dropped into their e-mail boxes every day. Our new site makes that process even easier than before.

“This vote sends an undeniable message to Air Transat management: We are unified, resolute, and have earned a contract that reflects today’s industry standards, not the standards from 2015. The 98 percent participation rate alone demonstrates the depth of frustration among our members, who are tired of flying under a decade-old and outdated collective agreement.” Source: Capt. Bradley Small, Air Transat MEC chair, commenting as Air Transat pilots have voted overwhelmingly to strike if continuing negotiations with Air Transat management fail to produce 'a modern contract.' Of the 98 percent of eligible pilots who could vote, 99 percent voted in favour of a strike, if necessary. This result provides the Air T