Aviation Week & Space Technology

April 1-2—Pilots Review of Proficiency (PROP) 2016. Dallas/Addison Marriott. Dallas. See turbineair.com/prop-2016 April 4-8—Spacecraft Charging Technology Conference. European Space Agency. Noordwijk aan Zee, Netherlands. See congrexprojects.com/2016-events/14sctc/introduction

Barring a breakthrough worthy of a Nobel Prize, it is extremely unlikely electric and solar will play a significant role in reducing aviation’s environmental footprint anytime soon.

The FlyDubai Flight 981 crash on March 19 will no doubt renew concerns about how pilots handle the rare instances when they abort an approach.

The methods, modes and materials that go into creating an airframe have evolved throughout the years through trial and error and technological advances. Highlights of this evolution are featured.

Aerospace titan puts “faith” in political process | Voters reject the F-35 | Inspector General investigates government contracts to ULA.

Boom Technology intends to develop 40-seat, Mach 2.2 airliner that will be competitive on ticket prices with international business-class airfares.

The first Airbus assembled in the U.S., an A321 for JetBlue Airways, made its first flight from the Mobile, Alabama, plant on March 21. The aircraft is scheduled for delivery after a few more weeks in final production.

Fully securing public spaces through additional security checks would be unrealistic, inefficient and costly, argues ACI Europe.

U.S. Navy pilots are increasingly reporting headaches, confusion and other symptoms of oxygen deprivation, or hypoxia. We talk about how the Navy is responding to the problem and the complicated nature of pinpointing the cause of such physiological problems, which the Air Force has grappled with on the F-16 and F-22.

After several false starts, exports look more realistic for Britain’s Brimstone.

The U.S. Defense and State Departments scrap over speed of foreign weapons sales; tests of the PAC-3 MSE and Trident II D5; a new joint venture in India.

Russia received 96 new fixed-wing aircraft and 81 helicopters in 2015, a drop from 2014, the apparent peak in orders placed over the last decade.

U.S. Navy, Marine Corps engineers are focusing on oxygen and environmental systems in their search for solutions to ongoing F-18 hypoxia problems.

As it completes assembly of three Radarsats for Canada, Winnipeg-based Magellan looks to enter the commercial satellite market.

The new space plan provides 1.4 trillion rubles ($20.5 billion) through 2025—but largely guts earlier proposals to send humans to the Moon in the next decade and leaves in doubt timing of a joint mission to Mars with the European Space Agency.

Engineering trumps throughput as seat-makers’ biggest obstacle in the years ahead.

Airlines have attempted ultra-long-haul flying in the past, but more capable aircraft coupled with a reduction in fuel prices make this go-round seem more achievable.

Airlines explore ways to fit in more seats without squeezing passengers too much.

Would Lockheed’s C-130J equipped with retracting floats provide the U.S. military with an amphibian answer to China’s Avic TA600 long-range flying boat?

Production technology has advanced over the 15 years the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been in development. Now those advances are helping reduce the fighter’s cost.

Icephobic rubber; nanopowder lasers; sonic-boom data probe; Congress advances delivery UAS; industry wants FVL insight.

JPL Director Charles Elachi has spent “a lifetime dedicated to gaining a better understanding of the Solar System."

Swarz rushed to aid victims of an F-16 crash at an air base in Spain, saving two airmen from an accident that killed 11 others.

The mental health of pilots and the privacy of their records and consultations with doctors is back in the news following the report by French air safety investigators on the crash of a Germanwings A320 in the Alps last year. Jim Asker, Jens Flottau and John Croft discuss the issues and what might be done to prevent such tragedies.

Offshore industry and OEMs have taken new approaches to safety procedures since the Shetlands Super Puma crash.