Headline News | Aero-News Network

On Aug 16, 2026

Sun, Aug 16, 2026

The New B-21 Or Just A Refueling Stop For The Older B-2?

A mysterious aircraft has been spotted flying over McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas, with observers speculating that it could have been a rare sighting of America’s new, top-secret stealth bomber (file photo), the B-21 Raider. However, others pointed out the shape of the aircraft that was sighted more closely matches the nearly 30-year-old B-2 bomber, which sometimes refuels at McConnell Air Force Base. A video, taken near the Wichita airbase on Tuesday, showed a large gray plane with a silhouette similar to a stealth bomber flying in the sky leading to media reports about a possible B-21.

Sun, Aug 16, 2026

Nine Aircraft, Including Helicopters, Air Tankers And Tactical Aircraft Responded To The 7-Acre Fire

Undersecretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment Michael Boren, who oversees the U.S. Forest Service, asked agency staff last month to escalate the number of aircraft at a seven-acre fire that had started near his mega-ranch in Idaho’s Sawtooth National Forest, according to two Forest Service officials familiar with the matter, the Washington Post reported. Officials, who spoke anonymously out of fear of retaliation, said the fire could easily have been reached from the ground. Boren, a tech billionaire and Trump appointee, oversees about 200 million acres of national forest and public land. He also owns thousands of acres in Idaho, including the 480-acre Hell Roaring Ranch situated within the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. And before his current role, Boren had clashed with the Forest Service numerous times over the years.

Sun, Aug 16, 2026

Airborne NextGen Is Becoming Airborne Innovation, But The Bigger Story Is How ANN’s Video Programming Is Preparing For Its Next Two Decades

It’s a little difficult to believe that we’re approaching 20 years since we started putting together the pieces that became Aero-TV and, eventually, the Airborne series (and over 30 years since ANN got its start!). Go back to roughly Oshkosh 2007, and the aviation media environment was a very different place. Online video was still developing, broadband wasn’t remotely as universal as it is today, smartphones had barely begun changing the way people consumed information, and the idea of producing serious, recurring aviation video news programming for internet distribution was still something of an experiment. We decided to experiment anyway. Nearly two decades later, that experiment has turned into thousands of programs, interviews, news stories, special reports and event productions covering an extraordinary period in aviation history.

Sun, Aug 16, 2026

Fire Area Aviation Environment Goes From The Surface Up To Several Thousand Feet

Drones flying over the Spokane wildfires have added more chaos to the devastating situation as incursions rise making it dangerous for wildfire pilots, firefighters, and the public, officials say. On a single day “in excess of 21 drone incursions” were detected within the FAA temporary flight restriction around Spokane, said spokesperson Benjamin Cossel, who’s with the complex incident management team managing the fires. They resulted in aircraft — essential parts of the emergency response — being grounded. “There is no amount of footage that is worth causing us to stop firefighting operations,” he said.

Sun, Aug 16, 2026

Also: Nearly 20 Years Of Airborne, Little Blue Cloud, EAA Gathering Raises $2.85M, Solairus Acquisition

The Mesa City Council has voted 6-1 to delay Falcon Field Airport’s landing fee program amid an ongoing lawsuit and an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). “This delay in the implementation is to give an opportunity for our outside counsel, a national expert, to provide that independent review, and to determine whether to provide confirmation on the fees or to propose and recommend new fees,” said city attorney Jim Smith. The British Royal Air Force (RAF) Aerobatics team the Red Arrows have pulled out of a number of key summer events due to the team being stranded in Canada. The RAF’s aerobatics team were due to return to RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire last week following its tour of the U.S., but were grounded due to poor weather predicted for north-eastern regions of Canada. In an update, the team

Sun, Aug 16, 2026

Also: First MOSAIC RV-12iS, Roswell Race Week, Cosmic One, magniAIR Electric Powertrains

Well… they did it… Hummel Aircraft added a bit of fun to their presence down in the light aircraft display area at the South End of Wittman field by building an Ultra-Cruiser onsite with basic tools, in just one week — under a tent. Yup, they did it in front of God and everybody, during the week of AirVenture 2026… and better yet, many of the folks who did it were visitors and passersby who were invited to try their hand at small aircraft construction. They had NO problem finding volunteers. CubCrafters has introduced the Carbon Cub ULT, an innovative evolution of it’s Carbon Cub UL platform that brings turbine technology into the backcountry segment. The aircraft is powered by the TurboTech TP-R90 regenerative turbine engine developed by TurboTech, pairing turboprop smoothness with simplified operation and efficiency comparable to it’s gaso

Sun, Aug 16, 2026

Aircraft Will Perform Lunar-Gravity Parabolic Flights

NASA’s 737 aircraft was painted this week in Oklahoma as it progresses with modifications for use as a reduced gravity test aircraft for the agency. NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, took ownership of the aircraft from the United States Air Force in June. The aircraft will perform lunar-gravity parabolic flights to validate astronaut lunar suits and associated crew systems required to support Artemis mission objectives. These flights will happen at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for reduced-gravity operations, with NASA Armstrong oversight.

Sun, Aug 16, 2026

A Gathering for Those Who Believe Personal Aviation Can Be Better

While the aviation industry continues to celebrate remarkable technological advances and unprecedented innovation, a growing number of pilots, aircraft owners, flight schools, manufacturers, and aviation advocates are asking a more fundamental question: Who will actually be able to participate in aviation’s future? That question will be front and center at the Affordable Flying Expo 2026, scheduled for November 13-15, 2026, at the incomparable SUN n FUN Aerospace Expo campus on Lakeland Linder International Airport. Returning for its second full-scale year, the Affordable Flying Expo has rapidly evolved into one of aviation’s most important forums for examining the opportunities and challenges facing personal aviation in the post-MOSAIC era.

Sun, Aug 16, 2026

Plan Would Expose Thousands Of Residents To Additional Aircraft Noise

A proposed Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plan to change flight paths around Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport has been met with so much “substantial feedback” from the public and elected officials, that the agency opted to delay its plans until at least next summer, it recently announced. The plan would also impact all 10 airports in the Phoenix metro area. The FAA wants to use new satellite-based navigation, which it said will improve safety and air traffic efficiency by allowing planes to fly precise routes rather than being guided by ground-based equipment. However, changing the decade-old flight procedures around metro Phoenix would expose more people to aircraft noise. The FAA plan presented to the public would expose 86,384 people in north Phoenix, Scottsdale and Chandler under flight paths where aircraft noise reaches at least 45 decibels. That’s up from the 864,459 residents who already live in areas that are exposed to noise.

Sun, Aug 16, 2026

The Australian Exercise Pitch Black Flying Display 2026 Showed Multi-National Military Aircraft

More than 24,000 spectators flocked to Darwin’s Mindil Beach as multi-national military aircraft from Exercise Pitch Black demonstrated coalition airpower against the backdrop of a Northern Territory sunset during a public flying display July 23, 2026. “Exercise Pitch Black is our largest international exercise with 21 nations from around the world,” said Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Air Commodore Micka Gray, Head of Air Shows. “We get great community support from the locals and visitors, and we want them to understand what we do and why we do it. So, as part of the exercise, we conduct two community engagement events – the Mindil Beach Flying Display and the Open Day at the RAAF Base. These events showcase all the aircraft and personnel from all the nations participating in Exercise Pitch Black.”

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