Author: FlyMarshall Newsroom

Four SPEAR 3 missiles were carried on board an F-35B from the Integrated Test Force at NAS Patuxent River earlier this year, marking the first time that the new weapon has flown on the fifth generation aircraft. The long awaited news of SPEAR 3’s first flight test on the F-35B – which took place on Jan. 20, 2026 – comes just days after the UK Ministry of Defence confirmed plans to acquire the GBU-53/B StormBreaker, or SDB II, as an interim capability due to delays with SPEAR 3’s integration. SPEAR 3, developed by MBDA UK, is a 100 kg class…

Embraer and Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Athens on May 22, 2026, to develop in-country maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) capabilities for the C-390 Millennium tactical transport aircraft, the Brazilian manufacturer announced. The agreement was signed by Fabio Caparica, Vice President of Contracts at Embraer Defense & Security, and Alexandros Diakopoulos, Executive Chairman of HAI. It is framed as a step toward giving the Hellenic Air Force “the operational and support autonomy needed to manage its future C-390 aircraft fleet.” However, there is no such fleet at present. Greece has not ordered the C-390.…

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has returned its YFQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft prototype to flight testing, roughly six weeks after a mishap that destroyed one of the airframes built for the US Air Force’s drone-wingman competition.  The company announced the resumption in a statement dated May 21, 2026. Flight operations had been paused since April 6, 2026, when a YFQ-42A crashed shortly after takeoff at a GA-ASI airport in the California desert. No one was injured, but the aircraft was a total loss.  Autopilot miscalculation pinpointed  (Credit: GA-ASI) A joint safety review conducted by GA-ASI and the US Air Force traced the mishap to an autopilot miscalculation of…

By Bjorn Fehrm May 22, 2026, ©. Leeham News: We do a series on aircraft structures and how they have shaped the way our airliners transport us around the world today. We start with the history of aircraft structures, as this is a good way to understand where we are today. Mankind has dreamt of flying like the birds. It was also the birds that inspired the first wing kits that were assembled by men like Otto Lilienthal. He put on bird-like wings and flew down a slope in Berlin in 1895, Figure 1. Figure 1. Ott Lilienthal with his…

Engine pylons play an important role in aviation. All airplanes have engines. Whether it’s a turbofan or turboprop, they are the main thrust-generating devices. Engines produce the forward force needed to overcome drag and move the airplane through the air. While most people are familiar with engines, however, pylons often go unnoticed. The Basics of Engine Pylons Engine pylons are structural assemblies that connect aircraft engines to fuselages or wings. Most aircraft engines aren’t simply bolted or fastened to the airplane. Instead, they are connected via pylons. Aircraft engines are housed in containers. Known as nacelles, they contain many essential…

The United States is deploying 5,000 troops to Poland, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday.Trump, in a Truth Social post, wrote that the decision was sparked by the “successful election” of Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki, whom he “was proud to endorse.”This comment was met with some consternation, however, since Nawrocki was elected almost a year ago and inaugurated last August. Trump’s social media post added that the deployment was also a byproduct of “our relationship” with the Polish president.The move came more than a week after the U.S. Army had abruptly canceled the deployment of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat…

That famous JFK controller is at it again, though I find something about this interaction to be sort of funny… JFK ATC & British Airways pilot spar over terminology YouTube channel You can see ATC has the audio and a visualization of an incident that happened around 11:30PM on May 9, 2026, involving a New York Kennedy (JFK) air traffic controller, and the pilots of a British Airways Boeing 787-10, which was bound for London Heathrow (LHR). Visibility was limited on this particular night, and as the British Airways plane was taxiing to the runway, the RVR (Runway Visual Range)…

Touchdown Zone The first 3,000 feet of the runway beginning at the threshold. The area is used for determination of Touchdown Zone Elevation in the development of straight?in landing minimums for instrument approaches.

“The controversy surrounding AOPA over recent months did not emerge from nowhere. It did not materialize because of internet rumor, social media hysteria, or “misunderstanding.” It emerged because thousands of aviators became deeply uncomfortable with actions, decisions, secrecy, and behavior that struck at the very heart of institutional trust. Trust is aviation currency. Without it, airplanes do not fly safely, businesses do not prosper, organizations do not endure, and leaders do not retain legitimacy. What made this meeting so revealing was not merely what was said—but what was avoided. Before the meeting even began, the tone had already been set.…

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): First Kits to Ship October 2023 Having formerly resurrected the storied shape of the Ryan ST—in effigy, anyway—Montrose, Colorado-based Timber Tiger Aircraft has plied its considerable expertise and experience to the revival of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company’s JN-4—a World War I-era biplane known colloquially by generations of pilots and aviation enthusiasts as the Curtiss Jenny, or simply, Jenny. In point of fact, Timber Tiger has purchased the rights to sell Dennis Wiley’s Early Bird Jenny design as a kit. It should be noted, however, that while Wiley’s Early Bird Jenny was a 67-percent scale…