Aviation news and analysis with Tower. FAA policy changes, industry trends, safety data, and what the headlines mean for the pilots who fly every day.
Every hour you fly accrues overhaul debt - here's the per-Hobbs-hour math that prevents a $38,000 maintenance bill from landing as a surprise.
On September 22, 2026, the U.S. Navy's last active East Coast P-3 Orion - a classified research aircraft flown by the secretive Warlocks of VXS-1 - made its final landing at the Davis-Monthan boneyard.
The FAA's MOSAIC final rule, published October 2024, raises the light sport aircraft weight limit to 3,600 lbs and expands sport pilot privileges with new endorsement requirements.
The Northrop YB-49 flying wing was canceled in 1949 amid political controversy, but its 172-foot wingspan and design principles survived forty years to become the B-2 Spirit.
Northrop Grumman's Talon Blue completed a fully autonomous first flight on October 3, 2026, marking a major milestone in the Air Force's unmanned wingman program.
Trimming out back pressure during the landing flare feels logical but creates a dangerous trap if a go-around becomes necessary.
FAR 91.119, 91.155, and 91.159 govern where VFR pilots can legally fly - and the two-thousand-foot horizontal clearance rule in congested areas is the number most pilots get wrong.
Blackstone's new defense company Falcata signals institutional capital flooding into drones and missiles - with direct consequences for how general aviation pilots navigate the NAS.
A symbol-by-symbol breakdown of the most misread markings on instrument approach charts, from the Final Approach Fix to DME arcs.
The former president of KanRus Trading was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for illegally exporting controlled aviation equipment to Russia - a case every aviation business owner needs to understand.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines took delivery of its first Airbus A350-900 on October 2, 2026, naming the new widebody 'The Night Watch' after Rembrandt's iconic masterpiece.
The FAA set a record for ATC hiring in fiscal year 2026, but the agency remains hundreds of controllers short of its own staffing targets - with real consequences for pilots flying today.
VFA-41 returned to NAS Lemoore on October 1, 2026 with a submarine kill marking after Operation Epic Fury - one of the rarest designations in modern naval aviation.
The FAA flagged a software issue on some Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and determined it poses no flight-safety risk - a finding that deserves careful context, not alarm.
The Diamond DA40 NG burns Jet-A at 6.5 gallons per hour, cutting fuel costs by over $13,000 annually compared to a typical avgas piston aircraft.
An Iowa airport dispute involving an ultralight pilot has drawn FAA and TSA scrutiny, raising federal questions about whether public-use airports can restrict Part 103 operations.
NASA's F-5 Tiger at Oshkosh 2026 isn't a warbird display - it's an active research platform behind laminar flow and sonic boom technology pilots will fly someday.
Tenants at Aeroflex-Andover Airport (12N) in Sussex County, NJ face a December 31 eviction deadline from the state agency that owns the field, raising closure concerns.
Blackhawk Group has demonstrated a 72-hour bench overhaul for turbine engines, potentially cutting aircraft downtime from three months to two or three weeks.
AOPA's profile of pilot and author Caroline Paul reframes the question 'why fly?' as one of aviation's most revealing - and hardest - conversations.