ZeroAvia, the Hydrogen-Electric Powertrain, and the Dornier That Flew Over the Cotswolds on a Fuel Cell
How ZeroAvia's hydrogen-electric Dornier 228 flight proved fuel-cell propulsion can power real regional aircraft - and the hurdles that remain.
Cleared Direct
Aviation technology analysis with Vector. Electric aircraft, avionics advances, eVTOL certification, satellite connectivity, and the engineering innovations shaping the future of flight.
Aireon and Space-Based ADS-B, the Sixty-Six Iridium Satellites That Put a Receiver Over Every Ocean and Ended the Era of the Untracked Airplane
How Aireon's ADS-B receivers on 66 Iridium satellites erased the ocean's surveillance blind spots and ended the era of the untracked airplane.
Boom Supersonic's XB-1, Boomless Cruise, and the Mach Cutoff Physics That Could Put Supersonic Flight Back Over Land
Boom's XB-1, a new FAA noise standard, and Mach cutoff physics could finally return supersonic flight to the skies over land.
Category Three Autoland, the Triple-Redundant Autopilot That Flies an Airliner to Touchdown in Fog You Cannot See Through
How Category III autoland uses triple-redundant autopilots and a radio altimeter to land an airliner in fog the crew cannot see through.
Eviation Alice, the All-Electric Nine-Seat Commuter, and the Battery Math That Decides Whether a Clean-Sheet Electric Airliner Ever Earns Its Wings
Radio Hangar explores Eviation Alice, the All-Electric Nine-Seat Commuter, and the Battery Math That Decides Whether a Clean-Sheet Electric Airliner Ever Earns Its Wings.
Eviation Alice, the All-Electric Nine-Seat Commuter, and the Battery Math That Decides Whether It Ever Carries a Paying Passenger
Eviation's all-electric Alice flew in 2022, but battery physics - not motors - will decide if it ever carries paying passengers.
The Karman Line, Sixty-Two Miles Up, and the Altitude Where Wings Quit and Rockets Take Over
Radio Hangar explores The Karman Line, Sixty-Two Miles Up, and the Altitude Where Wings Quit and Rockets Take Over.
The uAvionix AV-30-C, the Three-Inch Software-Defined Instrument That Replaces Your Attitude Indicator Without a Vacuum Pump
The uAvionix AV-30-C is a 3⅛-inch software-defined instrument that replaces vacuum-driven gyros with solid-state MEMS sensors for a fraction of a glass panel's cost.
ADS-B Has No Password - The Unencrypted Broadcast, the Twenty-Dollar Receiver, and the Spoofing Problem Nobody Designed Out
ADS-B broadcasts your aircraft's position unencrypted and unauthenticated - here's why that tradeoff powers modern surveillance and exposes you.
Auto-GCAS, the F Sixteen Ground Collision System That Waits Until the Last Half Second to Fly the Airplane Itself
How Auto-GCAS, the F-16's ground collision system, waits until the last half-second to fly the jet out of a fatal dive itself.
Electra's EL9 and the Return of Blown Lift, the Hybrid-Electric Airplane That Wants a Football Field Instead of a Runway
How Electra's EL9 uses blown lift and hybrid-electric power to take off and land in 150 feet instead of a full runway.
JetZero, the Blended-Wing-Body Demonstrator, and the Airplane That Hides Its Fuselage Inside the Wing
JetZero's full-scale blended wing body demonstrator aims to fly by 2027 and cut airliner fuel burn by up to 50 percent.
Spirit of Innovation, the Rolls-Royce Electric Record-Setter, and the Three Hundred Eighty-Seven Mile-an-Hour Run That Made a Battery Airplane the Fastest of Its Kind
How the Rolls-Royce Spirit of Innovation hit 387.4 mph to become the world's fastest all-electric aircraft - and what it proved.
The Boeing X Sixty-Six, NASA's Transonic Truss-Braced Wing, and the Skinny High-Aspect Wing That Wants to Rewrite the Airliner
The Boeing X-66 is a NASA experimental jet with a long, strut-braced wing designed to cut airliner fuel burn by up to 30%.
The Falcon Nine Grid Fin, the Titanium Waffle That Flies a Rocket Home, and the Hypersonic Control Surface Pilots Have Never Heard Of
How SpaceX's titanium grid fins steer a falling Falcon 9 booster home from hypersonic speeds to a pinpoint droneship landing.
ZeroAvia's Hydrogen-Electric Powertrain, the Fuel Cell That Makes Its Own Electricity, and the Dornier Two Twenty-Eight Flying on Water Vapor
How hydrogen fuel cells power aircraft, why ZeroAvia flew a Dornier 228 on water vapor, and when hydrogen flight is realistic.
Garmin Smart Glide, the One Button That Flies Your Engine-Out for You, and the Emergency Automation Quietly Loaded Into the Avionics on the Oshkosh Hangar Floor
Garmin Smart Glide is a one-button system that pitches for best glide and steers you to the nearest reachable airport when your engine quits.
Joby's Electric Tilt-Rotor, the Six Props That Swivel, and the Air Taxi Betting Everything on Transition Flight, From the Innovation Displays at Oshkosh
Joby's six-prop electric tilt-rotor bets everything on transition flight - here's the engineering, the promise, and the real hurdles ahead.
The Dropsonde, the GPS Weather Dart That Falls Out of a Hurricane Hunter, and the Storm Data That Lands in Your Cockpit at Oshkosh
A dropsonde is a GPS weather sensor dropped from hurricane hunter aircraft to measure storms from the inside, sharpening the forecasts pilots fly against.
The End of Leaded Avgas, GAMI's G100UL, and the Unleaded Future Being Poured Into the Fuel Trucks at Oshkosh
How G100UL, Swift Fuels, and the EAGLE initiative are ending leaded avgas by 2030 - and why the fight is now logistics, not chemistry.