During the past year, two large powered-lift models have been tested in the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) at NASA Ames Research Center in California, evaluating the low-speed benefits of blowing air over high-lift flaps for short takeoff and landing (STOL).

Aircraft all look the same these days because the traditional tube-and-wing shape works well, both technically and operationally. To convince manufacturers to change direction would take a compelling demonstration of the benefits of a different approach.

How is the new hangar at Berlin Brandenburg coming together?

Next-gen aircraft have airlines thinking about new strategies for inventory availability.

A320 C check volumes are set to rise with the burgeoning fleet.

Jim McNerney smiled broadly as he bounded onto a podium in a historic hangar at Reagan Washington National Airport this month, a gleaming Boeing 787 serving as a dramatic backdrop just beyond the open hangar door. The chairman and CEO of Boeing was accepting the 2011 Robert J. Collier Trophy on behalf of the team that developed the 787, a jet that is finally in service following more than three years of delays.

If there is an upside to the A380's wing-component cracking saga, it may be that it should enable Airbus to avoid an embarrassing misstep on its next big development program, the A350.