Two aircraft were able to land safely after a midair during a Jet Class heat at the 55th annual National Championship Air Races at Reno-Stead Airport (RTS) near Reno, Nevada, last Friday. The two Aero L-39 Albatros jets made contact when “Reality Czech,” piloted by Nathan Harnagel, was attempting to overtake “Race 37,” piloted by Alexandre Eckmann.

NASA has announced that it will be allocating resources for three aviation-oriented ideas as part of its Convergent Aeronautics Solutions (CAS) project. The ideas selected for the project’s 2019 fiscal year are a seamless composite assembly technique, new ways to reduce and shed heat generated by an electric motor, and replacing lithium in batteries with a water-based option.

The last piece of the FAA’s Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) system, which allows “near real-time processing of airspace authorizations” for drone operators, went live last week, according to a statement made by FAA Acting Administrator Dan Elwell.

SpaceX has announced that Japanese fashion entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa has purchased a flight around the moon on the company’s still-conceptual Big Falcon Rocket (BFR). Maezawa, who is also an avid art collector, says he will be offering six to eight artists free seats for the flight in the hope that they will be inspired to create work based on the trip.

Flight simulator manufacturer Frasca International announced that it has been named subcontractor for the Navy TH-57 Aircrew Training Services Contract on Monday. Frasca says it will be providing ten Flight Simulation Training Devices (FTDs) as part of the ground-based training systems for the TH-57 helicopter.

A man whose pilot certificate was revoked 21 years ago for lying on his medical application was the presumed pilot of a Cessna 335 high performance twin that crashed near Palm Beach County Park Airport a week ago, killing him and his wife.

It seems likely legislators will miss a Sept. 30 deadline to pass an FAA reauthorization bill but they may not require yet another short-term extension. The Senate sent its suggested revisions of the House version of the bill back to the House for consideration last week.

What sounds like a dream flight will undoubtedly be a technical and logistical nightmare as a British group attempts the first circumnavigation in a Spitfire.

Canadian researchers say they have debunked the long-held belief that facial hair interferes with the seal on pilot oxygen masks and at least one airline has lifted its decades-old beard ban.

Braille Battery announced the successful completion of a series of test trials on the company’s new customized lithium batteries for commercial drones (UAVs) last week. Braille says the trials demonstrated that its batteries provided “longer discharge cycles – with significantly less weight – than the incumbent battery,” although estimates of how much longer and lighter have not yet been released.

This week's letters brought comments from readers about space tourism, Aireon's ADS-B tracking satellites, eVTOL development, what makes an airport welcoming and more.

We were over Tennessee having a pretty decent ride at FL390, but lower altitudes were not faring as well, and the chatter between aircraft and Memphis Center reflected the hunt for smoother air.

This week, AVweb’s news roundup found reports on an event held by the Lancair Owners and Builders Organization, an upcoming aerospace exhibition, a new contract between CEFA Aviation and China’s aviation authority and the addition of more hubs for Airstream Jets’ Jet Card Program.

With Hurricane Florence heading for the Carolina coast, the FAA is warning unauthorized drone operators to stay out of the skies around areas impacted by the storm even if no Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is in place.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Roscosmos General Director Dmitry Rogozin met on Wednesday to discuss the status of International Space Station (ISS) operations after speculation that a leak detected onboard the station two weeks ago was possibly the result of sabotage.