Update: 18 March - The first vertical landing took place today when pilot Graham Tomlinson landed the BF-01 to a square of only 95sq.ft in the runway in Patuxent River NAS.

17 March - Today the BF-01 prototype of F-35 made its first hover in flight and also its first short take off. This is a major milestone and accomplishment to the program and it paves the way to the most difficult task to be tested, the vertical landing. Read below for more information and videos.

Most people associate aviation in Czech republic with Aero Vodochody but there are other engineering firms like the relatively new Evector which is known for its small sports airplanes and is now making a step to bigger aircraft with the EV-55. The new twin turboprop aircraft is getting ready for the official roll-out in the end of the month and it should make its first flight later this year.

Tigerfish Aviation is about to introduce a groundbreaking innovation for planes operating from water. It is called Retractable Amphibious Pontoon Technology (RAPT) and it consists of two articulated floaters that can be retracted in a streamlined form in the air. The RAPT has many advantages over conventional planes with floaters or even to bespoke designed hydroplanes. It has been tested in the scale model (1:6 Cessna Caravan) in the photo above and performed very well.

The new Boeing 747-8 made its first flight. The aircraft RC501 flew yesterday at Boeing's facility in Everett Washington without any issues. This is the freighter version, which has attracted the most customers, and it is the biggest western commercial freighter yet. The passenger version ('Intercontinental') has only one major airline customer, Lufthansa and several private VIP orders..

Update2 - Endeavour launched successfully on time without any issues. The low ceiling clouds was not a major problem and no further rescheduling was necessary. Endeavour launch video
Update1 - Launch rescheduled for Monday Feb. 8 at 4:14 a.m. EST. (11.14 am for Greece) due to weather conditions.

Tomorrow February 7, 2010, at 4:39 a.m. EST (11:39 am for Greece) the Space Shuttle Endeavour will be launched in to Space for mission STS-130. This is a historic launch because it is the last one that would take place at night. The flight will last 13 days and will include 3 spacewalks in order to install the node 3 'Tranquility' ISS module. In this node there is the cupola, a 7 window observation where the astronauts can have a panoramic view of the earth and space. This topic will be updated after the launch.

The German aerospace institute DLR successfully concluded the first series of tests of the new sandwich nozzle destined for the Vulcan 2 engine that propels the Ariane 5. The new technology nozzle is called NE-X and is designed and constructed from Volvo Aero under contract from SNECMA. Volvo Aero is a pioneer in this design and has a contract for Pratt & Whitney Advanced Rocket Technology Demonstrator Engine which have already been tested and also for the construction of of this booster nozzle demonstrator for a future upgrade of the Vulcan 2 engine.

After a completely secret development process today the new 5th generation fighter of the Russian Air Force made its first flight and was presented to the rest of the world. The T-50 prototype with test pilot Sergey Bogdan took off from the Sukhoi 's facilities in Komsomolsk-on-Amur (east Russia, near the Pacific) and made a 47min flight where the basic systems were tested and the landing gear was cycled. The T-50 prototype (and the production plane that will come later) is the first Russian-designed stealth fighter and together with 4th gen Su-27 derivatives will consist the core of the Russian air force in the near future.

This small two seater may look like a conventional motorglider but it could be revolutionary for general aviation. It is called E430 and it is made by Yuneec Aircraft Company of Shangai China. Instead of an internal combustion engine it uses an electric motor and a pack of Li-ion batteries.

This is just a study from a NASA engineering team for a VTOL personal air vehicle. It has an unusual tail sitter arrangement like the experimental Lockheed XFV but there are some very interesting innovations that may transform the dead end that Lockheed engineers faced to a successful vehicle.