At first blush, you’d expect the year 2012 to have been a placeholder, a midrecession period where general aviation companies treaded water while waiting for the economy to recover. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Indeed, 2012 saw a remarkable level of innovation, from the most unassuming sport airplanes to the fastest and most technologically advanced high-subsonic, ultra-long-range model to date. There were significant advances in electronics, from ultra-cool iPad apps to brand-new glass cockpits in $50 million bizjets, along with everything in between.
As always, we at Flying recognize these products and programs not for what they promise but for what they have actually been shown to do, in most cases through certification, a rigorous process that itself separates the wheat from the chaff. We go from there, painstakingly considering literally dozens of potential winners, nearly all of which are ranked highly in their own right.
In the end, however, we’re left with a handful of gold, the best of the best, the 2012 Flying Editors’ Choice Awards. Congratulations, all.
