February 2016

After over 18 years in development, Honda Aircrafts first airplane, a twin-engine single-pilot light jet, received FAA certification in December. When the FAA opened their drone registry in December, they succeeded in getting plenty of media attention, but they had less success getting the entire user community on board. In November, the SkiGull, Burt Rutans 47th (and last, he said) aircraft design flew for the first time, from a lake in Idaho. The one-of-a-kind two-seat seaplane is equipped to land on water, runways or snow. Private pilots can let their friends chip in for gas under the FAAs rules, but that doesnt mean they can advertise online to fill empty seats on a private plane and cost-share, the FAA has said. JetBlue announced in November it plans an ab-initio training program for its Embraer SA E190 crews.

Editorial Staff

Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

New aircraft, including the HondaJet, Bombardier CS100, and Tecnam P2010, recently received certification, indicating new market entries.
The FAA launched a drone registry amidst controversy, while Amazon continued developing its drone delivery service, unveiling a new tilt-rotor design.
Several innovative aircraft projects are in progress, such as Burt Rutan's SkiGull's first flight, Lockheed Martin's hybrid commercial airship nearing certification, and e-Volo's electric multi-copter undergoing flight tests.
A federal appeals court upheld the FAA's prohibition on commercial flight-sharing services, shutting down platforms like FlyteNow.

See a mistake? Contact us.

Now Certified — HondaJet, Bombardier CS100, Tecnam P2010

After over 18 years in development, Honda Aircraft’s first airplane, a twin-engine single-pilot light jet, received FAA certification in December. The Greensboro, NC, company, which was built from scratch to create and market the design, says they have over 100 orders for the $4.5 million jet. Also in December, Transport Canada awarded certification to Bombardier’s CS100 fuel-efficient fly-by-wire airliner. The all-new design seats 100 and will be followed soon by the 160-seat CS300 version. The Tecnam P2010, a new Italian design, also received FAA certification. The four-seat high-wing airplane mates an all-carbon-fiber fuselage with a metal wing and stabilator. It flies at up to 140 knots for up to 715 nm, and sells for $345,000.

Drone Update: FAA Opens Registry, Amazon Continues Development

When the FAA opened their drone registry in December, they succeeded in getting plenty of media attention, but they had less success getting the entire user community on board. Model aircraft hobbyists claimed they shouldn’t be lumped in with drones, and privacy concerns were raised about the public online registration database, with users as young as 13. Meanwhile, Amazon continued to move forward with its plans to offer drone delivery service, unveiling a new, heavy-duty tilt-rotor drone about six feet long. One day, says Amazon, “seeing Prime Air vehicles [in the sky] will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road.”