Bethany Whitfield

Former Platinum Jet pilot Francis Vieira, 61, was sentenced to six months in federal prison on Monday for his role in fraudulent activity that led up to the crash of a Challenger 600 charter jet in 2005, which veered off the runway after a failed takeoff attempt from Teterboro Airport. During court hearings last year, […]

Honeywell completed its acquisition of EMS Technologies this week, bringing additional satellite communication expertise and computing technologies to the well-known provider of GA products. As part of the $491 million deal, Honeywell will gain EMS’s Aviation division, which designs and produces advanced satcom systems for both commercial and defense costumers. Rugged data storage, surveillance systems […]

SimCom, one of the country’s largest providers of advanced flight training, recently announced the acquisition of 14 simulators from FlightSafety International, bringing the company’s simulator tally to a total of 59 and broadening its training capabilities throughout the United States.** ** The deal will bring a variety of new piston and turboprop simulators to the […]

Multiple performers were killed during a tragic weekend for the airshow circuit that included three separate fatal incidents. One of the first occurred on Saturday at the Bournemouth Air Festival in England, when a Royal Air Force pilot who belonged to the elite Red Arrows aerobatic team died after the Hawk T-1 he was piloting […]

As President Obama made the rounds in Iowa during his Midwestern bus tour earlier this week, hundreds of general aviation advocates gathered in the state to send a political message of their own, one that fought back against the administration’s recent criticism of aviation tax breaks. The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) organized a rally […]

The SubSonex Jet, one very, very light jet powered by a Czech-built PBS TJ-100 turbine engine, took off for its first flight in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, last week, bringing the prospect of a recreational jet for private pilots one step closer to reality. Renowned airshow pilot Bob Carlton, famous for his performances in a modified Salto […]

The Taurus G4, a four-seat electric aircraft developed by Pipistrel, took to the air for the first time in the United States during its official maiden flight on Friday in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Designed specifically to compete in NASA’s upcoming CAFE Green Flight Challenge, the aircraft had previously completed a few test hops in Europe before […]

A PT-13D Stearman used to train the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II touched down in Washington last week, carrying with it the stories and memories of men who helped shape not only the history of aviation, but the history of a nation as well. The airplane, known as the Spirit of Tuskegee, was used […]

Boeing has announced a plan to use Atlas V rockets to launch the company’s commercial astronaut capsule into space for a series of future test flights. The plan is contingent upon additional funding from NASA, but Boeing’s vice president and program manager of commercial crew programs John Elbon maintains that, “This selection marks a major […]

Economic hardship continues to challenge general aviation aircraft manufacturers, and a disappointing first six months of 2011 underscored that point. According to aircraft shipment and billing figures recently released by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), airplane shipments worldwide dropped 15.5 percent during the first half of 2011 compared to the same time frame last […]