Pia Bergqvist

French airplane maker VoltAero has begun flight testing on a hybrid-electric-powered airplane series called Cassio. The Cassio 1 testbed is powered by two electric motors, mounted on the wings, and two piston engines—a pusher and a puller—on the fuselage. The testbed looks like a Cessna 337 Skymaster and has a seating configuration for six people. […]

With the ADS-B mandate coming into effect at the beginning of this year, it may not come as a surprise that avionics manufacturers had a good year in 2019. A lot of aircraft owners installing new, compliant transponders also chose to take advantage of recent innovations in avionics equipment, replacing round gauges with glass while […]

Stans, Switzerland-based Pilatus Aircraft has become the first business jet manufacturer to achieve something many expected would be impossible—certification for rough field operations—for its PC-24 Super Versatile Jet. Since 2018, the bizjet has been certified to land on dry sand and gravel, but complete rough field certification allows the PC-24 to land on additional surfaces, […]

If you’ve ever attended the Stihl National Championship Air Races at the Reno-Stead Airport west of Reno, Nevada, you know the event brands itself as “the fastest motorsport on earth,” with the slogan “fly low, fly fast, turn left.” Low and slow has never factored into the equation since the races began decades ago. But […]

Brazilian airplane maker Embraer has announced an upgraded version of its Phenom 300 light business jet. The Phenom 300E has reached Mach 0.80, which, the company claims, makes the airplane the fastest single-pilot business jet on the market. High-speed cruise for the Phenom 300E is listed at 464 knots, an increase from 453 knots in […]

Approximately five months after Bearhawk Aircraft announced a two-seat, taildragger kit design—the Companion—the Austin, Texas-based company has delivered the first two airplanes. Both of the new owners, Chad Marks and Greg Charest, are new to aircraft building, and both are expecting assistance from Mark Goldberg of AviPro (the Atlixco, Mexico-based builder of Bearhawk’s quickbuild kits), […]

Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX inched one step closer to bringing astronauts to space this weekend as it completed a test of the in-flight launch escape capabilities of its Crew Dragon. The Crew Dragon test flight, which launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, atop SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, showed the spaceship’s “ability to separate from Falcon 9 and […]

With the growing use of real-time weather by pilots who have access to ADS-B In or other weather services in the cockpit, the FAA is making changes to its weather-related services. In a notice to the Federal Register issued on December 9, the FAA announced its intent to discontinue the Hazardous Inflight Weather Advisory Service […]

After what can hopefully be appreciated as an extended Thanksgiving break, the workers at Mooney International are back to work at the historic factory in Kerrville, Texas. While the future of the company is not yet completely secure, there is a lot more optimism today than there was a few weeks ago when the company […]

After an investigation process, the FAA has responded to a complaint filed by AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association), NBAA (National Business Aviation Association) and several airport tenants from February 5, 2016. The complainants claimed that the city has violated leasing policies, implemented an unjust landing fee structure and diverted airport revenues from the airport. […]