Flying Staff

Announced at this week’s Farnborough Airshow, the Pratt & Whitney Canada PurePower family of turbofans attempts to tap geared engine technology to achieve lower fuel burns and higher efficiency. The PurePower PW1000G and PW800 are earmarked for regional airliners and business jets, including Bombardier’s developmental CSeries 100- to 149-seat regional jets, also announced at Farnborough […]

Lycoming Engines announced this week it has launched development of its TIO-360-EXP “Thunderbolt” engine-with the ultimate goal of operating the engine on unleaded fuel. But the company carefully notes a long pathway of research and approvals necessary before that goal can be reached. The turbonormalized, intercooled engine is nominally rated at 180 horsepower up to […]

Long known internally-and increasingly externally-simply as ‘The Jet,’ Cirrus’ single-engine turbofan now has an official name. The Cirrus Vision SJ50 harks back to one of Alan and Dale Klapmeiers’ first products, the mid-engine, rear prop-driven ST50. First conceived as a kitplane, the ST50 never went to production, but formed a backdrop for Cirrus’s highly successful […]

The European Aviation Safety Agency has certified the Chelton Flight Systems synthetic vision avionics system in Bell 407, 206A and B JetRanger, and 206L LongRanger single-engine helicopters. The certification covers Chelton’s latest software version 6.0B level A, and includes graphic depictions of terrain, obstacles and WSI-downloaded weather. The Chelton system offers highway in the sky […]

Hawker Beechcraft announced the long expected II version of its light jet Premier at EBACE in Geneva in May. The Premier II will have more powerful engines for better takeoff and climb performance, and elliptical winglets that will help the airplane cruise higher and farther. The airplane moves into the FAA’s Commuter Category of certification […]

Learjet has selected the Collins Pro Line Fusion system of advanced integrated avionics for its new all-composite Model 85 being designed and built initially in conjunction with Grob. The company also announced that it has selected Pratt & Whitney PW307B engines rated at 6,100 pounds thrust each to power the large midsize jet. After initial […]

Pratt & Whitney is marking the 45th anniversary of the PT6 engine, the most famous turboprop engine in the world. The first engine powered the Beech King Air 90, and versions of the PT6 continue to power dozens of models from the King Air 90GT to highly successful singles such as the TBM 850 and […]

Embraer surprised the press gathered at the European Business Aviation Conference (EBACE) in Geneva in May when it announced that it will conduct final assembly of some of its new Phenom 100 and 300 light jets in Melbourne, Florida. Before the announcement the company had said it would deliver the new jets only at its […]

The legal and financial troubles of diesel engine maker Thielert have left high-profile airplane programs from Diamond and Cessna in a state of uncertainty. Thielert Aircraft Engines is currently being overseen by a government administrator after the company filed for insolvency earlier this year amid a financial crisis and criminal investigation into the company’s record […]

Last Thursday, Cirrus’ single-engine personal jet flew for the first time. The 45-minute test flight was the first of a series to establish “verification and validation” of the proof-of-concept airframe, now dubbed V1 for that reason, according to Cirrus Chairman and CEO Alan Klapmeier. But the name also references the unique jet’s V-tail configuration, which […]