Flying Staff

With some 40 letters of intent (backed by refundable $250,000 deposits), Aerion announced its backlog sits north of the $3 billion mark for its proposed supersonic business jet, projected to cost $80 million each. Company Vice Chairman Brian Barents is even more bullish on the prospects for the jet now than he was 30 months […]

Cirrus announced on Tuesday it will offer a new Garmin avionics option package-dubbed “Cirrus Perspective”-for SR22 buyers. Perspective incorporates 12-inch screens, 35 percent larger than those on existing G1000 systems, and the ideal canvas for Garmin’s recently announced Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT). Cirrus also simplified data input with its GCU 478 alphanumeric keypad replacing the […]

It was the simple, declarative tone of the statement that caught me. I’d volunteered to judge applications for the Ninety-Nines’ Amelia Earhart Memorial Scholarship Fund, so I was spending a Saturday reading applicant essays. Read 10 or 20 pilot essays over a couple of hours-all from creative, motivated and deserving candidates who have wonderful career […]

Each month, Flying answers questions about the new Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft Rule with assistance from the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), the authority on the opportunities available within the category commonly known as “Sport Pilot”. Q: Help! I missed the January 31 deadline for submitting an application to convert my two-place ultralight to the Light […]

Getting a type rating or passing a check ride are certainly satisfying and, most often, fun exercises, but they don’t make a pilot out of you. It is true of all technical pursuits, I suppose, that excellence comes from an admixture of talent, effort, practice and love. Three out of four of these qualities probably […]

In March Gulfstream announced development of a new model, the 650, the first clean sheet Gulfstream business jet since the G-II laid the foundation for the most successful line of large cabin business jets in the 1960s. The 650 is a response to Gulfstream customers who want more cabin space, longer range and more cruise […]

For the first time the total value of general aviation airplanes delivered in 2007 broke through the $20 billion mark. Thanks to a 28 percent increase in business jet shipments, and an 11 percent growth in the numbers of turboprops, total billings by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association were $21.9 billion worldwide, up a whopping […]

Bombardier has increased the max takeoff weight of its large cabin Global 5000 business jet to 92,500 pounds, allowing it to carry more fuel. The added fuel increases the IFR range 400 nm to 5,200 nm when cruising at a fast Mach .85 (488 kts), a range increase of 8 percent. The extra fuel is […]

The National Aeronautical Association (NAA) awarded the 2007 Robert J. Collier Trophy not to an airplane, company or individual, but to a technology, automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast, or ADS-B. The NAA also recognized a number of companies and organizations, private, nonprofit and governmental, for their part in the development of ADS-B. Even if you don’t know […]

The U.S. Army has ordered three new Twin Otters from Viking Air Limited, the Canadian company that is putting the venerable de Havilland twin turboprop back into production. The Army will use the high-wing Twin Otters as jump planes for its Golden Knights parachute team. The Army orders bring the total to more than 40 […]