Stephen Pope

Premier Aircraft Sales has launched an upgrade program for the Cessna 172 Skyhawk that adds a new Continental/Centurion 2.0 diesel engine to the airplane to go along with fresh paint, new interior and modern glass avionics. The first airplane upgraded under the program is a 1997 Cessna 172R model with a sticker price of $289,500 […]

Look for the Learjet 85 to make its hotly anticipated first flight in the coming weeks after Bombardier completed engine ground runs and low-speed taxi tests prior to receiving the necessary first-flight permit from the FAA. The Learjet 85 is the first all-new airplane from the manufacturer in more than 15 years. Launched in 2007, […]

Garmin this morning launched a portable SiriusXM receiver designed for use with its handheld GPS navigators that the company says offers up an array of in-flight weather data that was previously available only to purchasers of higher-tier subscriptions. The new GXM 42 brings a full complement of weather information to the cockpit, including Nexrad graphics, […]

A California judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the City of Santa Monica that sought to wrestle control of Santa Monica Airport away from the U.S government. The reason the lawsuit failed? Santa Monica filed the suit about 50 years too late. City officials asserted that Santa Monica never relinquished ownership of the airport […]

Hijackings are rare these days, and so when word spread of an airliner squawking 7500 over the Mediterranean on Monday, fear and speculation ran rampant on the Internet as amateur sleuths tried to figure out what was happening in real time as the crisis unfolded. When the situation ended, the answers to what had occurred […]

Cirrus Aircraft is rolling out a new nationwide pilot training initiative aimed at enticing new students to learn to fly in a Cirrus. The 2014 JumpStart Program introduces a special version of the Cirrus SR20 to partner flight schools that the Duluth, Minnesota-based lightplane manufacturer says makes the ideal training and personal transportation airplane. Cirrus […]

The U.S. House of Representatives this week passed a bill requiring the FAA to go through the normal rulemaking process before subjecting overweight pilots to sleep apnea screening. The FAA’s airman medical branch wants pilots with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher to undergo testing for obstructive sleep apnea, a change many […]

The FBI says it will pay out $10,000 under a reward program for information that leads to the arrest of anyone who points a laser at an aircraft in flight. The reward initiative will run for 60 days as part of an awareness program with local law enforcement to educate teens about the dangers associated […]

The Air Line Pilots Association has come out and said what a lot of folks in aviation already suspected: The looming pilot shortage we’ve been hearing so much about lately is a myth, created by airlines unwilling to offer better pay. There is no pilot shortage, period. ALPA agrees that there may in fact be […]

After a five-year production hiatus, Mooney is again building airplanes in Kerrville, Texas — albeit at a slow pace for now. Mooney International Corp. CEO Jerry Chen confirmed that the troubled manufacturer has begun production of the first new Mooney since the factory closed in 2009. The assembly line will officially start moving again on […]