Stephen Pope

Dual Electronics has started shipping its new XGPS170 GPS and ADS-B weather and traffic receiver for the iPad, iPhone and Android devices. Designed to integrate with third-party EFB apps, the in-flight weather and traffic data from the XGPS170 so far works with WingX Pro7 from Hilton Software. It will soon be available using apps from […]

The Russian captain of a Sukhoi Superjet 100 that crashed in Indonesia last May inhibited the airplane’s terrain-warning system after receiving what he apparently judged to be a spurious nuisance alert, crash investigators say. Indonesian investigators said the Superjet’s TAWS sounded a warning 38 seconds before the twinjet slammed into a mountain in the jungle […]

The photos released last week of a Bell 412 towing a giant banner over the United Arab Emirates as part of a record-setting flight caught my attention. While helicopters do an admirable job of hauling sling loads from their bellies, they aren’t the ideal platforms for all types of towing. I know this, in part, […]

Eurocopter’s first production EC175 medium-size, twin-turbine helicopter has successfully completed its first flight at the company’s headquarters in Marignane, France. With test pilot Augustin Dupuis at the controls, the flight confirmed handling characteristics and basic performance as Eurocopter advances the design toward a late-2013 certification goal. “With this first production series aircraft now airborne, the […]

Garmin announced it has added European VFR and IFR charts to its Aera 795/796 portable GPS receivers, using VFR data sourced from Deutsche Flugsicherung, the company in charge of ATC in Germany. Earlier this year, Garmin introduced European VFR terminal Bottlang charts from Jeppesen for the Aera 795/796, which include colored visual approach, landing and […]

With the clock ticking to avoid a year-end fiscal cliff, aviation leaders are warning that sharp cuts in the federal budget could have a long-lasting ripple effect through the aviation community. “The fact is that we are in uncharted territory” as the fiscal cliff nears, noted NBAA president Ed Bolen in a message to members. […]

A group of Chinese investors is negotiating to buy a majority of ILFC, the aircraft leasing giant owned by AIG, for around $4.8 billion. AIG announced it is in talks to sell an 80 percent stake in ILFC to the group of Chinese companies, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. The deal would be […]

Embraer on Wednesday flew the first U.S.-built Phenom 300 after the light twinjet emerged from a new factory in Melbourne, Florida. Delivery will be made to Embraer Executive Jets for use as a flight demonstrator. Embraer said the production time for the Phenom 300 was half that of the first Phenom 100 built in Melbourne, […]

Hawker Beechcraft has received approval from a U.S. bankruptcy court to reorganize as a smaller, stand-alone company that will focus on the market for turboprop and piston airplanes. The plan calls for the company to emerge from bankruptcy under the name Beechcraft Corp. in February with a renewed emphasis on its King Air, Baron, Bonanza […]

If you’re ever piloting an airplane type that’s new to you and you’re curious whether the flight attitude you’ve chose to maintain on an instrument approach is ideal, here’s a quick and easy way to find out. Set yourself up at the power settings you’d normally use to hand-fly the approach and then engage the […]