Stephen Pope

Cessna is upgrading the Citation Sovereign midsize business jet with a switch to Garmin G5000 avionics, more powerful and efficient Pratt & Whitney engines and performance-boosting winglets. The change to Pratt & Whitney PW306D turbofan engines will increase the Sovereign’s range by 150 nautical miles, giving the airplane a total range of over 3,000 nm. […]

Just about any other week, the sinking of the HMS Bounty and the drowning of one of its crewmembers would be the top news story in the country. This hasn’t been any ordinary week, however, as superstorm Sandy caused unthinkable devastation across much of the Northeast and shut down dozens of airports. I’m from New […]

Dassault Falcon is fine-tuning its product mix with the launch of the $30.4 million Falcon 2000LXS as a replacement for the current 2000LX. The biggest changes center on new model’s improved short-field capability thanks to the addition of full-length inboard slats on the wing. The 2000LXS will also boast increased payload carrying capability and a […]

Garmin is continuing its relentless march up-market with the introduction of the GTS 8000 traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS II) for transport category aircraft. Garmin’s latest traffic alerter, launched at the NBAA Convention, meets the most recent TCAS II/ACAS II standardization requirements, including Change 7.1 compliance, now being adopted throughout much of the […]

Still stinging from the collapse of its buyout deal with Superior Aviation Beijing, Hawker Beechcraft used the stage at the NBAA Convention to focus on the future — and in particular the company’s plans to introduce four new turboprop and piston models in the next five years while also exiting the business jet market. Plans […]

There’s little debate that the prevalence in today’s airplanes of modern glass cockpit displays, GPS navigators, datalink weather receivers and the host of other high-tech gear that we now take almost for granted has in fact made flying easier and safer. Still, the already-too-high accident rate for light general aviation airplanes hasn’t budged in the […]

The International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST), a government-industry cooperative effort to cut the helicopter accident rate by 80 percent by 2016, is calling for an immediate “culture change” to stem a problem that appears to be growing worse instead of better. The IHST issued its warning after four deadly helicopter crashes occurred this month in […]

California Democrat Rep. Henry A. Waxman sent a letter this week to Michael Huerta, Acting FAA Administrator, urging him to “expand the use of unleaded fuels to reduce toxic lead emissions from general aviation aircraft,” particularly around airports located near residential areas. With input from the EPA, the FAA has committed to developing a replacement […]

As a former FBO line boy whose job was to wash airplanes, this video makes me cringe. As a pilot, it also makes my palms sweat a little. The airplane is an Antonov An-24. The place is Bodaybo, a gold-mining town in the Russian Far East. The runway is a muddy mess, making the takeoff […]

While you’re probably never likely to encounter** runway contamination as bad as this**, with the coming onset of winter weather, it’s a good idea to start thinking about how slush, ice, mud or standing water can affect your airplane’s performance. The main effect of runway surface contamination on takeoff is reduced acceleration. Beyond that, loose […]