Stephen Pope

In a sign that the general aviation market may be stabilizing, Piper Aircraft said new aircraft billings in the first half of the year rose 16 percent compared with the same period last year. And the company says next year is shaping up to be even better. Piper delivered 38 of its M-class airplanes in […]

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday called for a sharp reduction in the number of domestic airlines and said the country may have to resort to buying foreign-built aircraft to improve its shaky air safety record. Medvedev made the comments after visiting the** crash site of a Yak-42** about 150 miles north of Moscow that […]

When I called up the pictures of Morristown Municipal Airport (KMMU) drowning in muddy-brown water wrought by Hurricane Irene’s torrential rains late last month, I was a bit taken aback by how widespread the flooding appeared to be. I just didn’t expect that much of my home airport to be underwater. And yet I was […]

President Obama urged Congress to avoid another partial shutdown of the FAA by passing a long-term funding authorization bill.**** Congress passed a short-term extension on Aug. 4 that allows the agency to continue operating through Sept. 16. The FAA has relied on 21 short-term authorizations since 2007. The latest bill was held up over union […]

The Enstrom Model 480B‘s blend of forgiving flight qualities, turbine power and an almost six-foot-wide cabin help make it one of the most surprising light helicopters on the market today. Pilots love it, for all of the reasons just listed, as well as for its low operating costs and an exceptional safety record since its […]

Diamond Aircraft has resumed flight testing of its D-JET single-engine personal jet following the airplane’s temporary grounding after the furloughs of about 200 employees in March. “Our team’s spirits are certainly lifted with the resumption of flight activities,” said Diamond president Peter Maurer. “Being able to bring back part of the team allowed us to […]

John Frasca has been named president and CEO of Frasca International following the announcement that his father, founder Rudy Frasca, has retired from day-to-day activities. The younger Frasca had served as vice president since 2003, gradually taking over more of his father’s duties. He has worked for the family owned company since 1972, when he […]

Rockwell Collins and Inmarsat have entered into an exclusive partnership for the development, production and distribution of hardware to support Inmarsat’s Global Xpress Ka-band Internet service for business jets, airliners and government airplanes. The Inmarsat GX service will provide global in-flight Ka broadband connectivity at speeds of up to 50 megabits per second when the […]

“This is the crack cocaine of air travel.” That was the humorous yet apt assessment by my seatmate after we touched down last Friday at Rio’s downtown airport in an Embraer Legacy 600. It was a colorful comparison to airline travel from a fellow journalist who had never before experienced flight on a private jet. […]

When Aiden Lipscomb, a 21-month-old Virginia boy diagnosed with an aggressive pediatric cancer, needed immediate radiation treatments that are available only in a few locations, a unique partnering of general aviation and social media became the child’s best hope to receive them. Because of his weakened immune system, Aiden was unable to travel on commercial […]