Stephen Pope

Elbit Systems, the Israeli defense electronics company, has stuck a deal to acquire Universal Avionics Systems Corp., a maker of flight management systems, retrofit avionics suites and other equipment for business aviation, airline and military markets. Elbit says it received all necessary government approvals for the acquisitin, clearing the way for the transaction to close […]

The U.S. Aircraft Expo kicks off its 2018 season this weekend with a show at Hayward Executive Airport in Northern California that will feature dozens of general aviation aircraft and exhibits. The Expo has grown into a prime showcase for aircraft from leading manufacturers, with planned stops in seven Western cities this year. Exhibitors include […]

The FAA is moving to temporarily grounding doors-off helicopter tour flights in which passengers are tethered to the aircraft, after the March 11 crash in New York City of a Liberty Helicopters Airbus AS350 that killed five people. “The FAA will order operators and pilots to take immediate actions to control or mitigate this risk,” […]

A startup endeavor backed by Google cofounder Larry Page has tested an electric-powered vertical takeoff and landing drone in New Zealand. The company, Silicon Valley based Kitty Hawk, revealed released a video of the prototype in flight. The Cora autonomous craft is targeted at the nascent airborne taxi market that some experts predict could explode […]

Five passengers who died in a helicopter crash into New York City’s East River on Sunday were strapped into the doorless Airbus AS350 by five-point harnesses and screwed-down carabiner shackles that required a knife to cut through the nylon safety straps that held the occupants inside, according to reports. When the single-engine helicopter went down […]

Four years to the day after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 carrying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, mysteriously disappeared from radar, officials announced that the full report on the investigation has been suspended until the current search effort has concluded. U.S.-based Ocean Infinity Limited began the search in late January after […]

GE Aviation has a name for its new Advanced Turboprop engine that its engineers began development work on in 2012. The ATP engine is now the GE Catalyst Advanced Turboprop, a name that “represents GE Aviation’s commitment to moving the turboprop market forward through innovation.” Hallmarks of the new 900- to 1,700-shp engine include better […]

Garmin has added the popular Fltplan.com and Fltplan Go app for Apple and Android devices to its Connext “ecosystem” that now allows pilots to wirelessly transfer flight plans from the app to certain Garmin panel-mount avionics. FltPlan Go customers can also wirelessly receive and display aviation weather from various sources in flight including Flight Information […]

Robinson Helicopter Company saw a return to prosperity in 2017 as the Torrance, California, company delivered 305 helicopters, led by the R44 model with 174 delivered, making it the best-selling helicopter in the world. Kurt Robinson, the company’s president and son of founder Frank Robinson, said 77 turbine-powered R66s came off the line and, according […]

Bell launched the upgraded Bell 407GXi at Heli-Expo 2018 this week featuring the Garmin G1000H NXi avionics system and new Fadec-controlled Rolls-Royce engine along with an upgraded executive cabin. The 407GXi gained its Transport Canada type certificate on January 19 and will begin reaching customers this spring, Bell said. The new model replaces the 407 […]