Stephen Pope

American Legend Aircraft Co. last week introduced the Super Legend, an 845-pound Cub clone powered by a 115-hp Lycoming 233 Series engine that the manufacturer says will yield the same power-to-weight ratio as the original 150-hp Piper Super Cub. Features of the Super Legend will include a Super Cub-style pressure cowling and classic Super Cub […]

Safety product manufacturer AmSafe has introduced a next-generation seatbelt airbag that is lighter and has a longer service life than the company’s current airbag restraint, which has been in production for 10 years and is installed in more than 7,000 general aviation aircraft. The new AmSafe seatbelt is narrower and features an optional lightweight buckle, […]

Like a lot of people with a love for aviation, I’d definitely say I’m an adventure seeker. Mind you, that doesn’t mean I fit the daredevil mold. For instance, while I’d be the first person to join a group traveling to see the Inca ruins in Machu Picchu, I’d probably be one of the last […]

Cirrus chairman and co-founder Dale Klapmeier this week sought to put an end to talk of a possible counter bid to a buyout deal from a Chinese aviation company. “There is no counter offer,” Klapmeier said at Sun ‘n Fun on Wednesday when asked about the news that a group of private U.S. investors led […]

A skeleton crew manned Diamond Aircraft’s exhibit at Sun ‘n Fun after the company on Monday announced the layoffs of 213 workers involved in the D-Jet program. The company has been awaiting word on a $35 million loan from the Canadian government that it says it needs to finish development of the D-Jet, a single […]

If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. If you really can’t beat them, find a friend who can at least help you score a few body blows. That appears to be the belated strategy of Honeywell, which has enlisted Aspen Avionics of Albequerque, New Mexico, to complete the development and certification of the Bendix/King KSN […]

The Lindbergh Foundation will present famed inventor and pilot Dean Kamen with this year’s Lindbergh Award next week at Sun ‘n Fun in Lakeland, Florida. Best known for inventing the Segway people mover, Kamen earned special recognition from the Lindbergh Foundation for his lifesaving inventions, including the insulin pump, and his work as the founder […]

It’s commendable that a group of U.S. private investors led by aviation market analyst Brian Foley wants to make a play to purchase the assets of lightplane maker Cirrus by outbidding a subsidiary of AVIC, China’s aviation manufacturing powerhouse. But like a lot of people who’ve heard about the plan, I see the would-be end-around […]

FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt has been tapped to deliver one of the keynote speeches at the upcoming Pilot Training Reform Symposium, to be hosted by the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) May 4 and 5 in Atlanta. Babbitt’s address, “Meeting the Training Challenges of the Second Century Of Flight,” is just one of […]

The team behind Sikorsky’s X2 technology demonstrator has won the 2010 Robert J. Collier Trophy, six months after the unique twin-coaxial rotorcraft set an unofficial speed record for a helicopter of 250 knots. “Sikorsky has a long and storied history of innovation, starting with the invention of the world’s first practical helicopter and continuing today […]