Aircraft

Textron Aviation has gained FAA certification on the King Air 260, as it closes down production of two key models in Cessna and Beechcraft history—the Citation Sovereign+ and the King Air C90GTx. Flying contacted Textron Aviation for its official comment on the changes: “Textron Aviation continually aligns its product offerings with current and future market […]

The Legacy 450 led the midsize jet market with its fly-by-wire flight control system when it debuted back in December 2015—and its original range of nearly 2,600 nm took a boost not long afterward to 2,904 nm. Embraer Executive Jets continues to make improvements upon the model with its transformation program that lifts previously delivered Legacy 450s and […]

Rolls-Royce and Tecnam Aircraft have joined efforts to produce an electric version of the P2012 Traveller commuter/utility aircraft, with plans to debut the new version in 2026. The partnership collaborates with Scandinavian airline Widerøe to ready the airplane for commercial service within Widerøe’s current network in Norway. The program builds on the existing agreement between […]

At a deserted drop test range outside Henderson, Nevada, in late February 2021, Aviation Safety Resources, Inc. (ASR), successfully completed the first developmental test of its whole-aircraft parachute recovery system for Bye Aerospace’s eFlyer 2, the first in the company’s eFlyer family of FAA Part 23-certified all-electric aircraft. “This was the first in a series […]

With the increased global focus on green energy and the introduction of a variety of hybrid-electric aircraft, Honeywell Aerospace has announced the development of a turbogenerator that would power electric motors for such products. The unit is specifically designed to supply the high-powered electric motors and to recharge the batteries of urban mobility aircraft, such […]

Dassault Aviation’s Falcon 6X long-range, ultra-widebody business jet made its first flight from the company’s facility at Mérignac, France, near Bordeaux, on March 10, 2021. The flight was made in honor of pilot, politician, and company heir Olivier Dassault, who died on March 7 in an Airbus AS350 helicopter accident in Normandy with another pilot. Pilots […]

In May 2020, Bearhawk Aircraft launched the latest addition to its line of kit-built backcountry-ready airplanes with the Model 5—a six-place tailwheel aircraft “designed to fly fast and land slow,” according to a company release on March 1. That news shared that the first four of the Model 5 kits had gone out to customers, […]

A trio of former Cessna Aircraft Company executives has joined forces to launch a program to rehabilitate and upgrade legacy Cessna Citation Excel jets, first certified in April 1998 and precursors to the Citation XLS that debuted in 2004. The group, CitationPartners LLC, based in Wichita, Kansas, has christened the refurbished mid-sized jets “Citation Excel […]

Business and general aviation weathered the storm of a generation in 2020, and now that the skies are slowly clearing, the resilience and innovation of the industry is coming to light. That’s the primary message from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association’s State of the Industry conference, demonstrated not only in the prevailing attitude and observations […]

Surf Air Mobility says it’s acquiring Ampaire and its hybrid electric powertrain technology as a critical component of Surf Air Mobility’s plans “to improve the affordability, accessibility, and environmental footprint of regional aviation travel.” Surf Air Mobility added in a news release that “Ampaire is currently creating hybrid electric powertrains for existing popular aircraft, aimed […]