Aircraft

Daher, Safran, and Airbus announced on December 10 they had completed the preliminary design review phase for the consortium’s EcoPulse Demonstrator, which uses a distributed hybrid-electric propulsion system. The review “freezes” the aircraft’s configuration, and it positions the demonstrator for its next steps, which include mounting Safran motors in preparation for the first flight. The […]

Ampaire last month flew its Electric EEL aircraft on a 20-minute flight from Maui’s Kahului Airport across the island to Hana and back on a single battery charge. The company is now flying the route regularly in a one-month demonstration program with Hawai’i-based Mokulele Airlines, one of 15 airlines that signed a Letter of Interest […]

Dassault Aviation unveiled its first completed Falcon 6X in a virtual event on December 8 from the company’s Merignac hangar in Bordeaux, France. The event was hosted by TV journalist and pilot Miles O’Brien. Approximately 4,000 people tuned in from around the globe for the event. The 6X is the successor to the 5X program […]

Epic Aircraft and ATP have partnered to utilize ATP’s Flightdocs and Aviation Hub services for documentation and tracking across Epic’s E1000 GX fleet. ATP is a provider of aviation software and information services based in San Francisco, California, while Epic—out of Bend, Oregon—certified the E1000 turboprop in November 2019, securing Flying’s 2020 Innovation Award. Epic […]

Icon Aircraft’s Jason Huang said, “Our owners have put more than 20,000 total hours on their A5s, and one theme we’ve heard from them, in addition to the incredible fun they’re having, is the desire for an upgraded avionics and navigation package.” As Icon’s president, Huang listened to customers’ pleas. By early 2021 customers will […]

At a time when we all wish we could pull out a crystal ball to look into the future, key companies within the business aviation industry have grappled with their own predictions about what 2021 and beyond will bring—and Embraer has joined the chorus of cautious optimism balanced with the reality of a market that […]

Chances are, if you fly turboprop-powered aircraft, you have some time behind the Pratt & Whitney PT6 series engines. My own introduction to the legendary engine came when I first flew the Cessna Grand Caravan—and the marriage of the 182-like handling with the performance and reliability of the PT6A-114A (in that case) made the airplane […]

First flown on December 17, 1935, the Douglas DC-3, an iteration of the DC-1 and DC-2, married reliability with performance and comfort in a way no other airplane had before. So much greater than the sum of its parts, an apt description for an airplane that has earned the right to be called “timeless” more […]

At the NBAA’s first-ever Virtual Business Aviation Conference and Exposition (VBACE), Tamarack Aerospace Group announced the addition of the Tamarack East Coast Transformation Center at Aiken Regional Airport (KAIK), in South Carolina. The center will be associated with aviation veteran Mike Laver’s Carolina Turbine Support, which has brokered, serviced, and ferried aircraft worldwide for decades. […]

Textron Aviation announced the new Beechcraft King Air 260 at VBACE 2020, with the model already in production for deliveries to begin in the first half of 2021. The latest entrant in the legendary turboprop series joins the King Air 360, which entered service in late October, alongside the 360ER. Like the 360, the 260 […]