Aircraft

After nearly two decades of ups and downs, Bend, Oregon-based Epic Aircraft is celebrating the biggest achievement of the company’s history–the certification of its E1000 single-engine turboprop. The coveted paperwork for the sleek, speedy airplane was signed off yesterday by Ron Landes, Manager of the FAA’s Seattle Aircraft Certification Office (ACO). The Epic E1000 is […]

My circuitous path to the left seat of a seven-seat, million-dollar-plus, jet-A-burning Diamond DA62 twin didn’t come to fruition overnight. In fact, it took several years for me to arrive at this point. It all started with a chance encounter back in the summer of 2011, before the DA62 even existed as a certified product. […]

Daher, the French maker of the TBM and Kodiak series of single-engine turboprops, recently held a unique contest in a search for new products users would like to see on the TBM series of very fast turboprops. Daher called the contest general aviation’s first hackathon or “General Aviathon.” The company chose three winning concepts that […]

The tens of thousands of fans of the turbine-powered super STOL Draco can breathe a big sigh of relief. Mike Patey, who crashed the bright red taildragger on departure after the Stihl National Championship Air Races in Reno this fall, has announced that he is working on a major restoration of the airplane. Patey initially […]

Hang around general aviation airports long enough, and you’ll probably run across someone with a beautifully restored classic airplane, one they might have found as a wreck in someone’s garage or even in a barn. That scenario means the chance to save some significant money making an airplane fly again, assuming, of course, the new […]

Ampaire has launched a NASA-funded feasibility study to learn if the venerable Twin Otter can be efficiently modified to use a hybrid-electric propulsion system. Ampaire and Ikhana are collaborating on the NASA project to evaluate various hybrid diesel/electric configurations for the aircraft, and to develop cost, schedule and risk mitigation plans for a further phase […]

Cape Air celebrated its 30th anniversary in a special way last week, with the arrival of its first Tecnam P2012. The regional airline signed on to be the launch customer in the United States for the multiengine airplane in a collaborative process that goes back several years. Cape Air Senior Vice President, Fleet Planning & […]

Honda Aircraft Company introduced the medevac version of the HondaJet Elite, installed on an airplane operated by Wing Spirit in the Hawaiian Islands, at NBAA-BACE 2019. The modification demonstrates the potential variations in store for the jet as the model matures and its possible adaptation for special missions grows. During the development of the original […]

Tamarack Aerospace Group, inventor and manufacturer of Active Winglets, announced at the National Business Aviation Association’s 2019 Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) in Las Vegas that it has filed a Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization which includes repayment of all creditors in full and, when approved, the plan will allow Tamarack to emerge from […]

Pilatus Aircraft‘s successful single-engine PC-12, of which some 1,700 have been built, just got better as the company last night announced at NBAA in Las Vegas. Pilatus’ new aircraft is the third generation of the venerable PC-12 airframe, dubbed the PC-12 NGX. Design of the new PC-12 NGX actually began more than three years ago, […]