Aircraft

NASA yesterday chose Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Skunk Works in Palmdale to build the next X-plane to serve as a low-sonic boom demonstrator test vehicle. The Skunk Works facility is where aircraft such as the famous Blackbird, the U-2 and the F-117 first took shape. The contract translates into $247.5 million for Lockheed to build the […]

Cirrus has claimed one of the most prestigious aviation awards, the 2017 Robert J. Collier Trophy, for its SF50 Vision Jet. The award has been handed out for great aeronautical and aerospace achievements for more than a century. “By revolutionizing general and personal aviation, Cirrus Aircraft, with their Vision Jet, has added to a great […]

ANA Holdings Inc., parent company of ANA, Japan’s largest airline and Honda Aircraft Company have signed a memorandum of understanding for a strategic partnership to expand the business jet market by using Honda Aircraft’s HondaJet. ANA will use the HondaJet for its charter and feeder flights to connect passengers with the airline’s existing network at […]

Just in time for spring, Yakima, Washington-based CubCrafters has added Wipline floats to the XCub type certificate, allowing the highly capable Part 23-certified taildragger to play on water. The certification includes Wipair Inc’s Wipline 2100 floats, which are available in both amphibious and straight float versions. “The XCub’s impressive useful load makes it an ideal […]

Bye Aerospace has taken the final step toward first flight of the all-electric Sun Flyer 2. The company announced that a test pilot for the two-seat low-wing airplane has conducted several successful taxi tests and will take the airplane to the skies soon. Bye Aerspace’s CEO George Bye said the test pilot reported good taxi […]

The Vashon Ranger R7 made a surprise entrance after an unusual rollout strategy.

Cessna is moving quickly on the SkyCourier project, which parent company Textron Aviation announced in November. The company has completed the initial wind tunnel testing at the San Diego Wind Tunnel at the San Diego International Airport in California, and is making progress toward a final design. The model used for the wind tunnel testing […]

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 […]

Most general aviation pilots dream at some point about owning an airplane. There are no substitutes for the ability to jump into your own airplane and take off wherever, whenever, without any scheduling, time restrictions and costly minimum daily requirements. Or are there? If you’re not flying at least 100 hours per year, full ownership […]

Textron Aviation’s Cessna Citation Longitude has broken its own distance record, going just beyond the promised 3,500-nm range. During a recent demo tour, the airplane flew from the Seletar Airport in Singapore (XSP) to Sydney, Australia (SYD), a distance of 3,504 nm. The trip was not set up as a record setting flight. The super-midsize […]