Aircraft

At the close of each year, the editors of Flying convene to consider the positive attributes of the best aviation products to emerge in the preceding 12 months. Our annual Editors’ Choice Awards are as much about honoring the innovative ideas behind exceptional new products as celebrating the hard work of the people in aviation […]

Supersonic bizjet developer Aerion is continuing its strategy of teaming up with the experts in the industry as it progresses through the development of what could become the world’s first supersonic business jet, the Aerion AS2. The company signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with military and space-transport giant Lockheed Martin to explore the possibility […]

Mojave, California-based Scaled Composites has taken a major leap in the development of the massive Stratolaunch program. The world’s largest aircraft (by wingspan) took to the tarmac this weekend, blasted its six Pratt & Whitney PW4056 engines to life and completed the initial taxi tests. As the Stratolaunch rolled down the runway, the wings, which […]

Stop by the Pitt Meadows airport near Vancouver soon and you might catch a glimpse of what Pipistrel Aircraft hopes is the future of flight. The Slovenia aircraft builder’s Canadian distributor, Pipistrel Aircraft Canada Inc., recently delivered the first completely electric two-seat Alpha Electro to a customer near Vancouver. While the aircraft arrived in a […]

Pilatus announced late last night that it has achieved certification for its Super Versatile Jet – the PC-24. Certification was reached both with the FAA and European Aviation Safety Agency concurrently. The achievement is a major milestone for the Swiss manufacturer as the airplane is the first business jet to ever be certified in Switzerland, […]

The Commemorative Air Force’s restoration of the airplane that led the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944 in Normandy, France — a C-47 named That’s All, Brother — is progressing quickly. The team is closing in on first flight activities less than three years after the CAF committed to restoring the historic airplane. The C-47 […]

Named the Ultra models, Mooney’s modernized Acclaim and Ovation are now FAA-certified and rolling out of the factory at an increasing rate. As a Mooney pilot and owner, I was excited to evaluate the M20U Ovation Ultra in conjunction with Mooney Aircraft Pilots Association’s annual Homecoming Convention, which was held in late September 2017 at […]

Building on a three-decade business relationship with FedEx Express, Textron Aviation today launched a clean-sheet high-wing utility twin turboprop, the Cessna SkyCourier 408, due to enter service in 2020. Powered by a pair of 1,100 shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65SC engines, the SkyCourier will be capable of loading three standard LD3 shipping containers through […]

Yakima, Washington-based CubCrafters, the manufacturer of backcountry Cubs on steroids, this week introduced two updated versions of its highly successful Carbon Cub. The two-seat taildragger is now available with increased power, speed, range and payload with the Carbon Cub EX-3 and FX-3 models. “The Carbon Cub has a well-earned reputation as the performance leader among […]

The recent end of the FAA’s fiscal year at the close of September brought good news to the amateur-built aircraft world when agency data showed a marked decline in the number of accidents in that category of aircraft. “For the 12-month period from October 1, 2016, to September 30, 2017, fatal accident totals in amateur-built […]