Aircraft

Being a tail dragger aficionado since my Citabria ownership days probably gave me a leg up on taking to Belite Aircraft‘s Chipper when I first saw it at Sun N Fun in April. Belite’s president, James Wiebe, made it clear from the start of our conversation in Lakeland that the Chipper was a work in […]

I’m sitting on a remote dry lake bed in Utah, having a fabulous catered lunch consisting of a variety of scrumptious fresh berries, sandwiches and cookies. It’s as far from the hustle and bustle as you can get. The faintest wind gust is audible, and each step I take on the fine-grained sediment creates a […]

Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. just delivered the 550th copy of its popular G550 business jet, a move company president Mark Burns said has “earned it a lasting reputation as a versatile aircraft for business aviation and an ideal platform for special missions. The aircraft’s technological and safety advances also led the G550 to be awarded the […]

A new lease on life is always welcome. One Aviation said last week the FAA had granted it just that by extending the structural life limit on the Eclipse 500 and 550 from 10,000 to 20,000 flight hours or 20,000 cycles, whichever occurs first. The change applies to all airframes with the extended tip tank […]

An anonymous bidder who offered $2.615 million last Friday was named the winner of Sporty’s Vision Jet auction at AirVenture, a partnership idea between the world-famous pilot shop and Cirrus Aircraft. Sporty’s offered its early delivery position of a Cirrus Vision Jet with a plan to hand over any dollar amount above the airplane’s $1,927,653 […]

Flight Design, the European manufacturer of light sport airplanes, has completed the sale of all major company assets to the German investment group Lift Holding, allowing for the resumption of work on the C4, a Part 23-certified four-seater with a projected selling price of $250,000. The newly realigned company, which entered receivership last year, will […]

The new owners of Lancair International, father and son team Mark and Conrad Huffstutler, brought their first offering to Oshkosh to put on display at EAA’s AirVenture. The four-seat composite Mako is an experimental alternative to the Cirrus SR22 or Cessna TTx. While the main gear is fixed, the Mako incorporates an optional retractable nose-gear […]

After a rough couple of years for Icon Aircraft, the California maker of the A5 light sport amphibian, the company now says it’s ready to turn its attention to high-rate production that should see as many as 200 airplanes produced and delivered in 2018. Icon handed over the first six airplanes in June and July […]

Demonstrating the performance and fuel efficiency of its SMA-powered compression-ignition Cessna 182 Skylane, Soloy Aviation Solutions flew nonstop to EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, from its home base in Olympia, Washington, a 1,485 nautical mile trip. The SMA SR305-230E engine consumed 80 gallons of jet-A for the flight, crewed by Soloy pilot Tony Uhl and […]

Breitling’s DC-3 is in the middle of its record-breaking world tour, which started in March and ends in September, making a stop at AirVenture Oshkosh and hitting its last stops before its final destination of the Breitling Sion Airshow in Switzerland. The DC-3, at 77 years old, will be the oldest plane to circumnavigate the […]