Aircraft

As the certification of the PC-24 Super Versatile Jet inches closer, Pilatus announced it is discontinuing the product that helped grow the company decades ago — the PC-6 Porter. The Porter has become known as a terrific short- and unimproved field performer and it’s seen one of the longest continuous production runs of any airplane […]

The number of single-engine airplanes capable of hauling a ton of cargo or six people around are pretty limited these days. Cessna’s Caravan is a top choice, but that $2.2 million price tag often puts it well out of reach for many pilots. When I spent a day with a Cessna Turbo 206 in Wichita, […]

Okay, so it’s not a flying car in the sense we grew up imagining, but Airbus A^3’s octocopter personal aerial vehicle, Vahana, is still quite impressive. Utilizing eight propellers mounted on rotating wings, Vahana is capable of vertical take-off and horizontal flight. The landing, however, is where it gets tricky. “Takeoff is fairly scripted,” Sanjiv […]

The USS Hornet Sea, Air and Space Museum had a full plate on Saturday, welcoming visitors at Pier 3 in Alameda, California, for two new additions. The day began with the unveiling of the museum’s latest restoration effort: an FM-2 Wildcat that was recovered from Lake Michigan in 1994. Obtained by the museum in 2006, […]

With slightly more than a year’s worth of work from start to finish, Blackhawk Modifications said Friday that its efforts to earn approval for their XP67A engine upgrade STC were approved by the FAA. The XP67A STC focuses on improvements to the Beechcraft King Air 350. The Blackhawk STC begins by exchanging the stock Pratt […]

As if winning the inaugural Flying Innovation Award at AirVenture 2017 wasn’t already a noteworthy accomplishment, HondaJet hasn’t left the spotlight just yet. Honda Aircraft Co. announced this week that the HondaJet was the most delivered light jet of the first half of 2017, with 24 airplanes were shipped out to buyers in North America […]

Just mention the name DeLorean and even today most people will conjure a vision of Doc Brown’s sleek, gull-winged car from Robert Zemeckis’ 1985 film Back to the Future. There was a time when that might have been enough recognition for DeLorean, but no longer. With the recent unveiling of the DeLorean Aerospace’s DR-7, it’s […]

You may recall the innovative design of the Marenco Swisshelicopter SKYe SH09 – the light helicopter with the double doors at the tail section and large sliding door entry for the glass cockpit – and wonder what is happening with the Swiss project. The answer is, a whole lot. The company announced last week it […]

For those who didn’t have the opportunity to read the April Jumpseat column, or for those who don’t recall, I conveyed a tale of woe regarding my airplane-buying experience. It had turned into a horror story. The 1972 Piper Arrow II I had purchased became a small nightmare when it was discovered by my observant […]