Aircraft

John Monnett always thought of himself as a jet pilot, but as his 50s began drawing to a close he realized the only way that was going to happen was if he built one himself. Luckily for Monnett, his day job is founder and president of Oshkosh-based Sonex Aircraft, a kit builder already known for […]

A very different aircraft design powered by multiple electrically powered jets took off for the first time last week. The Lilium Jet has vertical takeoff and landing capabilities and this first flight was unmanned. However, the company’s vision is to use it as an air taxi platform. The proof-of-concept, named Eagle, has two seats. In […]

The Kitty Hawk Flyer prototype is not the flying car that Hollywood has been promising us. It’s not even a flying car, despite people calling it that. It is, however, the first version of what promises to be an ultralight, all-electric recreational aircraft that people can fly over water in uncongested areas, and they won’t […]

A new study conducted by the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute proves that some Americans really are eager to live like the Jetsons, zipping around the skies in flying cars. Two-thirds of the 508 adults surveyed said they’d like to at least ride in, if not operate, a flying car; although safety was the […]

The Pipistrel Panthera continues to progress toward certification, but the airplane that enters production will incorporate a vast number of design alterations — some minor, some major — that the Slovenian manufacturer hopes will make the sleek four-seater an even more attractive product. According to Pipistrel CEO Ivo Boscarol, the biggest change to the production […]

The FAA has adopted a new airworthiness directive, effective Wednesday, in response to a report of an event aboard an American Champion Aircraft Corp. airplane. Specifically, a pilot reported dealing with a stuck aileron during a flight in his Super Decathlon (model no. 8KCAB), and while he was able to “un-stick” the aileron and land […]

This morning, officials from the European Aviation Safety Agency handed over the Type Certificate for the GameBird GB1 to Bentonville, Arkansas-based Game Composites. Designed by German aerobatic champion Philipp Steinbach, the GameBird is the first aerobatic airplane certified since 2011. The FAA certification effort for the GB1 has been conducted concurrently and Steinbach expects the […]

Diamond Aircraft surprised showgoers at Aero Friedrichshafen in Germany by unveiling three versions of the new DA50 high-performance single, all of them powered by diesel engines. Perhaps the biggest surprise was that the new flagship singles won’t be powered by engines sourced from Diamond’s own Austro Engines subsidiary, but rather by French producer Safran SMA. […]

Embraer Executive Jets delivered the first Phenom 100EV to an undisclosed U.S. customer. Announced last year at EAA AirVenture, the new model is an upgraded Phenom 100 with Prodigy Touch avionics based in the Garmin G3000 system and more powerful Pratt & Whitney Canada PW617F1-E engines. The 100EV’s new engines, boasting 1,730 pounds of thrust […]

With Sun ‘n Fun taking place concurrently with the AERO Friedrichshafen show in Germany, Italian aircraft manufacturer Tecnam announced a range of upgrades to some of the airplanes in its wide range of models. The single-engine P2002 Sierra has undergone major improvements, starting with the powerplant. The Rotax 912 engine has been replaced with the […]