Aircraft

The Bell Helicopter 505 Jet Ranger X, a five-seat multi-mission helicopter, has achieved certification by Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA). The light helicopter progressed quickly through certification after its unveiling at Heli Expo in 2014. “The Bell 505 is truly a game changer in the short light single market, and we are proud of the […]

Cirrus Aircraft handed over the first customer SF50 Vision at an extravagant ceremony on Monday at its production facility in Duluth, Minnesota. The milestone caps a decade-plus-long effort to introduce to the aviation market the first single-engine personal jet. This initial customer Vision Jet, painted in an attractive red-and-white scheme that Cirrus calls Corso Red […]

Gulfstream is known for being on top of its development schedule, and this time the company has broken the targeted deadline for the first flight of the technologically advanced G600, announced last year concurrently with the shorter G500, an airplane well on its way to certification by the end of next year. The G600 was […]

After a fitful production start for the A5 light-sport aircraft, Icon Aircraft has regrouped. The company has built a composite factory in Mexico to “improve and control the manufacturing process while simultaneously reducing cost,” says Icon’s founder and CEO, Kirk Hawkins. While the new Tijuana-based composite shop is getting up and running, Icon has opened […]

Last week, the four-seat Stratos 714 jet took to the skies for the first time from the company’s headquarters at the Roberts Field Airport in Redmond, Oregon. The plan for the flight, which lasted only 10 minutes, was to evaluate the general stability and systems operation of the single-engine jet. Test pilot Dave Morss was […]

Early buyers of the Icon A5 light sport amphibian who were disappointed by a one-year production delay announced over the summer are now getting the chance to experience their airplanes on some incredible adventures thanks to innovative thinking on the part of manufacturer Icon Aircraft. The California company is leasing back the first couple dozen […]

Designed to fit between its entry-level jets and behemoth bizliners, Embaer’s Legacy 450 has changed the midsize jet game with superb speed and range and fly-by-wire controls. Flying recently had the chance to fly and review the Legacy 450 near Embraer’s production facility in Melbourne, Florida. See some of what gives the Legacy 450 a […]

A decade ago, some people scoffed when Embraer announced its intention to create a complete line of business airplanes, from entry-level jets to behemoth bizliners, especially when the sum total of the company’s bizav experience to that point had been creating the Legacy 600 from the ERJ-135 regional jet. But once the Phenom series of […]

While talk of drones in all shapes and sizes — aircraft capable of tasks like snapping photos from 200 feet above a hazardous situation — has become almost a part of daily life around the world, some companies are already hard at work on the next generation of autonomous vehicle. An Israeli company, Tactical Robotics, […]

There has been a lot of talk of supersonic airplanes of late, with Aerion developing a Mach 1.5 bizjet and NASA working on new technologies to make supersonic flight quieter. Now a new supersonic commercial passenger jet named Boom is emerging. The Denver-based team is targeting a top speed of Mach 2.2, Mach 0.2 faster […]