Aircraft

Rimowa, a maker of high-end suitcases in Germany that has been in business since the late 1800s, threw a lavish, Golden Age of Aviation-themed party at the Dubendorf Airfield outside Zurich, Switzerland, last Thursday to celebrate the official first flight of its replica Junkers F13 – famed for being the first all-metal commercial airplane. Flying […]

Textron’s Beechcraft subsidiary has received full FAA certification for all program elements of its Beechcraft/Hawker 400A upgrade. All upgrade work is completed either in Wichita, Kansas, or at a Textron Aviation service center. The completed effort transforms the old 1980s-era airframe into a Hawker 400XPR that offers improved climb and takeoff performance, as well as […]

Boeing has teamed up with Swedish Saab AB, designer of the Gripen multi-mission fighter jet, to produce a military jet trainer designed to compete for the U.S. Air Force T-X contract. The contract is expected to include an order of at least 350 jets worth billions of dollars to replace more than 400 existing T-38 […]

Icon Aircraft will christen a new factory in Tijuana, Mexico, to produce composite airframes for the A5 light sport amphibian, Kirk Hawkins, founder and CEO of the California company, told Flying. Outside suppliers had been tasked with producing composite airframe components for the A5 until Icon decided in May to bring the work in house. […]

The TriFan 600 project, currently in development by Denver-based XTI Aircraft, has reached an agreement with Primary Capital LLC for Series B financing totaling $20 million. This batch of funds should give investors some peace of mind when putting up their money toward the developmental VTOL aircraft. The investments are offered to accredited investors — […]

Polish car-part manufacturer Metal Master has for years been working on a very light jet named Flaris LAR 1, which was on the road to its first flight in early 2015. The company has now mounted a new engine, the Williams FJ33-5A, to the tail section of the tiny fuselage. The engine received FAA certification […]

The first flight of what will be Cessna’s largest business jet is just weeks away, the manufacturer says. Cessna this week successfully completed ground engine tests on the Citation Longitude’s Honeywell HTF7700L turbofan engines. “The engine run tests are one of the final major milestones as we prepare for first flight,” said Textron president and […]

Piper’s M500 received approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), clearing the way for the 500-shp Meridian to enter into service on the European register. “EASA certification is an important milestone allowing us to kick off a major sales campaign to bring the M500 to the European market,” said Simon Caldecott, president and CEO […]

A Gulfstream G280 owner recently had the chance to show off the midsize business jet’s range on a nonstop flight from Chicago Aurora Municipal Airport to Tours Val de Loire Airport in France. The flight was the jet’s longest to date. David MacNeil, founder and CEO of automobile accessories manufacturer WeatherTech and owner of the […]

Flying magazine recently had the chance to fly and review the Lancair Evolution Piston, which features the same composite airframe as its turbine-powered counterpart along with a 350 hp Lycoming iE2 engine. Check out some shots of the experimental four-seater piston below.