Aircraft

We took off from Camarillo under calm, clear blue skies. The hillsides along the coast of Southern California displayed a panoply of colors — bright-green grasses mixed with expansive patches of purple, yellow and orange flowers. The last time I was in Camarillo in a Lancair Evolution, the airplane had a big Pratt & Whitney […]

(function(d, s, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) return; var js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = ‘//cdn4.wibbitz.com/static.js’; d.getElementsByTagName(‘body’)[0].appendChild(js); }(document, ‘script’, ‘wibbitz-static-embed’)); The world’s largest aircraft has finally left its hangar and begun flight testing. The 302-foot-long, 143-foot-wide and 85-foot-tall Airlander 10 made its maiden voyage out of Cardington Airfield in Bedfordshire, England, on Wednesday, reaching […]

The TriFan 600, the unusual looking VTOL tiltrotor designed with three rotating engines that was introduced about a year ago by Denver-based XTI, has recently taken a few major steps toward reality. This week, XTI announced it has selected Honeywell’s HTS900 engine to power its first manned prototype. The prototype will be two-thirds the size […]

EAA AirVenture 2016 didn’t disappoint, drawing the airshow performers, historic airplanes, industry exhibiters and crowds for which Oshkosh is known. Here are some of the highlights from the weeklong event at Wittman Regional Airport.

AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, featured a long list of terrific aerobatic performers, some well known, some less so. The same goes for the airplanes the daring pilots were at the controls of. One of those was an airplane that has the potential to be seen not only at airshows around the world but also as […]

There’s a new hauler in town. Textron Aviation announced last week the introduction of the Cessna Turbo Stationair HD T206H, which brings greater carrying capacity and versatility. The single-engine airplane, which is powered by a turbocharged 310-horsepower Lycoming TIO-540-AJ1A engine spinning a McCauley propeller, offers five seating configurations for as many as six people. For […]

Tecnam has achieved first flight for the largest offering in its rapidly expanding product line: the P2012 Traveller. The 11-seat airplane was flown from the 3,141-foot-long grass runway at the Capua Airport (LIAU), adjacent to Tecnam’s headquarters. “After a smooth takeoff, I climbed to a safe height to perform our pre-planned maneuvers to check the […]

At EAA AirVenture this week, Lancair International’s director of business development, Kevin Eldredge, announced major changes for the iconic experimental airplane brand. With the emergence of the four-seat pressurized Lancair Evolution turbine and piston airplanes, a new corporation called Evolution Aircraft is splitting off from the parent company. Evolution Aircraft will focus solely on the […]

Embraer continues to update its rapidly expanding product line. At a press conference at EAA AirVenture, the company’s president and CEO Marco Tulio Pellegrini introduced an updated version of Embraer’s entry-level jet, the Phenom 100. The new Phenom 100 EV promises greater speed and significantly shorter takeoff distance, improving the airplane’s hot and high-performance capabilities. […]

The German-designed Remos GXiS, which first flew at the end of May, has made it to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for the EAA AirVenture migration. Remos is working on European approval as a CS-LSA and ultralight for the GXiS, as well as LSA ASTM-approval in the United States. Not only the airplane itself is German; the engine […]