Aircraft

As Piper prepares for the market introduction of the M600 single-engine turboprop, scheduled to receive its FAA certification stamp of approval in the third quarter, the Vero Beach, Florida, company is dropping the prices and adding features to its other M-class models to make them more attractive to buyers. The Pratt & Whitney PT6A-powered M500’s […]

When legendary airplane designer Burt Rutan announced his retirement in 2011, a collective gasp rang through the aviation industry. Airplane enthusiasts wanted to see more of Rutan’s ingenious and sometimes whacky designs. Fortunately it wasn’t long before a sigh of relief followed the shock when details emerged of Rutan’s latest project — SkiGull. SkiGull is […]

Two years after Bell Helicopter announced the 505 Jet Ranger X, the company has made progress toward the certification of the five-seat light single-engine helicopter. Five hundred seventy-five hours of flight testing have been completed on three test platforms since the first flight in November 2014, and Bell Helicopter expects certification by the end of […]

Almost exactly two years after AgustaWestland unveiled the AW109 Trekker at the 2014 Heli-Expo in Anaheim, California, the helicopter has made its first flight. The inaugural flight was successfully completed at the Finmeccanica helicopter division in Cascina Costa, Italy. Test pilots Giuseppe Afruni and Giuseppe Segreto took the controls of the Trekker and tested the […]

An Australian aircraft icon, Seeker, will soon be manufactured here in the United States. The Seeker — an aerial surveillance aircraft that looks like a helicopter with wings — has been manufactured in Australia since the early 1990s and achieved FAA Certification about one year ago. Since then, the U.S. branch has been selling the […]

April may have been the cruelest month in T. S. Eliot’s London, but here in Los Angeles, it’s September. On the 3rd, consequently, my wife, Nancy, and I decamped for Cape Cod. Not in my airplane. For one thing, Nancy has pretty much turned against flying. I suppose that if the “Big One” — the […]

Sonex Aircraft has introduced two new airplane kits, the Sonex and Waiex B-Models. The Oshkosh, Wisconsin, plane builder says the new B models offer more room inside, more panel space, more fuel capacity, additional engine choices, and more standard features “combined with reduced build time and the same great Sonex and Waiex flight characteristics.” Sonex […]

How to Save Big on a Used Airplane By Stephen Pope If you’re in the market for a used airplane, the good news is there are thousands available for sale on trade-a-plane.com, barnstormers.com and tacked to the bulletin boards at local airports. The bad news is most of them are so old you might wonder […]

After Dr. Jerry Chen took over Mooney Aircraft Co. in 2013 and secured the investment money to restart production at the Kerrville, Texas-based factory, which had been dormant for more than five years, the company has proven its intent to bring back the legacy aircraft brand. Last night at an event at the Gillespie County […]

The mako shark may not be the biggest, but it is the fastest and one of the most ferocious of all the shark species. Capable of traveling as fast as 60 mph over sustained distances, the mako has been known to spring surprise attacks on humans, though it doesn’t prefer human flesh. Its favorite food […]