Aircraft

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 […]

The Tecnam P2010, a new high-wing four-seat single produced in Italy, is coming to U.S. shores at last after the FAA awarded the airplane’s Part 23 type certificate. Carrying a base price of $345,000, the P2010 is priced slightly below competitors’ airplanes, namely the Cessna Skyhawk, Piper Archer and Diamond DA40. Performance is similar to […]

When some Connecticut boosters recently dusted off the claim that ­Gustave Whitehead, of the township of Fairfield in that great state, was “first in flight,” I, and I suspect quite a few others, emitted the sigh of jaded déjà vu. These “who was first” arguments have become pretty tedious. Predictably, the few who were stirred […]

NASA announced that researchers at its Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) project have produced technologies that could be a major game changer for the airlines and other heavy jet operators. The agency claims the new technologies could cut airline fuel consumption in half, reduce pollution by 75 percent and drop noise pollution to nearly one-eighth of […]

Daher (then named Daher-Socata) surprised the world nearly two years ago when it introduced the TBM 900, a completely redesigned version of its speedy single-engine turboprop. The new model has become a huge success and, after recently delivering the 100th TBM 900 in December, the company announced that 2015 was the second most successful year […]