Aircraft

Last week in Houston the public got a rare treat as the last three airworthy WB-57 airplanes took to the skies for a historic photo flight. It was the first time they had flown together since the 1970s. The three WB-57s took off from NASA’s Ellington Airport facility on Thursday for a formation flight around […]

Nextant Aerospace has received FAA certification for the G90XT, a remanufactured Beechcraft twin turboprop with GE H75 engines, an avionics suite based on Garmin’s G1000 and new paint and interior. The new model’s GE engine offers a noteworthy performance benefit by delivering improved high-altitude performance and about a 10 percent improvement in specific fuel consumption. […]

ONE Aviation announced Wednesday that its Eclipse 550 twin-engine jet was awarded type certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). “We are thrilled to have EASA certification in place,” says David Hayman, CEO of Aeris Aviation. “This now opens the EU OPS market [European equivalent of Part 135] for the Eclipse, allowing us to […]

The French producer of the TBM product line, Daher, has launched a new concept to support a growing number of charter operators transporting customers in TBM airplanes. Named the TBM Charter Pack, the program extends Daher’s TBM Care Program (TCP) to cover the increase in flight time that comes with commercial operations. While there are […]

Torrance, California-based Robinson Helicopters has announced a new two-seat version of the R44 named the Cadet. The design is targeted for the training market, though Robinson says the Cadet can be employed in a variety of missions. The basic design parameters for the Cadet, such as the airframe, rotor system and Lycoming O-540-F1B5 power plant, […]

Dassault Aviation’s new flagship, the Falcon 8X, made its debut this week at the NBAA’s Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition in Las Vegas. The new ultra-long range Falcon 8X will offer the greatest range and cabin length in any Falcon aircraft, as well as the broadest selection of cabin configurations. Since taking their first flight […]

Honeywell Aerospace trimmed its business jet forecast slightly compared with the value noted in last year’s outlook, saying slow economic growth and the anticipation of new models in flight testing will lead to fewer aircraft deliveries in 2016. Honeywell nonetheless predicted that 9,200 new business jets worth an impressive $270 billion will roll out of […]

Stans, Switzerland-based Pilatus announced improvements to the 2016 model of its single-engine turboprop-powered PC-12 NG, upgrades the company says will provide its customers with greater speed, climb performance, range and cabin comfort. Without increasing the horsepower of the PT6A engine, but rather through several drag-reducing modifications, the max cruise speed has been increased to 285 […]

Flexjet has placed a firm order for 20 supersonic business jets under development by Aerion, a would-be manufacturer backed by billionaire investor Robert Bass with technical involvement by Airbus. The announcement adds more credibility to the program as Aerion strengthens its ties with Airbus and decides on a site for its factory. Aerion hopes to […]

In 2004, Aerion introduced the first design of its supersonic business jet. More than 10 years later, the project is gaining traction, with the company gaining backers, solidifying collaborations with partner Airbus and searching for a factory site. Still, the first supersonic business jet won’t hit the market anytime soon; the Aerion AS2’s first flight […]