Aircraft

Burt Rutan recently unveiled preliminary details about his brand new aircraft design, a rugged two-seater outfitted with a retractable ski system that will allow the airplane to operate in rough waves around the world, both in fresh and saltwater alike. Aptly named the SkiGull, the airplane will be built of composites or titanium — no […]

Solar Impulse 2 set a distance record for solar-powered aircraft after flying almost 800 nautical miles from Oman to India on the first leg of its around-the-world journey. Si2 landed yesterday in Ahmedabad, India, with Solar Impulse project chairman and pilot Bertrand Piccard at the controls. It was the longest point-to-point distance ever flown by […]

The second all-solar-powered version from the Swiss company Solar Impulse, Si2, took off early Monday morning from Abu Dhabi on its historic flight around the world. The team hopes that the Si2 will be able to circumnavigate the globe using nothing but solar power. André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard, the cofounders of Solar Impulse who […]

With the Helicopter Association International’s annual conference underway this week in Orlando, Florida, Garmin took the opportunity to announce the addition of helicopter charts to its Garmin Pilot aviation app for iOS platforms. The app now includes helicopter route charts for the Gulf of Mexico and in eight U.S. metropolitan areas: Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Fort […]

Manufacturers will deliver around 5,000 civil turbine-engine helicopters in the next five years as global demand remains fairly steady, according to Honeywell’s latest market forecast. Plunging oil prices and a roller-coaster ride of world currencies have caused some short-term market uncertainty, but in its 17th annual helicopter purchasing outlook Honeywell foresees a return to modest […]

The FAA has validated EASA’s certification of the AgustaWestland AW189 medium twin-engine helicopter, clearing the way for customer deliveries in the United States to start soon. AgustaWestland received the validation following flight testing activities with the FAA earlier this year. The AW189 is designed for longer range, higher capacity requirements for SAR, offshore, and corporate […]

Air Methods, one of the world’s largest air medical transportation providers, announced an order for 200 of Bell’s newly introduced 407GXP light single-engine helicopter for EMS duty at bases across the United States. The order marks one of the biggest commercial sales in Bell Helicopter’s history, not to mention one of the largest orders in […]

Bell Helicopter has achieved Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) for several retrofit features through its Aeronautical Accessories subsidiary, adding a list of capabilities for Bell 429 owners. Many of the new features add great safety benefits to the helicopter. A new Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) system, the FLIR 380-HD, can be added for $9,960, not including […]

A business center called Grand Sky has claimed the spot as the first commercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) business and aviation park in the United States. The center is located at the Grand Forks Air Force Base, 16 miles west of Grand Forks, North Dakota, and offers 1.2 million square feet of hangar, office, shop, […]

AgustaWestland this morning showed off the AW609 prototype for the first time in a public venue — and in the process gave clarity to the future direction of the civil tiltrotor market with a paint scheme boasting Bristow and Eastern Airways colors. Bristow Group, one of the world’s largest offshore helicopter operators, has committed to […]