Aircraft

For fans of California-based Icon Aircraft, the anticipation of a new kind of light-sport airplane for a new kind of pilot is on the verge of becoming a full-fledged reality. Icon has completed the first customer A5 light-sport amphibian, which it plans to fly later this month and deliver in June after final FAA approval […]

Pilatus Aircraft, based in Stans, Switzerland, announced it had a record year for sales revenues in 2014. With revenues of CHF 1.174 billion (more than $1.2 billion), the company saw a 16 percent jump over 2013, which was also a strong year. Pilatus delivered 127 airplanes last year, 15 more than the previous year. The […]

Embraer reached a new milestone last week as it handed over the keys to the 100th Phenom produced at its Melbourne, Florida, facility to esteemed customer NetJets. The achievement comes less than five years after Embraer launched production of its Phenom line at its Florida facilities, which have continually expanded ever since and will soon […]

How cool is it to be a pilot? The goal of our “Flying Is” Garmin video series was to share with the world just that. We received countless aviation videos from pilots around the world, and this time, we asked our readers to pick their favorite. We congratulate John Marzulli, who condensed 180 flight hours […]

Piper announced the latest iteration of its Meridian turboprop single, which it now calls the M500. I’ll admit up front that my initial reaction upon hearing the news was this: Whenever a company makes a name change to a product and that new name includes a number (in this case, the number 500) I have […]

If you’re planning on heading to Sun ‘n Fun in your seaplane to participate in the Seabird Splash-In, you will not like this story. The annual event, which takes place at Lake Agnes, located on the Fantasy of Flight property in Polk City, Florida, has been canceled. The event, which was scheduled for April 22 […]

Training airplanes powered by fuel-efficient compression ignition diesel engines are catching on in a big way in China, where the burgeoning GA infrastructure favors jet-A fuel rather than 100LL avgas. In the latest move to diesel power, the Xinjiang Tianxiang Flight School in northwest China is doubling its fleet of Diamond DA40 trainers to 30 […]

“Calm winds, clear skies, bright sunshine. It’s a wonderful day to fly.” The Flight Service Station specialist was delighted to be giving such a favorable weather report. “No,” I thought to myself. “It’s a lousy day to fly.” This surprising thought illustrates there are special considerations and risks for every aircraft you fly. You see, […]

The HondaJet is an important step closer to its market introduction after the FAA on Friday awarded the light jet’s provisional type certification. Honda Aircraft is planning for initial customer deliveries to start after remaining flight testing is completed in the next couple of months. Provisional type certification is a common design approval awarded to […]

Bertrand Piccard, one of the two founders of Solar Impulse, has completed the fifth leg of the pioneering journey in Si2, landing early Tuesday morning at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport in China. The leg from Mandalay, Myanmar, to Chongqing was a marathon of epic proportions, taking Piccard 20 hours and 29 minutes to complete. At […]