Aircraft

The FAA cleared the way for deliveries of the ultra-fast Cessna Citation X+ this week after it granted certification to the speedy midsize bizjet. With a top speed of Mach 0.935 (536 ktas), the Citation X+ has now displaced the Gulfstream G650 — which has a max speed of Mach 0.925 — as the world’s […]

A second flying example of the World War II-era de Havilland Mosquito flew for the first time in 48 years as Reno race pilot Steve Hinton lifted off in the restored bomber on June 16 from Victoria International Airport on Vancouver Island in far western Canada. The newly completed de Havilland 98 MK.35 is a […]

A collision between a Learjet and a German Eurofighter occurred yesterday near the town of Olberg in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The devastating event resulted in the Learjet crashing and apparently killing the two people aboard, according to the Aviation Safety Network. Parts of the Learjet were strewn over a large area, with […]

A fractional ownership firm out of Atlanta, which currently offers six Cirrus SR22 GTS airplanes to its owners, has announced it is opening up a second location in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The expansion will happen in August, the company said, but customers have already signed up at the new location, which will offer two Cirrus […]

French aerospace manufacturer Thales has come up with a proof-of-concept that takes multitasking to a whole new level. The experimental touchscreen control station would allow UAV pilots to operate multiple aircraft simultaneously. “The operator simply has to sit down and define what to track,” said Arnaud Galimberti, the project’s engineering manager. “Take-off, flight trajectory, tracking […]

Sikorsky has achieved a new milestone in the S-97 Raider program, currently in the development phase. The team at Sikorsky’s Development Flight Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, recently turned on the helicopter’s electrical power for the first time. “This is a big milestone for a development program,” said Sikorsky’s S-97 Raider program manager, Mark […]

“Cessna 48X, traffic 12 o’clock, 2 miles, 6,500, UAV maneuvering.” The ATC call was both surprising and ironic, since I was on my way from Los Angeles to Arizona to research an article about drones. I never saw the UAV, and the sound of the drone pilot’s response was not audible because communications from UAVs […]

Thanks to the success of Sporty’s 2014 RV-12 Sweepstakes, the popular pilot supplies provider has once again selected the Van’s LSA for its annual airplane giveaway. One lucky winner will be awarded the two-seater on May 16, 2015, during Sporty’s annual fly-in. Individuals who make purchases at Sporty’s between May 9, 2014, and May 8, […]

Cessna is launching its third annual Cessna Discover Flying Challenge. But this year is quite different from previous years. Instead of flying Skycatchers, the two-seat airplanes that Cessna took out of production in the past few months, the selected pilot interns will jump into six Cessna 172 Skyhawks. “The enthusiasm of our interns is contagious […]

Rotax had a big celebration last week at its factory in Gunskirchen, Austria, as the company marked the 25th anniversary of the Rotax 912 and delivered its 50,000th aircraft engine. The celebration was held at Rotax’s second annual fly-in with about 160 people in attendance from 25 countries and four continents. More than 70 light […]