Aircraft

The interior of the GippsAero GA8 Airvan has received a facelift, improving the comfort for up to eight occupants of the utility airplane. Karen Nelson, the design/customer service director of Columbia, South Carolina-based Eagle Aviation, which designed the Airvan’s new executive interior, said the materials were chosen based on the known applications of the GA8, […]

Redbird Flight Simulations unveiled a full-motion helicopter skills trainer at Sun ‘n Fun called the Redbird VTO that is designed to help new students learn the art of hovering and autorotation before transitioning to the real thing. The idea behind the simulator is to provide the visual and motion cues necessary for improving helicopter-specific skills, […]

Arlington, Washington-based Glasair is taking advantage of the investment funds made available by its Chinese owners, Jilin Hanxing Group, by launching two new products, namely a new two-seat LSA and a diesel-powered version of the popular Glasair Sportsman. I took a seat in the mockup of what Glasair has named the Merlin LSA at the […]

Despite experiencing two in-flight engine failures during the months-long test program, Cessna says all development issues related to the Safran SMA diesel engine in the 182 JT-A have been resolved and certification is “weeks away.” The 182 JT-A test airplane with the new jet-A-burning SMA compression-ignition engine suffered an emergency engine failure in August that […]

Flight Design has selected the panel offerings for its new four-seat airplane, the C4, currently in the development phase in Germany. The company has branded its panel offering the Vision Touch by Garmin. While the C4 is in process of Part 23 certification, the main screens are coming from Garmin’s G3X Touch, designed for the […]

Before it has even sold its first diesel Cessna 172 conversion, Premier Aircraft Sales announced a vast expansion of the program to cover all Skyhawks from the 172F model first built in 1965 to modern 172R and S models. Earlier this year Premier announced the diesel upgrade program, which replaces the Lycoming engine in a […]

Attendees at the opening day of the Sun ‘n Fun International Fly-In in Lakeland, Florida, had a chance to get the first glimpse of the Tecnam Astore as the Italian light airplane maker unveiled the LSA for the first time to the U.S. market. Not only is it the Astore’s first time on American soil, […]

Rotax today introduced a new version of its popular 912 series engine for light aircraft, the 912 iS Sport. The big change from the current 912 iS engine is a bigger airbox that ups the torque curve for shorter takeoff runs and steeper climbs while also providing improved fuel efficiency and higher top-end cruise speed. […]

In typical no-nonsense fashion, Van’s Aircraft has issued a special edition of its customer newsletter to inform RV-12 kit builders of new avionics options. Dynon and Garmin both recently announced touchscreen versions of their SkyView and G3X systems. Van’s laid out the price and delivery details as they currently know them, including a set of […]

Continental Motors plans to bring the Reims-Cessna F406 Caravan II back into production after acquiring the type certificate, inventory and manufacturing rights for the twin from Reims Aviation of France. Continental says it is partnering with ASI Innovation in France on the unpressurized, 14-passenger twin, first introduced by Reims Aviation in 1983. Once production resumes, […]