Aircraft

In 1939, flamboyant California playboy George Whittell Jr. commissioned master boat builder John Hacker to create the Thunderbird, a huge luxury yacht that matched Whittell’s polished DC-2. Inspired by that design, Embraer Executive Jets has reversed the dynamic with its Skyacht One – a luxury version of the Lineage 1000E business jet that draws on […]

An unconventional biplane emerged at the International Council of Air Shows in Las Vegas this week. John Klatt Airshows and Jack Link’s Beef Jerky announced they have teamed up to create an airplane named the Screamin’ Sasquatch — a twin-engine-powered 1929 Taperwing Waco that will be featured as part of the 2014 John Klatt Airshows. […]

Marenco Swisshelicopter has completed the prototype for its eight-seat SKYe SH09 helicopter, which the company first announced at Heli-Expo in 2012. The new prototype was unveiled last week at a special event at the Mollis Airport in Mollis, Switzerland, about 33 nm southeast of Zurich. The SKYe promises exceptional visibility with a cockpit fully enclosed […]

Amazon gave a whole new meaning to the concept of “air mail” on Sunday when the Internet giant announced a program to deliver packages to customers via drone, a plan that was first announced on the CBS news magazine show “60 Minutes.” In a video demonstration produced by Amazon, you can see a multicopter drone […]

A London business jet broker reports it has sold a Gulfstream G650 for an owner who took delivery in July. The jet went to a Japanese real estate firm for $70 million, netting a profit of $10 million, according to The Jet Business (despite the fact that list price on the G650 is $64.5 million). […]

The HondaJet, whose prototype first flew in 2003, is the only business jet that does not look exactly like all other business jets. Its sagging chin, bulging forehead and overwing engines — all carefully optimized aerodynamic refinements — are unique among current types. They are products of the purist strain in Japanese aircraft design that […]

Fans of Piper’s revered Super Cub can now find a passing copy in the light-sport market, thanks to the recent FAA approval of the Super Legend Cub LSA, built by Texas-based American Legend Aircraft Company. After suffering through six to seven weeks of delays due to the recent government shutdown, the company received the green […]

E-volo, the developer of a series of new concept helicopter derivatives the company calls volocopters, has achieved an important milestone, successfully launching its first commercially viable two-seat version, the VC200. The maiden flight occurred on November 17 inside the Dm-arena in Karlsruhe, Germany. The VC200 was remotely controlled and its 18 electrically powered rotors had […]

Dassault Aviation chief test pilot Philippe Deleume has become the first person to experience the flight characteristics of the Falcon 5X, which Dassault introduced at the National Business Aviation Association’s annual convention in October. Deleume took the controls of the newly developed Falcon 5X simulation bench at the company’s design office in St Cloud, France. […]

The FAA has certified Bombardier’s Learjet 75 light jet, a follow-on model to the Learjet 45 featuring new avionics, winglets and more powerful engines. Bombardier noted that the Learjet 75 offers improved takeoff field length performance over its predecessor thanks to its new Honeywell TFE731-40BR engines. The twinjet also features the new Bombardier Vision avionics […]