Aircraft

A group of 40 maintenance trainees at Emirates Airlines’ training academy have completed a Van’s RV-12 kit plane in their after-hours time. Construction took about two years of spare-time work. The light-sport aircraft is painted in Emirates livery and is on display at the Dubai Airshow in the United Arab Emirates this week. The RV-12 […]

The designer of the unusual CarterCopter made history last week during a test flight of a prototype slowed-rotor compound helicopter by breaking a barrier considered crucial to high-speed rotorcraft flight. Carter Aviation Technologies of Wichita Falls, Texas, said test pilots flew the CarterCopter above the so-called Mu-1 barrier (in which the speed of the rotor […]

The Barrett-Jackson collector car auction occasionally gets an airplane or two on the docket and many airplane manufacturers display their new products on the show grounds. For January’s Scottsdale show, Cessna has donated a nicely restored 1959 model L-19 Bird Dog. Cessna built the Bird Dog on commission by the United States Government as a […]

Terrafugia, developer of the Transition roadable aircraft project, has posted an appeal for funding on the Wefunder “crowd investor” website similar to the better known site, Kickstarter. Federal investor rules have changed recently, allowing the company to post on the site in September. On the Wefunder site, Terrafugia CEO Carl Dietrich described how the investment […]

When Van’s Aircraft announced last fall that it would market factory-built versions of its RV-12 light sport aircraft, the kitplane world turned an interested eye. The first dozen delivery positions were quickly consumed. Now, Synergy Air, the Eugene, Oregon, company that builds the airplanes, has announced the next batch of 12 RV-12s is up for […]

To say I was looking forward to flying Cessna’s new Citation M2 is a great understatement. As I flew from Austin, Texas, up to Wichita, Kansas, in my Garmin-equipped SR22 to meet with the folks from Cessna, I couldn’t help but wonder how Cessna had made a light jet designed more than 20 years ago […]

**2013 Cessna Citation M2 ** ** ** The Cessna Citation M2 flown for this report was a factory test article with conforming avionics (with a few minor exceptions) but without a production interior. The airplane was outfitted with the Garmin G3000 integrated avionics suite with digital autopilot, dual GTC 570 touch-screen controllers, datalink, ADS-B, Garmin […]

The FAA today issued its first ever “roadmap” outlining the steps it says will be necessary to safely integrate unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the nation’s complex airspace. The 72-page document outlines the FAA’s approach to mixing drones into civilian airspace safely and securely while addressing privacy concerns. This will involve establishing specific certification requirements […]

On the YouTube video, you hear the distinctive whine of a turboprop engine spooling up. But the sight picture doesn’t match up. Isn’t that a 1948 Luscombe 8E? The extended nose is the tipoff that this is no piston-slapping flivver of an airplane. And then, it backs up on the ramp. This turboprop-powered Luscombe is […]

The odds of Cessna reclaiming its spot as the maker of the fastest civilian airplane just grew stronger. While Gulfstream one-upped the Wichita-based company when its Mach 0.925 G650 business jet was brought to market last year, Cessna announced last week that it has proven the promised performance capabilities of the Citation X speedster to […]