Aircraft

Aviation Partners Boeing (APB), a joint venture between Aviation Partners Inc. (API) and the Boeing Company, has developed a Split Scimitar Winglet (SSW) program designed for Boeing Business Jets. APB claims the new winglets improve the long-range performance of BBJ series airplanes by 2.5 to 3 percent, adding about 200 nautical miles of range over […]

At the NBAA gathering in Las Vegas this week, Honda Aircraft has underscored its commitment to its unique “over-the-wing-engine-mount” (OTWEM) HondaJet. A concrete example (literally) of that commitment opened last Thursday at the HondaJet headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina. Honda Aircraft president and CEO Michimasa Fujino, the engineering brain behind the HondaJet, said “With the […]

The flight deck of Cessna’s Citation Latitude just got better thanks to the addition of autothrottles, an enhancement announced by the company at the National Business Aviation Association Convention in Las Vegas this week. With the move Cessna brings a level of easy operation typical of larger jets into the cockpit of the midsize seven- […]

The Citation Special Olympics Airlift (CSOA) will launch next summer for the seventh time. For 2014, the jets will converge on New Jersey’s Trenton-Mercer County Airport (KTTN), arriving ahead of the games that begin on June 14 and departing the next week after the closing ceremonies on June 21. At this week’s National Business Aviation […]

The ink has barely dried on Flexjet’s history making $5.2 billion order with Bombardier but the fractional ownership provider is already changing the deal — which suits Bombardier just fine. Flexjet announced yesterday it has converted options for 30 Learjet 85s that it placed last month to firm orders and has asked for options on […]

The much anticipated HondaJet, which has been trudging toward certification since it first flew nearly a decade ago, is finally getting to the home stretch as the HF120 engine that will power the twinjet is nearing certification. With an emphasis on the word “all,” Terry Sharp, president of GE Honda Aero Engines, announced that all […]

Both Beechcraft and Nextant Aerospace offer engine/airframe/avionics upgrades for existing Hawker 400 jets (formerly the Beechjet, née Mitsubishi Diamond). Beech just upped the ante by offering the Garmin G5000 avionics suite as an option. The Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 is the other option. Brian Howell, Beechcraft v-p of aftermarket sales and business development, said, […]

At NBAA Airbus told reporters about its new safety utilities that aim to eliminate some of the most common types of commercial aircraft accidents. The ROW/ROPS (runway overrun warning and runway overrun prevention, respectively) give ACJ pilots visual indications that encourage go-arounds if things are not going well on approach. The ROP function automatically maximizes […]

Stuart Woods, the best-selling author of the Stone Barrington action adventure novels, is moving up from a Cessna Mustang to the M2. Cessna plans to make the delivery of Woods’ M2 shortly after it earns FAA certification later this year. Woods recently visited Cessna’s Independence, Kansas, manufacturing plant and got the A-lister’s tour, seeing the […]

Nextant and GE are collaborating on a new turboprop twin — the G90XT announced at the NBAA Convention in Las Vegas. Like Nextant’s 400XTi, the turboprop adds new technology to a refurbished airframe, in this case the King Air C90. Nextant is adding brand new GE H80 engines, Garmin G1000 avionics and a new cabin […]