Aircraft

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 […]

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 […]