Aircraft

A homebuilt airplane can be built, as the name suggests, in the comfort of your own garage. (Photo courtesy of Justin Twilbeck)| As we all know, the cost of flying has increased tremendously over the past few decades, and today a factory new airplane is too expensive an option for many would-be airplane owners. While […]

The Beechcraft Bonanza holds a coveted spot in aviation history as the longest continually produced airplane of all time. Beechcraft celebrated a significant milestone for the storied airplane on Monday, handing over the 4,000th Model 36 Bonanza, a G36 purchased by a Baltimore, Maryland, commercial real estate firm. In all, Beechcraft has produced more than […]

The speedy Gulfstream G650 and Cessna Citation X might have to get out of the way of this one: A U.S. startup firm has launched a tandem, two-seat “luxury” jet called the Saker S-1 that it says would be the fastest private civilian airplane ever with a top speed of Mach 0.99. Saker Aircraft says […]

Pilatus was the first manufacturer to start giving airplane buyers a free Apple iPad loaded with owner’s manuals and apps. Now the Swiss company is adding in-cockpit Wi-Fi capability by offering an option to incorporate Aspen Avionics’ Connected Panel technology with the PC-12 NG’s Honeywell Primus Apex avionics system. The upgrade will enable pilots to […]

Cirrus Aircraft is donating an SR22 for AirSpace Minnesota’s planned Aviation Learning Center to give young students the chance to experience the wonder of aviation firsthand. AirSpace Minnesota is joining with the Museum of Flight in Seattle to create the Aviation Learning Center in the Twin Cities area. When completed, the center will feature hands-on […]

Back in another era when flying was expensive and only the very wealthy could afford Wacos, Stinsons and Travel Airs, a new class of low-cost, low-power airplanes lowered the financial bar for aircraft ownership. With newly developed engines in the 50 hp range, lightweight Cubs, Taylorcrafts and Aeroncas brought flying within range of a whole […]

The Nextant 400XTi, Nextant Aerospace’s remanufactured business jet, was on display at this week’s EBACE show in Geneva, and the company came away with orders for three to be used as air ambulances in India. In addition, Aviators (the name of the Indian company) will become the exclusive sales agent for Nextant in India. The […]

Waco, Texas-based Blackhawk Modifications is getting close to achieving STC approval for its Cessna 208A XP42A upgrade package, which replaces the 675 shp Pratt & Whitney PT6A-114A with an 850 shp PT6A-42A engine spinning a 100-inch-diameter Hartzell four-blade prop. The performance of the new engine is monitored by Blackhawk’s Hawkeye DigiLog engine gauges and the […]

The first production example of the new Cessna 182 JT-A Turbo Skylane made its inaugural flight this week, ushering in a new era as the first modern single-engine piston airplane designed specifically to run on jet-A. “The Turbo Skylane JT-A performed just as expected,” said Cessna senior test pilot Dale Bleakney. “The weather conditions were […]

Cessna CEO Scott Ernest updated the European market on Cessna’s current business state during the EBACE show in Geneva. Since it’s primarily a business aviation venue, he started with a report on the developmental jets in the company design pipeline. He said, “The Garmin 3000-equipped Citation M2 is right on track,” adding that the new […]