Aircraft

The FAA and EASA have temporarily grounded the U.S. and European fleets of Boeing 787s after a second incident involving a battery fire forced a Dreamliner to make an emergency landing in Japan on Wednesday. The FAA said Boeing would have to demonstrate that the lithium ion batteries involved were safe before 787 flights could […]

Menominee, Michigan-based Enstrom Helicopters is now owned by Chongqing Helicopter Investment Co. Enstrom president Jerry Mullins emphasized that the company’s U.S. presence would continue to grow, saying, “It will provide Enstrom with the needed resources to enhance marketing efforts in China and around the world.” Enstrom has plans to continue expansion in Menominee, having grown […]

An AgustaWestland AW109 crashed in thick fog into a construction crane atop a London residential high-rise on Wednesday morning, killing the pilot and one person on the ground and sparking a fire when the helicopter plunged to the ground. According to news reports from London, 13 others were injured in the crash near a busy […]

Hungarian company Interspect claims to have broken a world record with a highly detailed aerial photograph, providing clarity of objects down to an impressive 0.5 cm in width. The picture, which was taken at the Military Memorial Park in Pákozd, Hungary, is clear enough that, when you zoom in close, you can easily see the […]

Cirrus Aircraft today (Thursday, January 17, 2013) announced the launch of its latest SR22 models, the Generation 5 SR22 and SR22T. The new 22s features a host of quality-of-life improvements and one showstopper: a 200-pound increase in the airplanes’ maximum takeoff weight. As in past airframe updates, Cirrus calls a model a new generation only […]

Astronics Max-Viz infrared enhanced vision systems are now available for Cessna 172, 182 and 206 piston singles. Priced at just over $30,000 for a retrofit system ($22,145 as an option on a new aircraft), the system includes a wing-mounted infrared camera feeding a full- or split-screen black-and-white depiction on the Garmin G1000 multifunction display. The […]

The Astronics Max-Viz infrared enhanced vision system offers Cessna flyers a new level of situational awareness.

After a series of tantalizing Facebook posts Kermit Weeks announced yesterday that he has concluded a decade-long quest. The sole remaining flyable Sikorsky S-43 flying boat (of 53 built in the 1930s) is now his. Weeks also believes that the metaphysical spirit of the airplane’s former owner, Howard Hughes, himself, helped him acquire the aircraft. […]

Cessna has earned FAA approval for its Grand Caravan EX. The new model is outfitted with the Pratt & Whitney PT6A-140, which puts out 867 shp, a nearly 40 percent improvement in power and a roughly 20 percent improvement in its already good climb performance. Certain operators are excited about this fact, as the EX […]

Announced just last spring, the latest version of Cessna’s venerable 525 CitationJet lineup, the M2 model, is already making its way down the production line at the company’s Independence, Kansas, factory. The new model features Garmin G3000 avionics, a completely updated interior scheme and Williams FJ44 turbofan engines producing nearly 2,000 pounds of thrust apiece. […]