Aircraft

Kevin McCullough’s grandfather, who started a Commander service center called Aero Air in 1956, used to say: “God never made a low-wing bird.” So when McCullough was old enough to start flying, there wasn’t much choice. “I learned to fly in a Lark Commander, got my multiengine rating in a Shrike Commander and then went […]

Ikhana Aircraft Services has kicked off a new program at the French Valley Airport (F70) in Murrieta, California, that focuses on a complete refurbishment of the de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter. Named the Ikhana Twin Otter X2, the program strips the aging airframes and brings them a new life with a life limit of 66,000 […]

Bombardier unveiled the first NetJets Global 6000 on Sunday at the NBAA Convention. The ultra-long-range jet will be handed over to the company in the coming weeks as part of what will go down as the second-largest aircraft purchase in the history of private aviation. Equipped with the Pro Line Fusion avionics suite from Rockwell […]

Kestrel Aircraft President and CEO Alan Klapmeier gave an update on the development of the company’s single-engine turboprop this week at the NBAA Convention. The new design is significantly different from the Farnborough Aircraft-designed prototype Kestrel that first flew in 2006. “The changes are really driven by what we think the customers expect,” Klapmeier said. […]

Of all the interesting aircraft featured on the exhibit floor of NBAA 2012, one somewhat mysterious un-named mock-up has captured the particular interest of a number of attendees. The mock-up in question was brought to the show by Cessna in an effort to gauge the reactions of attendees as they take it in both from […]

When buyers start taking delivery of their new Gulfstream G650s later this year, they will be delighted to learn that the ultra-long-range business jet can fly farther at faster speeds than originally projected. Gulfstream says the G650’s range at its high-speed cruise of Mach 0.90 is now 6,000 nautical miles, a 1,000-nm increase over the […]

Cessna is upgrading the Citation Sovereign midsize business jet with a switch to Garmin G5000 avionics, more powerful and efficient Pratt & Whitney engines and performance-boosting winglets. The change to Pratt & Whitney PW306D turbofan engines will increase the Sovereign’s range by 150 nautical miles, giving the airplane a total range of over 3,000 nm. […]

The flight home began early on the last day of AirVenture. Andy Werback took the active runway, advanced the throttle and headed west. In the eight+ hours of flying it would take to get back to his home in Sebastopol, one has to wonder how many times he glanced at the Gold Lindy trophy near […]

The business jet side of Boeing this week announced its intent to offer a new ultra-long-range line of airplanes called BBJ Max. The first offerings will be the BBJ Max 8 and BBJ Max 9, said BBJ President Steven Taylor at a press conference at the NBAA Convention in Orlando, Florida. The new models, he […]

Dassault Falcon is fine-tuning its product mix with the launch of the $30.4 million Falcon 2000LXS as a replacement for the current 2000LX. The biggest changes center on new model’s improved short-field capability thanks to the addition of full-length inboard slats on the wing. The 2000LXS will also boast increased payload carrying capability and a […]