Aircraft

A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Tuesday heard a claim by Pilatus alleging that Hawker Beechcraft owes the Swiss company more than $1 million in royalties for the use of a Pilatus design for the airframe of Hawker Beech’s T-6/AT-6 military trainers. Based on the Pilatus PC-9, the trainer has been used as the platform for […]

The U.S. Air Force has started the process of replacing the two VC-25A Boeing 747-200Bs that serve as Air Force One when the president is on board, with a goal of procuring new aircraft within the next decade. The Pentagon officially authorized the acquisition program late last week, according to a report by Bloomberg News. […]

Less than two weeks after unveiling its newest model, Cessna Aircraft has announced a new name for the Turbo Skylane NXT — which apparently was too close for comfort to another model, the Remos NXT two seater. Cessna launched the jet-fuel-burning diesel 182 at EAA AirVenture 2012 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, with much fanfare using the […]

Two Bell Helicopter pilots flying a Bell 214ST on a test flight last week walked away unharmed after making an emergency landing in a Texas cotton field. The pilots reportedly made a textbook emergency landing, only to have the helicopter tip onto its side when one of the wheels dug into the soft dirt. Video […]

Boeing on Tuesday was preparing to fly its experimental X-51A WaveRider, a scramjet-powered unmanned aircraft that is designed to travel at speeds above Mach 5 burning JP-5 jet fuel. The Air Force planned to transport the aircraft under the wing of a B-52 bomber from Edwards Air Force Base in California to an altitude of […]

Continuing a strategy that more and more looks like a complete renewal of its product line, Eurocopter has revealed it is working on two new helicopter projects – the X6, a revamped model to be developed from the Super Puma family, and the X9, a project just now getting under way at the company’s factory […]

Glasair president and CEO Mikael Via has decided to leave the company after its recent sale to Jilin Hanxing Group, a China-based conglomerate, ending a tenure that saw a successful resurgence for the kitplane maker. Replacing Via at the helm of Glasair Aviation are its new president, Nigel Mott, previously the vice president of operations, […]

A preliminary report filed by the NTSB indicates that a Piaggio P.180 operated by Avantair flew two legs while missing the left side of its elevator. According to the report, the twin-engine pusher turboprop departed Camarillo, California, on July 28, flew to San Diego to pick up two passengers and then continued to Henderson Executive […]

Icon Aircraft, the California developer of the Icon A5 amphibious light sport airplane, has enlisted Cirrus Aircraft to produce a “significant portion” of the composite airframes for the LSA. As part of the agreement announced on Monday, Cirrus will build the composite airframe components for the Icon A5 at its factory in Grand Forks, North […]

Hawker Beechcraft has issued pink slips to 170 hourly and salary workers as the bankrupt company continues exclusive talks with Chinese-based Superior Aviation regarding a potential sale of the storied American manufacturer. The layoff notices – which gave the affected employees 60 days notice – were issued to workers at Hawker Beechcraft’s Little Rock facility […]