Aircraft

The FAA and EASA recently issued emergency airworthiness directives (EAD) for Eurocopter’s popular twin-engine helicopter – the EC 135. There are some differences between FAA’s EAD 2012-10-51 and EASA’s AD 2012-0085-E, but both were implemented because cracks have been found in the hub-shaft flange of a main rotor hub. These cracks could result in the […]

GippsAero, the Australian aircraft maker, said it has successfully completed the first flight of its new turboprop single, the GA10. Powered by a Rolls-Royce 250 turboprop engine, this latest model from GippsAero is a 10-seat multirole airplane based on the piston-powered GA8 Airvan utility airplane. The first flight took place at GippsAero’s home base at […]

Hawker Beechcraft said it received orders for 11 airplanes – including three of its flagship Hawker 4000 super-midsize business jets, a Hawker 400XPR, six King Air 350i turboprops and a King Air 250 – during EBACE at Geneva International Airport in Geneva, Switzerland, last week. The total sales amount to more than $120 million, providing […]

In the wake of its announcement of an AD on its Cessna 210, 210T and 210P models, Cessna has announced that it is expanding its mandatory inspections to its 100-series airplanes (from the Cessna 120 to the Cessna 195) that were manufactured between 1946 and 1986 (the latter date being when Cessna suspended its single-engine […]

Since Eurocopter‘s formation 20 years ago from the merger of helicopter producers in France and Germany, the company has steadily increased its market share, capturing and holding onto the coveted spot as the world’s largest civil helicopter maker. One product above all others deserves the credit for initiating this rise to prominence: the EC 135. […]

Eclipse Aerospace has signed an agreement with Sikorsky subsidiary PZL Mielec in Poland covering the production of Eclipse jet wings, fuselages, empennages and other components. The parts will be built by PZL Mielec at its factory in southern Poland and shipped to the Eclipse factory in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for final assembly and customer deliveries […]

Recently, I was reminded about that “thing” about flying when Bonnier Corp.’s Flying magazine and Jack Brown’s Seaplane Base in Winter Haven, Florida, hosted 12 folks visiting from the Bonnier parent company’s headquarters in Sweden as part of a Live the Brand event. Flying offered up two choices: discovery flights in Cessnas or discovery flights […]

AgustaWestland’s AW169 took to the skies for the first time last week, marking a significant milestone on its path to certification in 2014, the company announced. According to AgustaWestland representatives, the AW169 – launched nearly two years ago at the Farnborough International Air Show – performed and handled “as expected” during the test flight at […]

Honda head Michimasa Fujino took the opportunity at Ebace to update the industry on the progress of Honda’s eponymous light jet on Monday, telling reporters that the fourth Honda Jet recently made its first flight and that the program is making great progress toward certification, with FAA and EASA certification anticipated in 2013. The jet […]

On the home page of the Van’s Aircraft website, there is a replica of a Hobbs Meter. It doesn’t count hours; however, it counts aircraft completions…the number of RVs that have been finished and flown. The count this afternoon was 7,684! No other design in the homebuilt movement has come close to that. What’s equally […]