Aircraft

Just days after announcing it has struck a deal with creditors to avoid defaulting on its loans, Hawker Beechcraft is said to be preparing for a “prearranged” bankruptcy filing, expected in the coming weeks, according to a Reuters news report. Hawker Beechcraft on Tuesday said it is negotiating with its largest lenders and has received […]

Hawker Beechcraft is celebrating its 80th anniversary with a full Beechcraft product line on display at the** Sun ‘n Fun International Fly-In** and Expo this week, which includes a G36 Bonanza with the completely overhauled interior design announced last fall. The upgrade, which is being phased into the Barons and Bonanzas this year, includes a […]

Hawker Beechcraft has reached an agreement with lenders that will provide a $120 million loan as the company negotiates with creditors to avoid default. Hawker Beech said it intends to use the proceeds of the loan to fund operations as it continues working with its lenders on broader recapitalization. The company in February named turnaround […]

Cessna Aircraft has signed two deals to produce a range of aircraft in China, the company announced Friday. The first agreement, made with Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), is geared toward the creation of an aircraft service network in China, as well as other joint GA ventures within the country. The second, made with […]

At Sun ‘n Fun Socata unveiled a new model designation for its TBM 850 turboprop — dubbed the TMB 850 Elite — with a new convertible seating configuration for greatly improved cargo carrying capability. The configuration change, which takes only 15 minutes to make, takes the center seats, which normally face to the rear in […]

Last spring thousands of aviation enthusiasts and hundreds of companies flocked to the grounds of Sun ‘n Fun to take part in one of general aviation’s biggest annual events. One such company was Lockwood Aircraft Corp., a venture centered upon the one-of-a-kind homebuilt aircraft known as the AirCam and the tight-knit community of aviators who […]

Burt Rutan’s list of airplanes designed and flown (45), of honorary Doctoral Degrees (6!), of national and international awards (112), of patents held (7), and of design projects related to aviation in some way (several hundred) takes up 11 pages! This all occurred in the years between 1965, when he graduated from California Polytechnic University, […]

Embraer’s newly opened facility in Melbourne, Florida, is already about to expand. The Embraer Engineering and Technology Center, a 67,000-square-foot aviation research, development and design center, will be built adjacent to Embraer’s 80,000-square-foot Phenom assembly plant and 58,000-square-foot customer center, both of which opened last year. Construction on the new facility will begin immediately and […]

The launch of the 2012 Cirrus SR22 is noteworthy thanks to a couple of new features but even more so because, in aggregate, this is the year that the Cirrus SR22 has really arrived at the top of the heap. Back in the 1960s, the launches of a new model year’s airplanes used to be […]

Cirrus Aircraft has told Flying that it won’t be at next week’s Sun ‘n Fun fly-in in Lakeland, Florida. The company knows that the decision will prompt rumors, and it’s right. We’ve already started hearing them. Any time a major single-engine airplane manufacturer skips one of the country’s major airshows, the result is often suspicion […]