Aircraft

What does the future of green aircraft look like? NASA recently gave aviation enthusiasts a peek by unveiling what’s coming out of the agency’s Environmentally Responsible Aviation Project, including three new aircraft designs put forth by some of the industry’s manufacturing giants. Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman were awarded close to $11 million by […]

Cessna reached a milestone on Friday when it rolled out its 400th Citation Mustang at its manufacturing plant in Independence, Kansas. The achievement comes slightly more than five years after the first Citation Mustang delivery in November 2006. Since then, the Mustang fleet has averaged 480 hours per airplane, with close to 50 aircraft above […]

In the late 1950s, Pat Bryson dared to do what no other female in her small southern Missouri town of West Plains had ever done. She dreamed of learning to fly. When she was 15, she begged her father to allow her to take a ride in an airplane, a Cessna 170 that a man […]

(February 2012) On Oct. 4, 1982, the FAA did something that federal bureaucracies almost never do: The agency deregulated an entire segment of an industry that it previously oversaw. The legislation that did this, Part 103 of the FARs, defined ultralights (empty weight of 254 pounds, max stalling speed of 24 knots and a single […]

Whether a seaplane has a floating hull, like a flying boat, or pontoons, like a floatplane, there are several structural components that help make the airplane buoyant, reduce drag, add stability and prevent the airplane from tipping or flipping over as it is moving through the water. Here are the most important elements that allow […]

The number of private jets in service in the United States has increased more than tenfold since 1970, from fewer than 1,000 then to more than 11,000 today. The number is projected to double again by 2025, according to industry forecasts, as manufacturers experience a modest increase in sales and deliveries starting next year followed […]

Textron CEO Scott Donnelly on Wednesday pointed to improving fourth-quarter performance at the company’s flagship aviation businesses – Cessna Aircraft and Bell Helicopter – for boosting its bottom line in slowly recovering economy. “We had a solid quarter with good execution especially at Cessna and Bell,” Donnelly said on a conference call with reporters. “We’re […]

The crash of a sightseeing plane just off the coast of Honduras on Jan. 11 that was reported on by NBC’s Today show on Monday raised questions here at Flying that the NBC report did not address. Andy Atkins, his wife Jenny and four-year-old son Logan, the story reported, were on an air tour of […]

In the first concrete sign of a turnaround for bizjet maker Bombardier, the Montreal-based company said it delivered 163 airplanes in last year’s 11-month fiscal period, a slight increase from the year before, while also booking orders for 191 new airplanes – almost double the figure recorded in 2010. Last year’s improved performance was still […]

(February 2012) The first time I climbed into the Remos G-3 it was for my Sport Pilot discovery flight. The “shiny” Dynon Avionics glass and Garmin GPS, navcom and radio did not go unnoticed as I scanned the panel. “Wow, this Sport Pilot stuff is cool,” I thought. Especially since prior to this flight I […]