Aircraft

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 […]

If you’re fascinated by anthills,** Boeing’s new flight tracking system** is definitely for you. The Boeing Flight Tracker shows Boeing airplane activity around the world during a 24-hour period based on data provided by OAG (Official Airline Guide). The displayed flights are not in real time. The current data is based on information collected in […]

Just a few months after EASA granted approval to GE Aviation’s new H80 turboprop engine, the FAA has given the engine the green light as well. With FAA type certification now in hand, the 800 horsepower H80 is cleared for use on the Thrush 510G crop duster, which made its first flight with the H80 […]

The shared ownership market got a new entry recently when Atlanta (PDK) based Ascension Air launched its Cirrus shared ownership service. Ascension Air offers eighth shares in new Cirrus SR22s at remarkably competitive rates. According to Ascension Air, pilots can get into a new airplane for around $10,000 down and a flat monthly fee of […]

Italian aircraft maker Tecnam, which is perhaps best known for its LSA models but which is now branching out in new directions, has issued a progress report on one of those new models, the four-place P-2010, which, taking a page out of Cessna’s Citation X/Ten playbook, it has nicknamed the Twenty-Ten. The to-be-certified model is […]

One of Cessna’s newest bizjets, the Citation M2, took to the skies on Friday for its maiden flight, remaining airborne for approximately an hour and half as the prototype’s crew conducted the first round of preliminary tests of the aircraft’s Garmin G3000 avionics suite, autopilot and engines. During the flight, which also included tests of […]

The FAA is asking the public to weigh in on the criteria for six future unmanned aircraft test sites in the United States in anticipation of the larger integration of drones slated to take place in North American airspace over the next few years. The comment period, which officially opens on Friday, will remain active […]

Russian company Enterprises LLC has acquired Bend, Oregon-based Epic Aircraft. The acquisition has the potential to push FAA certification forward for Epic’s LT – a six-seat single-engine turboprop that has been sold as a kit. An Epic spokeswoman said the company expects certification in three years. Enterprises LLC, a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) company, […]

Placing large loads onto small pins using an Erickson Air-Crane, a machine with 9,600 shaft horsepower and a 72-foot rotor, is a bit like threading a needle with a leaf blower. The key is the back-seat driver. Unique among helicopters, the Erickson Air-Crane has a third pilot’s seat, facing aft toward the tail rotor. An […]