Aircraft

Hawker Beechcraft‘s Global Customer Support (GCS) has expanded its XPR upgrade program for the Hawker 400 and 800. The program, which was previously exclusive to airframe owners, provides a factory completed option for customers interested in purchasing an airplane and upgrading it with the XPR components and other upgrades. GCS will assist those customers in […]

After a one-year hiatus of the Red Bull Air Race World Championships, officials say the much-anticipated event won’t be held in 2012 either. The organization behind the event called for the one-year break in 2010, citing, among other reasons, the need to “further improve the already high levels of safety” surrounding the Championship. That one-year […]

Company founder Frank Robinson made a point of showing up at the Torrance, California, factory he built for the ceremonial delivery of Robinson helicopter number 10,000, an R44 that was delivered to Brazilian dealer Audi Helicopters. During the ceremony, Robinson spoke to attendees, telling them with pride that his company did it on its own […]

A Middle Eastern financial firm has thrown a lifeline to cash-starved Diamond Aircraft in a deal that not only saves the company from potentially going out of business but also allows it to proceed with development of its D-Jet, a five-seat, single-engine VLJ. Medrar Financial Group in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, snapped up a majority […]

Cessna Aircraft Company has designated a Citation Mustang named American Patriot to fly missions for the Veterans Airlift Command (VAC) – a non-profit organization that organizes volunteer aircraft owners and pilots to provide free transportation to wounded veterans and their families. The Mustang’s first mission is being flown today [November 10], transporting two veterans from […]

Cirrus Aircraft reported a modest turnaround in third quarter, announcing it built 68 new airplanes in the period, seven more than during the third quarter of 2010. Only 48 of these were included in the General Aviation Manufacturers Association’s third quarter industry report, released on Monday, but Cirrus said an additional 20 uncounted aircraft rolled […]

The world’s first Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which started carrying paying passengers only last month with Japan’s All Nippon Airways, ran into its first technical glitch on Sunday when the landing gear failed to deploy. The 787’s pilots manually lowered the gear, after which the airplane landed safely in Okayama, Japan, after flying from Tokyo, according […]

Piper Aircraft on Monday reported better delivery and revenue numbers during the third quarter of 2011 than the company did one year ago, based in part on stronger Piper M-class aircraft deliveries. The company’s revenue jumped more than 25 percent this year compared to 2010, rising from $28.1 million to $35.3 million. According to Piper […]

Manufacturers of piston-powered light singles and twins delivered 190 airplanes in this year’s third quarter (157 singles and 33 twins), a 9.1 percent decline from the 209 piston airplanes delivered in the same period last year. Total piston shipments so far this year are down 8.8 percent compared with last year’s numbers, the fourth year […]

Wow, what an eye opener! Last night I completed 1.4 hours of my 3-hour night flight-training requirement for the private certificate, single-engine rating, with First Landings Aviation CFI Chris Esposito. I shot 8 full-stop landings in the Remos GX, leaving the last two of the 10 required for my dual cross-country night flight. All I […]