Aircraft

The super-massive Airbus A380 has had another run in with a stationary object, but this time it was a building at Le Bourget Airport on the eve of the Paris Air Show rather than a commuter jet. Still, the taxiway incident, in which the A380’s right wingtip was sheared off on June 19 as it […]

Paris Air Show visitors got a glimpse of what is claimed to be the world’s first-ever serial hybrid electric airplane this week in the DA36 E-Star, just two weeks after the aircraft made its successful first flight. The aircraft, developed by Siemens, Diamond Aircraft and EADS, is the first to employ a so-called serial hybrid […]

Extra Aircraft has received approval form the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for the Avidyne Entegra Release 9 integrated flight deck in the German-built Extra EA-500 single-engine turboprop. The certification allows IFR day and night operations in EA-500s fitted with the Entegra Release 9 upgrade. The EA-500 is a turboprop version of the Extra 400 […]

After years of back-and-forth negotiations, Bell Helicopter has at last agreed to sell its stake in the BA609 civil tiltrotor program to partner AgustaWestland. As a result, the tiltrotor is being renamed the AW609. Bell will continue to supply components and engineering support for the tiltrotor, but flight testing and manufacture will move solely to […]

(June 2011) I jumped down from Don’s red Ford 350 pickup and, with what I hoped was a disarming grin, sauntered up a gravel lane toward two men standing stolidly, feet apart, holding shotguns. Don Harner wasn’t a pilot but was one of those people who have a lifelong love affair with airplanes. And there […]

Dassault Aviation says it has found a fix for the problem that caused one of its Falcon 7X jets to climb uncontrollably a few weeks ago, an event that led to the cautionary grounding of the entire fly-by-wire Falcon 7X fleet. The company announced last week that the modification needed to prevent similar occurrences has […]

Imagine yourself in an airliner 40 years from now. What does it look like? According to Airbus’ lofty prediction, which will likely cause more than a few retrospective chuckles down the road, passengers flying in 2050 should be able to play a game of virtual golf, breathe in antioxidant-enriched air and watch the sky take […]

Cessna Aircraft has landed a contract from the U.S. Air Force for more than two dozen single-engine airplanes, and the timing couldn’t be better. The deal includes six Cessna 182T Skylanes, 26 208B Caravans and six aircrew training devices, all for use in Afghanistan for light-duty missions and training.** ** Cessna has been hurting for […]

After several months of adversity, the Diamond D-JET program is ready to continue its progress toward certification. Diamond Aircraft has secured the funding required to restart the program, and is in the process of rehiring the engineering and technical staff furloughed earlier this year at the factory in London, Ontario. Diamond North America’s president Peter […]

Hawker Beechcraft Corporation has earned FAA approval for the latest iteration of its popular turboprop twin, the King Air 250. FAA approval came after an extensive development program for a series of mods that make the 250 the fastest and most capable 200-series model yet. ** ** The airplane, featured in a Flying 2011 cover […]