Aircraft

At my day job, it’s easy to take for granted that most aspects of flight planning are generated by typing the appropriate codes into the computer. The data have already been entered by the dispatcher and the load planner. For the most part, my job is to simply review the information. When I made the […]

It might have seemed like a small semantic point at the time, but customers of OurPLANE are finding out that the planes were never really “theirs” after all. According to the contracts, the titles to the Cirrus SR22s in the program were held by the company, and when it liquidated last week, the “owners” joined […]

Citing an increasing accident rate among air-ambulance operators over the past decade or so, on Tuesday the FAA proposed new, stricter regulations for all helicopter operators. EMS and air ambulance flights combine several risk elements, including critical missions likely to take place in poor weather, financial pressure for private companies to fly missions when their […]

A The Wichita Eagle is reporting that the state of Kansas has agreed to financial incentives that would keep “the vast majority” of Hawker Beechcraft Corp. (HBC) jobs in Wichita. The deal is contingent on the company reaching an agreement with its employees’ union. Earlier reports indicated HBC was seriously considering moving, along with 6,000 […]

It has been a little more than 10 years since Cirrus Design Corp. delivered its first certified airplane, an SR20, to a customer. That 10-year mark is more than just an anniversary. It’s the certified interval for Cirrus owners to replace the chutes in their airplanes. Chute replacement will become an important part of Cirrus’ […]

Perhaps the first of the “high performance LSAs”

Yeee-Haa! That was the unbridled reaction to my first solo takeoff in a Carbon Cub SS, the new LSA from CubCrafters. When I pushed the little black knob forward to unleash the 180 hp CC340 engine, the tail lightened swiftly and the airplane quickly started dancing softly on its 29-inch Alaska Bushwheel Airstreak tires before […]

Last week, Eurocopter took the wraps off its developmental X3 helicopter, with a claimed top speed of 220 knots. The “speed barrier” for conventionally designed rotorcraft has always been defined by the speed differential between the advancing rotor blade(s) set off by that of the retreating blade(s). The faster the aircraft flies, the greater the […]

Daher-Socata has announced it will enter a joint development program with Allied Aviation Technologies, the company that ultimately acquired the assets of Grob’s SPn light jet program. In development since 2002, the all-composite jet had shown promise, but Grob’s timing turned out to be unfortunate and its financial backing melted away in 2009. Allied owns […]

Fractional ownership plan OurPLANE declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy in September, leaving many of its aircraft “owners” with a lot less return on investment than they thought they’d bargained for. Founded in 2003, OurPLANE sold shares in Cirrus SR22s, but the intention was always to add Eclipse 500 very light jets (VLJs) to the business plan […]