Aviation News

Robinson Helicopter Company saw a return to prosperity in 2017 as the Torrance, California, company delivered 305 helicopters, led by the R44 model with 174 delivered, making it the best-selling helicopter in the world. Kurt Robinson, the company’s president and son of founder Frank Robinson, said 77 turbine-powered R66s came off the line and, according […]

Textron Aviation’s Cessna Citation Longitude has broken its own distance record, going just beyond the promised 3,500-nm range. During a recent demo tour, the airplane flew from the Seletar Airport in Singapore (XSP) to Sydney, Australia (SYD), a distance of 3,504 nm. The trip was not set up as a record setting flight. The super-midsize […]

Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:’YkgP5JWyRcJUVNKKqEnxBg’,sig:’Bg8ynAYthlI9guwGcgOSIDIVfGpiLXPaLCnSlEWh9X4=’,w:’1000px’,h:’583px’,items:’AB67521′,caption: true ,tld:’com’,is360: false })}); The pilot training system in the United States has remained essentially unchanged for the past 50 or 60 years, with just a few notable exceptions. New technologies have added complexity to the training process, while loss of control accidents have focused everyone on how much we actually […]

When you land at the SUN ‘n FUN International Fly-In and Expo, April 10th through 15th in Lakeland, FL, how do you see it all? Best suggestion – come early!! Tuesday through Friday are the best days to speak with the 500+ aviation vendors and exhibitors about new products and just-released technology. Many companies have […]

After decades of being homeless, the recently restored B-29 Superfortress named Doc has been given a place to call home. The Wichita city council gave the go ahead for a 40-year lease for the B-29 Doc Hangar and Education Center. Construction on the new 32,000-square-foot facility will soon begin at the Dwight D. Eisenhower National […]

Bell launched the upgraded Bell 407GXi at Heli-Expo 2018 this week featuring the Garmin G1000H NXi avionics system and new Fadec-controlled Rolls-Royce engine along with an upgraded executive cabin. The 407GXi gained its Transport Canada type certificate on January 19 and will begin reaching customers this spring, Bell said. The new model replaces the 407 […]

Dassault Aviation, seeking for a way to revive its ambitions in the super-midsize category after the cancellation of the Falcon 5X development program last year, yesterday introduced the Falcon 6X, a new 5,500-nm twinjet that is due make its first flight in early 2021 and begin deliveries in 2022. Dassault has selected Pratt & Whitney […]

Supporters and opponents of efforts to sever the nation’s air traffic control system from the FAA were surprised Tuesday night when Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA) announced he was dropping his controversial ATC privatization plan and removing it from any further House consideration, at least for now. Shuster’s proposal to create a not-for-profit corporation to operate […]

The LSA market got a good surprise this week as Woodinville, Washington-based Vashon Aircraft announced the Ranger R7. With two airplanes already complete, this LSA is getting ready for delivery to its first customers. The company promises to have five airplanes ready to be delivered at EAA’s AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, at the end of […]

The single-engine four-seat Part 23-certified high-wing is back. While the design had been just about forgotten in the modern world of aviation — Cessna introduced its latest version about 50 years ago with the 177 Cardinal — Italian airplane-maker Vulcanair is the second to have recently certified a similarly configured airplane after another Italian manufacturer, […]