Aviation News

Limousine driver and self-proclaimed rocket scientist (who doesn’t believe in science) “Mad” Mike Hughes was all set to pilot his self-designed and self-built $20,000 rocket over the California ghost town of Amboy on Saturday. Sponsored by Research Flat Earth, an organization that he aligned with after several months of his own research, Hughes was going […]

Building on a three-decade business relationship with FedEx Express, Textron Aviation today launched a clean-sheet high-wing utility twin turboprop, the Cessna SkyCourier 408, due to enter service in 2020. Powered by a pair of 1,100 shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65SC engines, the SkyCourier will be capable of loading three standard LD3 shipping containers through […]

Yakima, Washington-based CubCrafters, the manufacturer of backcountry Cubs on steroids, this week introduced two updated versions of its highly successful Carbon Cub. The two-seat taildragger is now available with increased power, speed, range and payload with the Carbon Cub EX-3 and FX-3 models. “The Carbon Cub has a well-earned reputation as the performance leader among […]

For the first time since 2014, “Mad” Mike Hughes, a “Guinness World Record Daredevil” and “The world’s most famous limousine driver,” according to his website, will blast off in a rocket that he designed and built on his own for $20,000. His latest attempt at infamy will take place on Saturday, November 25, as he […]

Possession of an instrument rating opens the door to airports when the weather is below basic VFR, provided the aircraft is properly equipped and that someone has a copy of the appropriate instrument approach plate — either electronic or paper — for guidance. Anywhere and in any weather… almost. There are roughly 40 U.S. airports […]

Much has been written recently trying to answer the question of why too few young people seem interested in a flying career. At a recent meeting of the Chicago Area Business Aviation Association at PWK, the topic popped up again, except this time around it all focused on Biz Av. Aviation department managers I spoke […]

I realized at some point during my instrument training that airplanes are a lot more like horses than they are like cars, and pilots can learn a lot by approaching their machines with this in mind. As a child I rode horses — a lot. We had four of them on our property. As a […]

As my flying routine typically involves cramped middle seats on bargain commercial flights, the thought of actual high-speed Internet at cruising altitude is about as realistic as finding the treasure of Oak Island. So, when SmartSky invited me on a recent flight to test its 4G LTE network over Florida, I was skeptical at best […]

The recent end of the FAA’s fiscal year at the close of September brought good news to the amateur-built aircraft world when agency data showed a marked decline in the number of accidents in that category of aircraft. “For the 12-month period from October 1, 2016, to September 30, 2017, fatal accident totals in amateur-built […]

It has been a year-and-a-half since Mooney Aircraft’s first Ovation Ultra took flight from the company’s headquarters in Kerrville, Texas, and it hasn’t all been good news for the manufacturer since then. But Mooney is closing out 2017 on a strong note, as it recently celebrated the delivery of the first Ovation Ultra, before bringing […]