Aviation News

Two months after announcing the Citation CJ3+, Cessna yesterday celebrated the rollout of the first test airplane at its headquarters in Wichita, Kansas. The newest Citation twinjet, launched on March 20, is expected to receive FAA certification in the second half of the year, Cessna says. The CJ3+ will feature an upgraded Garmin G3000 flight […]

Military jets are scrambling on average more than once a week to intercept general aviation pilots who stray into restricted airspace, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Besides the potential danger involved in such intercepts, the incursions — 75 on average per year — cost tax payers millions of dollars, officials say. […]

After shutting down the D-Jet program and laying off most of its employees in Canada early last year, Diamond Aircraft’s North American division has been making a quiet comeback. That resurgence was in full evidence with the news yesterday that Diamond Industries Canada and Northrop Grumman are forming a long-term partnership to develop and produce […]

Less than a month after the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the agency would review its policy of stopping and searching general aviation aircraft without evidence of wrongdoing, a CBP spokesman has publicly stated that the controversial program is being altered “so as not to needlessly affront law-abiding pilots.” Flying and other […]

The FAA and NTSB are investigating the crash last Friday of a Beech Bonanza near Silver City, New Mexico, that killed the pilot and three passengers, all of whom were students at a small local charter school. The airplane was piloted by an Albuquerque psychiatrist, Peter Hochla, who had been a pilot, according to local […]

What good does an SLSA certificate do for a company in the light sport market? Well, in the case of California manufacturer Quicksilver Aircraft, the answer is “a lot” and quickly too. Quicksilver yesterday announced the sale of 77 of its recently certificated S2SE model, an open air ultralight style airplane constructed with aluminum tubing […]

Wheels Up, the company that placed a gigantic $1.4 billion order for 105 King Air 350i airplanes last summer, has made a successful entry into the aviation market and is adding more airplane types to its list of offerings. Kenny Dichter, the founder and CEO of Wheels Up, said that by the middle of the […]

It appears the interest is growing in the National Championship Air Races, the annual aerial pylon race that is set to take place this year on September 10 through 14 at the Reno-Stead Airport, 10 miles northwest of Reno, Nevada. A record number of registrations for the National Championship Air Races Pylon Racing Seminar (PRS), […]

Walter Beech and Clyde Cessna may be rolling in their graves as the brands under the Textron Aviation umbrella — Cessna Aircraft, Beechcraft and Hawker — for the first time presented a unified front, exhibiting together at the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva, Switzerland. It’s only been about two months since […]

Honda Aircraft Company’s president and CEO Michimasa Fujino provided a full update on the company’s HondaJet program at the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva, Switzerland. The program, he said, has picked up momentum after the GE Honda HF120 engines achieved certification, with the HondaJet well on its way to reaching its […]