Aviation News

Premier Aircraft Sales has launched an upgrade program for the Cessna 172 Skyhawk that adds a new Continental/Centurion 2.0 diesel engine to the airplane to go along with fresh paint, new interior and modern glass avionics. The first airplane upgraded under the program is a 1997 Cessna 172R model with a sticker price of $289,500 […]

If you are dissatisfied with the wireless Internet connectivity speeds available in flight today, there is hope for a brighter future. Honeywell and Inmarsat have joined together to bring high-speed Internet service to airline and business jet passengers in flight through what they call GX Aviation. The companies claim the service will be able to […]

Look for the Learjet 85 to make its hotly anticipated first flight in the coming weeks after Bombardier completed engine ground runs and low-speed taxi tests prior to receiving the necessary first-flight permit from the FAA. The Learjet 85 is the first all-new airplane from the manufacturer in more than 15 years. Launched in 2007, […]

Garmin this morning launched a portable SiriusXM receiver designed for use with its handheld GPS navigators that the company says offers up an array of in-flight weather data that was previously available only to purchasers of higher-tier subscriptions. The new GXM 42 brings a full complement of weather information to the cockpit, including Nexrad graphics, […]

The businessman-pilot took off at 3:15 in the afternoon from St. Petersburg, Florida, in his company’s A36 Bonanza, bound for Norman, Oklahoma. He filed IFR, with a cruising altitude of 10,000 feet and a speed of 185 knots. The 900 nm trip would have been at the very limit of the airplane’s range, but he […]

At the General Aviation Manufacturer’s Association state of the industry press conference GAMA president Pete Bunce and GAMA chairman Steve Taylor, who is president of Boeing Business Jets, shared a promising picture of the health of the GA manufacturing sector in 2013, with overall sales experiencing a modest bump in activity and sales of high-end […]

In clear, cool Kansas-winter skies, Cessna took its latest bizjet offering, the Citation Latitude, on its first flight yesterday morning. The two Pratt & Whitney PW306D turbofan engines that power the midsized business jet took it up to 28,000 feet and 200 knots, the upper speed limit for the flight. The Latitude has a ceiling […]

If there is one word to characterize Robin Petgrave, it would probably have to be “vision.” Who else would think to name his organization “Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum”? Through his day job as founder and chief pilot of Torrance, California-based Celebrity Helicopters, Petgrave reached out to accomplish his further avocation — mentoring and inspiring young people […]

The past several years have seen some pretty frosty sales reports from light airplane manufacturers. But in advance of yesterday’s General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) luncheon, Beechcraft, Cirrus and Piper reported that sales are heating up. On the cusp of its ownership transition to Textron, Beech looked back fondly on its first year as an […]

The FAA has signed off on a supplemental type certificate that brings new capabilities to the Eclipse 550 very light jet, the new version of the Eclipse 500 now in production in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The STC adds auto throttles and anti-skid brakes (ABS), reducing the workload for the pilot and enabling the airplane to […]