Aviation News

After 18 years in business, one of the world’s coolest aviation attractions, Kermit Weeks’ Fantasy of Flight, will close as a public attraction as of April 6, according to an announcement released by the organization today. Located just off of I-4 less than half an hour southwest of Orlando, Fantasy of Flight offers a world-class […]

Heli-Expo closed the doors of the Anaheim Convention Center last week with strong attendance numbers and many contracts closed for the OEMs that had helicopters on display. With a total of 19,038 attendees at this year’s Heli-Expo, the show attendance was down by about 1,000 from last year’s record numbers, but despite this slight drop […]

The pilot of a Marine F/A-18 operating on a training flight with the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center in Nevada was killed when his airplane crashed in the desert about 70 miles from Naval Air Station Fallon on Saturday, the Navy said. The single-seat F/A-18C was a Marine jet on loan to the Topgun […]

One of the most aesthetically pleasing small exhibits at Heli-Expo was the showcase of Thales Avionics 2020 for helicopters, a system introduced by the French company at the show last week in Anaheim, California. A four-screen touchscreen display was set up under an arc imitating a section of the fuselage of a helicopter. The simulated […]

Why would anyone attempt to build a full-scale, airworthy replica of an airplane that never flew and for which there are no known plans? For a team of designers in Oklahoma, it’s all about recreating one of the most amazing airplanes ever conceived — the Bugatti 100P, a dream of Italian carmaker Ettore Bugatti, who […]

Propeller maker Hartzell has gotten the FAA’s approval for a new five-blade composite prop for existing Socata TBMs, from the 700 though the 850 series. We flew the new prop on a TBM 700 last month and were impressed by its smooth operation, great runway performance and impressive climb rates. Hartzell president Joe Brown says […]

PBS correspondent Miles O’Brien, a fixture in the U.S. GA community as a pilot, aviation expert and unofficial spokesman for GA flying, had his left arm amputated above the elbow following what at first seemed like a minor accident. O’Brien was moving some equipment boxes after an assignment in Asia when a large box fell […]

Pipistrel has reported to Flying that its Panthera four-seater aircraft development program is suffering a considerable delay. The holdup, according to Pipistrel CEO Ivo Boscarol, is due to Lycoming’s decision not to certify its four-cylinder IO-390 engine for auto fuel use, a key feature for Pipistrel in creating the Panthera. Lycoming declined to comment on […]

Deep cuts in military spending ordered by the Obama Administration would reduce American military forces to their lowest level since before World War II and signal the end of the line for two iconic military aircraft, the high-flying Lockheed U-2 spyplane and tank-busting A-10 Warthog. Under the proposed military budget, the entire A-10 fleet would […]

After a three-year hiatus during which organizers dealt with safety concerns, the Red Bull Air Race World Championship returns this weekend with the official start of the 2014 season in Abu Dhabi. The inaugural race of the new season pits 12 Red Bull race pilots against each other as they navigate a low-level course consisting […]