Aviation News

Beechcraft celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first flight of the King Air Model 90 with cake at the company’s Sun ‘n Fun exhibit and a fly-over at the Beech factory in Wichita, Kansas. The first flight of the King Air on January 20, 1964, started a remarkable production run for a remarkable airplane that […]

Here’s an idea for a reality TV show we’d be sure to DVR: A pilot, a chef and a treasure hunter head off in an airplane to visit the coolest small airports across the country, sampling the food at the airport restaurants, meeting interesting airport characters and discovering the incredible airplanes and historic items inside […]

Embry-Riddle flight students will continue training in Cessna 172s for years to come after the university signed a long-term purchase agreement for 57 Skyhawks as part of a multi-year agreement. Cessna said 29 aircraft will be delivered to ERAU this year and the remaining 28 next year. The fleet will replace the Cessna 172s currently […]

Lancair has introduced a new option for the Evolution turboprop kit airplane called “rough service landing gear,” or RSLG for short. The new gear allows pilots to land the four-seat composite airplane at airports with unpaved runways without fear of damaging the gear. The new landing gear option has wide 12-ply Goodyear tires, which are […]

Avidyne’s long-awaited multifunction navigator, the IFD540, is nearing the finish line, and Flying was first to fly the new box. I went up with Avidyne flight test engineer Steve “Jake” Jacobson at Sun ‘n Fun 2014 to test out the new product. The IFD540 — that’s right, “540” is 10 more than 530, the number […]

Embraer Executive Jets has enjoyed a very successful introduction of its Phenom line of light jets. Only a little more than five years after the Brazilian airplane maker introduced the Phenom 100, it has recently delivered the 300th version of the model. “We are very grateful to our Phenom 100 customers, with whom we share […]

At Sun ‘n Fun, Sporty’s and ForeFlight announced big enhancements to the Stratus 2 ADS-B receiver/AHRS unit. The Stratus 2 is a joint production of manufacturer Appareo, iOS app developer ForeFlight and founding partner Sporty’s. The new firmware for the Status 2 — there are no hardware changes — utilized a number of new strategies […]

Flying‘s senior editor Stephen Pope paid a visit on Thursday morning to David Clark’s booth in Hangar C at the Sun ‘n Fun campus to present the Editors’ Choice Award. David Clark’s winning product was the DC Pro-X active noise reduction headset. Weighing in at only 7.5 ounces, the DC Pro-X weighs about half as […]

Some of the booths drawing attention at the Sun ‘n Fun International Fly-In and Expo this week are those with piston-powered helicopter trainer simulators. We checked out a couple of affordable simulator versions, the Elite TH22 and X-copter flight simulators, both of which feature models from the largest helicopter manufacturer in the world — Torrance, […]

The interior of the GippsAero GA8 Airvan has received a facelift, improving the comfort for up to eight occupants of the utility airplane. Karen Nelson, the design/customer service director of Columbia, South Carolina-based Eagle Aviation, which designed the Airvan’s new executive interior, said the materials were chosen based on the known applications of the GA8, […]