Aviation News

Both Beechcraft and Nextant Aerospace offer engine/airframe/avionics upgrades for existing Hawker 400 jets (formerly the Beechjet, née Mitsubishi Diamond). Beech just upped the ante by offering the Garmin G5000 avionics suite as an option. The Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 is the other option. Brian Howell, Beechcraft v-p of aftermarket sales and business development, said, […]

At NBAA Airbus told reporters about its new safety utilities that aim to eliminate some of the most common types of commercial aircraft accidents. The ROW/ROPS (runway overrun warning and runway overrun prevention, respectively) give ACJ pilots visual indications that encourage go-arounds if things are not going well on approach. The ROP function automatically maximizes […]

Stuart Woods, the best-selling author of the Stone Barrington action adventure novels, is moving up from a Cessna Mustang to the M2. Cessna plans to make the delivery of Woods’ M2 shortly after it earns FAA certification later this year. Woods recently visited Cessna’s Independence, Kansas, manufacturing plant and got the A-lister’s tour, seeing the […]

Nextant and GE are collaborating on a new turboprop twin — the G90XT announced at the NBAA Convention in Las Vegas. Like Nextant’s 400XTi, the turboprop adds new technology to a refurbished airframe, in this case the King Air C90. Nextant is adding brand new GE H80 engines, Garmin G1000 avionics and a new cabin […]

Embraer is showcasing a full lineup of executive jets at NBAA’s static display at Henderson Executive Airport near the southern edge of Las Vegas. The flagship happens to be a newly introduced airplane, an upgraded version of the Embraer Lineage 1000, renamed Lineage 1000E, the E implying extended range and enhanced interior. Embraer says an […]

At the NBAA Convention on Monday Dassault announced a brand new fly-by-wire large body bizjet with a new wing and fuselage that it calls the 5X. The .90 Mmo, 69,600-pound max takeoff weight jet was pre-launched to a group of journalists in Paris earlier this month. The Falcon 5X occupies an unusual spot in the […]

The members of the press got a big surprise as Jackie Chan entered the media briefing room during Embraer’s press conference on Monday morning. Embraer announced the Kung-Fu master and philanthropist, who already owns a Legacy 650, will be the first customer in China to own the Legacy 500 fly-by-wire jet, which the Brazilian company […]

As Embraer is getting closer to first flight of its midsize, midrange, fly-by-wire Legacy 450 business jet, the shorter version of the soon-to-be certified Legacy 500, the company announced some final design tweaks at a press conference at NBAA’s Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition in Las Vegas, which opens its doors tomorrow. A Legacy 450 […]

Honeywell’s latest business aviation market forecast released on Sunday offers a mix of good and not-so-good news for aircraft manufacturers, painting a generally optimistic picture for builders of large-cabin jets, but taking an opposite view of the light jet market, which is predicted to remain essentially flat for the next several years. Overall, business jet […]

Gulfstream has set an impressive world speed record in its new flagship G650, completing the fastest ever westbound, around-the-world flight for a non-supersonic airplane. A crew of five pilots circled the globe in 41 hours, 7 minutes, establishing a National Aeronautic Association-certified record. On the journey, which took place in July, the G650 also claimed […]