Aviation News

Harrison Ford visited Capitol Hill on Tuesday to lend his considerable star power to the plight of more than 200 control towers slated to close as part of the so-called government sequester. The actor joined aviation industry leaders at a special meeting of the House General Aviation Caucus to warn members of Congress and their […]

Italian airplane maker Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecnam is celebrating its 65th anniversary with the introduction of yet another light sport airplane, this one with “superlative performance.” Named after the company’s first production design, the Tecnam Astore will be unveiled at Aero Friedrichshafen, Germany, at the end of April. While few details regarding the Astore have been […]

Though his racing suit is devoid of sponsors’ patches, Jeff Bloch has built 13 racers over the years — but none quite like this one. The shiny aluminum race “car” is actually the fuselage of a 1956 Cessna 310 light twin, mated to the chassis of a 1987 Toyota minivan. Bloch (known as “Speedycop”) and […]

Dassault’s newest business jets, the Falcon 2000S and Falcon 2000LXS, have received European certification, the French manufacturer announced today. Approval from the FAA, the company said, is expected to follow shortly. Unveiled in May 2011 at EBACE in Geneva, the Falcon 2000S is the new entry-level product in the Falcon family. Equipped with upgraded EASy […]

Just over three years ago the FAA began the process of updating registrations for all U.S. aircraft. The new registrations transitioned from “permanent” registration to requiring registration renewal every three years. One of the goals of this process was to update the list of aircraft that were still active in the U.S. aviation system. At […]

Eclipse Aerospace announced this week that it has started up the engines on the first production Model 550 very light jet, the new version of the Eclipse 500, production of which ceased when Eclipse Aviation was forced into bankruptcy in November 2008. The two Pratt & Whitney PW610F engines that power the Eclipse 550 collectively […]

The FAA has signed off on night VFR operations for Yakima, Washington-based CubCrafters’ CC18-180 Top Cub. Several modifications were made to the airplane to meet the FAA requirements, including the addition of glare shields, fuel sight gauge lighting, instrument illumination and backlit placards. Some interior surfaces have been finished with non-reflective black and the taxi […]

Four men, including two inmates, face some two dozen charges in connection with a daring helicopter prison escape from the Saint-Jérôme Detention Centre about 20 miles northwest of Montreal. On Sunday, two accomplices posed as tourists and chartered a Robinson R44 helicopter from Mont Tremblant, about 30 miles north of the prison. After takeoff, they […]

Embraer is moving ahead with plans to build A-29 Super Tucano light attack airplanes in Florida after the Air Force rejected Beechcraft’s latest protest of the contract award. Embraer announced that it has signed a 10-year lease on a 40,000-square-foot hangar in Jacksonville, where the A-29 Super Tucanos for the U.S. Air Force Light Air […]

NTSB investigators have recovered the black box from a Beech Premier I that crashed into a South Bend, Indiana, neighborhood on Sunday, killing both pilots aboard the airplane and injuring three others. The black box data is being sent back to NTSB headquarters in Washington as investigators continue their examination of the airplane wreckage. Officials […]