Aviation News

Embraer affirmed its commitment to become a major force in business jet manufacturing with the first flight on Tuesday of the Legacy 500, a clean-sheet midsize model that is capable of flying 3,000 nm, cruising at Mach 0.82 and climbing direct to 45,000 feet. Embraer said the fly-by-wire Legacy 500 made a “flawless” first flight, […]

Earlier this year, we reported that Cessna entered into a strategic agreement with CAIGA (China Aviation Industry General Aircraft), a subsidiary of AVIC (Aviation Industry Corporation of China), to sell, assemble and support the Cessna Caravan in Shijiazhuang, China. The agreement has now developed into a contract for a joint venture company, which in addition […]

Those of you who live in deer country know all about deer whistles, those little devices you attach to the bumper of your vehicle that emit a high-pitched tone intended to let deer know to steer clear of your bumper. The only thing certain about deer whistles is that they have a perfect track record […]

Avidyne announced today that a date has been set in February 2013 for a jury trial in its patent dispute with L-3 Communications Avionics Systems. Avidyne President and CEO Dan Schwinn argues the L-3 lawsuit is without merit, explaining, “L-3 claims it invented a basic method of calibrating an attitude indicator to correct for the […]

In its fourth review of the 30-year-old Federal Contract Tower (FCT) program, the Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General found the outsourced towers both less expensive and safer than those staffed by FAA controllers. On average, an FCT tower costs $1.5 million less than a comparable FAA tower, according to the report. Those […]

Wingsuit pilot Alexander Polli says that he wants to be surrounded by people with a passion for life. For many people, his passion pushes the envelope of sanity. In this video Polli speaks about the project he came up with to slalom down a sheer cliff face thousands of feet high at 10 feet agl […]

The Historic Flight Foundation, based at Snohomish County Airport (KPAE, also known as Paine Field) in Everett, Washington, has completed the restoration of a DC-3 with a rich history, a project that took about five years to complete. The airplane is now airworthy for the first time in a decade and has been added to […]

With the recent announcement that the FAA’s drone integration plans face more delays, Europe is way ahead of the U.S. There are several programs aimed at integrating pilotless drones into its airspace. For example, test flights are now underway in the UK using a Jetstream 31 twin-engine turboprop, controlled from the ground, but flying with […]

Swiss charter operator VistaJet has placed the largest Bombardier business jet order in history with a deal to acquire as many as 142 Global twinjets. The $3.1 billion firm order announced on Tuesday includes commitments for 56 Global jets, and could climb to $7.8 billion if VistaJet exercises options for 86 more Globals. “By any […]

GippsAero has selected West Coast Aviation Services in Santa Ana, California, as its authorized dealer for the Western U.S. as the company seeks to increase sales of the Australian-made GA8 Airvan utility single. West Coast Aviation will handle GA8 sales in Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana and Nevada, the companies said. “The […]