Aviation News

When British daredevil Gary Connery first announced plans to make a wingsuit jump over England and land without a parachute, the one question on everybody’s mind was, how in the world would he pull it off? We got our answer on Wednesday as Connery leapt from a helicopter hovering over the English countryside at 2,400 […]

Sandia Aerospace, the Albuquerque, New Mexico, avionics manufacturer, said it has started delivering its new STX 165 Mode C transponder with built-in encoder. Designed to occupy a minimum of panel space, the transponder can slide into a one-half 3-ATI opening, and measures seven inches deep. In case you’re not familiar with the term “one-half 3-ATI,” […]

Hawker Beechcraft said it received orders for 11 airplanes – including three of its flagship Hawker 4000 super-midsize business jets, a Hawker 400XPR, six King Air 350i turboprops and a King Air 250 – during EBACE at Geneva International Airport in Geneva, Switzerland, last week. The total sales amount to more than $120 million, providing […]

After aborting Saturday’s scheduled launch because of a faulty engine valve, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket made a successful second attempt early Tuesday morning, shooting the Dragon cargo capsule into orbit for its historic attempt to become the first commercial spacecraft to visit the International Space Station. The Dragon – which has only entered orbit once […]

Under sunny skies, Sporty’s handed out free hot dogs and announced the winner of this year’s sweepstakes airplane this weekend at its annual fly-in at the Clermont County Airport (I69) in Batavia, Ohio. Matthew Smolin from Germantown, Tennessee, won a Cessna Skycatcher LSA. Smolin was not present to accept his new airplane, but approximately 1,000 […]

The 2012 Reno Air Races passed a key logistical hurdle last week by obtaining a one-year special permit for the event, further clearing the way for the competition that has remained somewhat shrouded in uncertainty following last year’s fatal crash. The Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority Board of Trustees approved the permit on Thursday under the condition […]

Preliminary analysis of the cockpit voice recorder from the** Sukhoi SuperJet 100 that crashed into the side of a volcano** in Indonesia two weeks ago showed no sign of aircraft system malfunctions, according to a statement released by the aircraft manufacturer. United Aircraft Corporation, the parent company of Sukhoi, went on to say the CVR […]

In the wake of its announcement of an AD on its Cessna 210, 210T and 210P models, Cessna has announced that it is expanding its mandatory inspections to its 100-series airplanes (from the Cessna 120 to the Cessna 195) that were manufactured between 1946 and 1986 (the latter date being when Cessna suspended its single-engine […]

SpaceX is slated to launch its unmanned Dragon spacecraft to the international space station this weekend for what will mark the first time a commercial vehicle has made the trip, if all goes according to plan. Final preparations are currently under way at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Central Florida, where engineers are […]

An unusual display of the usefulness of general aviation airplanes occurred recently when the life of a 20-year-old boater apparently was saved by an overflying seaplane pilot. What could have ended as a tragic drowning turned into a happy day for the young boater. Max Trescott describes in his blog about the incident that the […]