Aviation News

Scaled Composites recently took the wraps off its Model 367 BiPod, a hybrid gasoline-electric roadable aircraft designed by the company’s legendary founder Burt Rutan before he retired in April. The BiPod contains twin fuselages and dual single-seat cockpits, and is designed to be flown as an aircraft from the right seat and driven as a […]

Just when it appeared as though the glare of public scrutiny had shifted away from air traffic controllers, the FAA now says it is investigating “the possibility” of a tipsy controller who failed an alcohol test six hours into his eight-hour shift at the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center on July 5. The FAA […]

In a sign that the Chinese market is extremely important to the company, Gulfstream earlier this week changed the name of its super-midsize business jet from the Gulfstream G250 to the Gulfstream G280. The change was prompted because the company “determined that G280 is a more amenable number sequence in certain cultures,” said Larry Flynn, […]

The NTSB has launched a study of homebuilt aircraft that aims to gather data about the machines that make up what NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman cited as having played “A crucial and inspirational role in leading the way toward greater achievements in manned flight.” The purpose of the study, however, is not to inspire advancements […]

A Hong Kong business journal has reported that Cessna is in preliminary talks with Chinese conglomerate AVIC on the subject of a joint venture between the firms to build and distribute business aircraft in mainland China. The story in the South China Morning Post quotes Cessna’s Trevor Esling as confirming that the talks are preliminary. […]

If you’re headed to Oshkosh later this month, be sure to download Sporty’s free show app. The official EAA AirVenture 2011 Fly-In App is available for Apple devices (iPhones, iPads, iPod Touch) and Android phones and tablets. It includes everything show-goers need, from maps to guides to schedules, and can even help you get to […]

Two airshow pilots are safe after the warbirds they were piloting collided in mid air during last weekend’s Flying Legends airshow at Duxford, England. The incident involved a P-51D Mustang known as Big Beautiful Doll and a Douglas AD-4NA Skyraider. The airplanes were flying in a triangular formation along with one additional P-51 when they […]

Cessna 182 owners may now be able to get a smoother, quieter ride by converting to a newly STC’d Top Prop propeller kit from Hartzell. The company claims this new three-bladed, scimitar-shaped propeller improves takeoff and climb performance without degrading cruise speed, reduces noise by 2.5 dB(a) compared to the stock propeller, and increases the […]

VoiceFlight has received an STC for its VFS101 voice-recognition system for Garmin’s GNS 430W and 530W GPS/navcoms. The VFS101 enables the pilot to verbally enter flight-plan waypoints using the phonetic alphabet, which takes a fraction of the time of twisting the knobs on the 430W and 530W units. In addition to loading a flight plan, […]

Thousands of people from around the country gathered in Cape Canaveral last week to watch the last operational NASA space shuttle take to the skies during the program’s final launch. Arriving as early as 3 a.m., many slept in their cars for a chance to see Atlantis launch from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center last Friday […]