Aviation News

The man who invented the aerial spray airplane — and in doing so gave birth to the agricultural aviation industry — has passed. Leland Snow, founder and president of Air Tractor, died on Sunday while jogging near his home in Wichita Falls, Texas. He was 80. Snow designed his first aerial spray airplane, the S-1, […]

Members of New York City’s Police Aviation Unit are being hailed as heroes for their daring nighttime rescue early Sunday of two West Point cadets who were stranded for more than eight hours on a cliff ledge in freezing temperatures and high winds. The U.S. Military Academy freshmen decided to try to rappel down a […]

At its annual meeting in Washington, D.C., the General Aviation Manufacturers’ Association gave its formal assessment of the past year, and to no one’s surprise, 2010 was one to forget. Shipments of new airplanes were down in all segments, with pistons, turboprops and bizjets all walloped by a still-weakened global economy. Overall, shipments were down […]

A brand new Gulfstream G550 that ran off the end of Runway 29 at Appleton, Wisconsin’s Outagamie Airport reportedly belonged to Microsoft co-founder and Portland Trailblazers owner Paul Allen. No one was hurt in the accident. Gulfstream operates a large aircraft completion facility at Appleton, though there was no word on the cause (the NTSB […]

On Monday morning, Embraer entertained dignitaries and members of the press as it officially cut the ribbon on its $50 million, 90,000-square-foot assembly facility, where it will put the finishing touches on its Phenom 100 entry-level light jet and Phenom 300 super light jet. Embraer now builds, assembles and completes both airplanes in Brazil, where […]

They only plan to build 10 of them, so if you want one of Cirrus’s special anniversary edition SR22s, you’ll have to act promptly. The 2011 Limited Commemorative Edition SR22T has an exclusive exterior design and interior style. The package of features and accessories has been carefully crafted to mark the occasion. Cirrus calls this […]

Every year, the Lindbergh Foundation presents an award in honor of the association’s namesake, Charles Lindbergh. For 2011, Dean Kamen has been chosen to receive the Lindbergh Award — for his dedication to the foundation’s key mission of balancing technology with nature. Kamen is most famous as the inventor of the Segway motorized individual transport. […]

President Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates think plans to develop a second-engine option for the fighter could waste up to $3 billion. The House of Representatives agreed, voting yesterday to kill the program to develop the second engine. (Coincidentally, $3 billion is the same amount a failed Senate bill attempted to cut from the […]

Early this week, NBAA President Ed Bolen issued a statement regarding the ongoing review by the Department of Transportation of the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program. There has been a move to restrict participation in the program, which allows aircraft operators to conceal their registration numbers from data released to online flight tracking programs […]

No user fees, increased spending for NextGen and security for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) are the good news. But President Obama’s proposed federal budget says nothing about assistance for GA operators when it comes to the cost of equipping their aircraft for the upcoming revamped air traffic system. Overall, the National Business Aviation Association […]