Aviation News

Pilatus this month is introducing a series of long-awaited improvements to the Honeywell Primus Apex cockpit in the Pilatus PC-12 NG turboprop single. Known internally as Apex Build 7, the software enhancements refine the operation of the cockpit’s cursor-control devices and add capabilities for display of enhanced-vision and video; coupled Vnav operations, vertical profile display; […]

Embraer’s Legacy 650 large-cabin business jet has gained FAA certification, a year and half after the Brazilian manufacturer announced the model as a follow-on the original Legacy 600. Embraer is touting the Legacy 650’s longer range, higher useful load, quieter cabin and Honeywell Primus Elite avionics suite as the major enhancements over its predecessor, which […]

NetJets announced yesterday that it has agreed with Bombardier to buy 120 Global aircraft over the next many years. The deal, which is valued at $6.7 billion, includes firm orders for 50 aircraft and options for 70. Details on the options were not made public initially. The order includes Global 5000, Global Express XRS Vision, […]

In a phone call to Flying, Cirrus Aircraft president Brent Wouters said that the deal would give Chinese firm China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Company (CAIGA) 100 percent ownership of Cirrus. Financial details of the merger weren’t immediately released pending notification of shareholders. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and would take effect, Wouters […]

The alphabet groups have petitioned the FAA to allow training time that Sport Pilot students acquire with a CFI-S to count toward a private certificate or higher. Specifically, the Letter of Petition calls for amending 14 CFR Part 61.99 and 61.109 to “permit the instruction time received in pursuit of a sport pilot certificate to […]

Executive Jet Management, the charter and management division of NetJets, has received FAA approval to use Apple iPads running the Jeppesen Mobile TC app as an alternative to carrying paper charts. The authorization is a first for a large Part 135 charter operator, but is probably only the first of many. EJM pilots flew with […]

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 […]