Aviation News

Last week, FAA tests demonstrated that a 100 low lead (100LL) alternative from Swift Enterprises can deliver the equivalent of 102 octane. The fuel is made of pure hydrocarbons and can be manufactured using biomass, natural gas or petroleum raw materials, making the new fuel substitute both clean and sustainable. According to Swift co-founder Louise […]

“Soft orders” have led to a workforce reduction on Cessna’s Citation Mustang production line. The company now expects to deliver roughly 70 of the entry-level jets this year, after a major order from a European air-taxi operator was cancelled. About 75 workers received notice last week. The Mustang is built at Cessna’s Independence, Kansas, plant.

The Corporate Angel Network (CAN) announced that Gulfstream had donated $50,000 to its cause. CAN arranges flights for cancer patients in empty seats aboard corporate jets. More than 500 corporations and individuals donate empty seats to CAN patient flights. The charity organization was founded in 1981, and arranges more than 250 flights per month — […]

En route from Miami to Medellin, Colombia, the cockpit satellite phone rang on board Kalitta Air’s 747-200. Dispatch was calling with a request. A competitor’s 747 freighter was experiencing mechanical problems in Bogotá. The competitor would be unable to transport a large load of flowers back to the United States. Would the crew divert into […]

German aircraft manufacturer Extra Aircraft has chosen Montrose, Colorado, as the site of its U.S. headquarters and “aircraft production center.” Construction of a new 40,000-square-foot facility is expected to start soon with completion scheduled for late fall this year. The company plans to assemble the all-carbon-fiber Extra 500 ‘Spirit’ in Montrose. Fuselages and wings will […]

Electric power for aircraft has captured the imaginations of several designers. China’s Yuneec International is expanding its series of electric aircraft. Its e430 first appeared at AirVenture 2009, and since then the company has completed an entire factory in Shanghai. Managing director Clive Coote said Yuneec would begin accepting deposits for the e430 following the […]

The economic strain overriding the entire GA industry continues to dog the Diamond D-Jet program. A max effort to re-engine their DA42 twin-engine piston in 2008 sapped Diamond financial strategists, resulting in adjustments to the certification schedule for the single-engine D-Jet. There has been no official update for more than a year, since the company […]

At about 8 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time Monday, a single-engine, turboprop-converted De Havilland Otter crashed near Dillingham, Alaska. Five of nine onboard died, including former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, 86. Among the survivors was ex-NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe, 54, and his teenage son Kevin. Both spent the night at the crash site aided by Good […]

Last week, the world’s only flyable B-29 Superfortress, operated by the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) lifted off the runway at Midland, Texas. It was the first flight for FIFI since 2004, and followed not only a lengthy restoration, but also a prolonged wrangle over official permission from the FAA. The 9 a.m. flight lasted just […]

Early on June 23 of last year, two men and three teenage boys left Spirit of St. Louis Airport in a Cherokee Lance for some trout fishing at Gaston’s White River Resort, which is located in the Ozarks of northern Arkansas. The 170 nm flight took an hour and a quarter. Three days later, on […]