Aviation News

If you own a Light Sport Aircraft that is approved for training — whether it is used in that role or not — you’ll have to amend your aircraft’s airworthiness certificate by the end of this month. If not, your current certificate will expire and the aircraft will never again be eligible for an updated […]

Last week, Cessna has announced the resumption of production of its Sovereign twinjet. The company also announced it had hired back 60 workers, with 120 more to be reinstated in the coming weeks. Even with the announcement, Cessna now plans to build even fewer jets in 2010 than the 275 it delivered last year. That […]

When NASCAR’s Cessna 310 crashed in June 2007 following an in flight fire, it touched off a process that has yielded a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin. The twin crashed, killing both pilots and three on the ground. The new SAIB involves the practice of taking off with “a known and unresolved discrepancy.” It is believed […]

So far, 2010 doesn’t look to be much more friendly for GA than 2009. A New Year’s Eve story by reporter Thomas Frank in USA Today questions whether using FAA funds is appropriate for airports that are privately owned. The article specifies airport properties that are not owned by cities, counties or other municipalities, where […]

It you are one of the pilots who has not yet traded in your old paper certificate for an updated, tamperproof version, you have until March 31 to make the change. After that date, you will be ineligible to exercise your privileges with a paper certificate. When you do make the change, you can also […]

Eclipse Aerospace LLC, which acquired the rights to the former Eclipse Aircraft Co. last August, reports it is upgrading and completing 28 new Eclipse 500s it acquired as part of the deal. The new company, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, expects to be selling the factory-new aircraft as early as this spring. Investors Mike Press […]

Fly-in communities, where homeowners have access to a runway from hangars on their property, now face a threat from the FAA. Such communities depend on so called “through the fence” (TTF) access, and new security concerns have the FAA challenging airports that already have the practice well established, including clauses written into property deeds and […]

Teledyne Continental Motors is doing its part for economic recovery. The company issued a release early this week indicating it will keep a lid on prices for factory new and factory rebuilt engines. Improved efficiencies and “cooperation with our valued employees and vedors,” have allowed TCM to lower costs, and it intends to reinvest the […]

Sonex Aircraft hopes to launch the first flight of its SubSonex single-engine jet as soon as acceptable weather breaks in Oshkosh, Wisconsin (the company’s home base). Its Czech-built PBS TJ-100 engine was first run on Dec. 23, 2009, and was able to hit 100 percent power — about 240 pounds of thrust. It’s larger than […]

Cirrus Aircraft President Brent Wouters expects to return his company to profitability this year. Despite a 2009 that can best be described as challenging, Wouters also said the company is committed to continuing development of its SF50 single-engine jet. As funding ran short, work on the jet project was recently moved to the main Cirrus […]