Aviation News

More than 100 Cessna Corvalis 400 TTs are now equipped with TKS ice protection as a factory option or retrofit. Now, owners of Corvalis 300/350s can have the system installed. CAV Aerospace, which holds the patent for the “weeping wing” TKS system, announced last week it has received an amended FAA Supplemental Type Certificate to […]

Everyone’s hoping for signs of a turnaround, and last week’s Aviation Electronics Association trade show in Dallas looks like it was just the ticket. The prevailing wisdom seemed to be that, while sales of big-ticket new aircraft may be stalled, owners of older airplanes could be having their day. Glass avionics suites finally trickled down […]

Billing its XL2 as “the most economical certified aircraft” on the IFR market, Liberty Aerospace has nevertheless seen its workforce dwindle to some 32 employees-down from a high of 180. Company president Keith Markley reports the company has no intention of shutting down, and he hopes to continue production with the current staffing at Liberty’s […]

Operating a TBM 850 from Daher-Socata has just gotten more financially viable. The company announced last week it is launching a co-ownership program called “Fly And Share Your TBM” or, F.A.S.T. The plan is said to be ideally suited to a pair of owners; one with two-thirds ownership and the second with one-third. Each share […]

The most recent AOPA Air Safety Foundation’s Joseph T. Nall Report on general aviation safety was released late last week, and the message is mixed. In statistics analyzed from 2007, the report shows that overall accidents increased, despite declining flight hours, but fatalities declined. The rate of fatal accidents was also lower, evidence that pilots […]

Two of aviation’s biggest heroes will hold court at EAA’s Theatre in the Woods the evening of July 31. Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles will attend various other events during the annual EAA AirVenture extravaganza at Oshkosh’s Wittman Field (July 27 to August 2). Along with the rest of their crew, […]

Sir Richard Branson calls her “EVE” and his Virgin Galactic space venture is relying heavily on the fruits of her performance envelope. That envelope expanded recently with a third test flight taking EVE to a speed of 140 knots and an altitude of 18,000 feet. The more official name is WhiteKnightTwo (aka WK2) and the […]

Cirrus announced yesterday it has selected the Garmin G1000-based Perspective avionics suite for its developmental personal jet, the Vision. The Perspective package was introduced last year on Cirrus’s piston aircraft models and includes synthetic and enhanced vision features. The prototype Vision jet will be fitted with its new avionics package this month and begin flight […]

Teledyne Continental announced yesterday that it has made significant strides in getting the lead out of its assets-piston aircraft engines. The Mobile, Alabama engine-maker announced completion of a series of flight and test-cell trials with an unleaded fuel-labeled 94UL-replacing 100 Low Lead aviation gasoline powering engines ranging from the O-200 (100-hp range) to the IO-550 […]