Aviation News

Torrance, California-based Robinson Helicopter continues its upward trend-in the face of a fast autorotating economy, no less. Last year, Robinson built 893 civil helicopters, surpassing its 2007 record year of 823. Fully 80 percent of the rotorcraft built last year were four-place R44s-60 percent Raven IIs and 20 percent Raven Is. The remaining 20 percent […]

Charter provider JetDirect Aviation has said it will receive an infusion of private equity capital by the end of this month that is expected to “enable us to begin bringing our client obligations more current prior to closing.” JetDirect President Jake Cartwright, who also headed TAG Aviation before that unit was acquired by JetDirect, has […]

Following four years of development, Diamond Aircraft Industries has received type certification for its Austro E4 turbodiesel aircraft engine from the European authorities. Demand for the new engine accelerated with the insolvency of Thielert Engines, sole provider of powerplants for Diamond’s DA42 Twin Star twin-engine aircraft. When Thielert engines-and parts-became unavailable from that company, many […]

If you are a “reasonable and prudent” pilot when it comes to icing, a new interpretation by the FAA should reduce stress in your winter operations. Where the FAA used to define “known ice” as any area where there were clouds and sub-zero Centigrade conditions, the new rule takes a decidedly more rational tack. True, […]

It may be Super Bowl Sunday to football fans, but this weekend also marks the cessation of satellite monitoring for aircraft emergency locator transmitters that transmit only on 121.5 MHz. Search and rescue units will continue to monitor the old frequency, at least here in the United States, while also guarding the new ELTs frequency, […]

Remember when we all heard that prices at grocery stores (and just about everywhere else) were going up because of the high cost of gas? Have you noticed them going down, now that gas prices are lower? Me neither. But at least one aviation business has passed on some fuel savings to its customers. Airline […]

Business aviation took another public relations hit when Citigroup, caving in to public outcry and a reprimand from President Obama, announced Tuesday it would not take delivery of a Dassault Falcon 7X ordered more than two years ago. President Obama was quoted saying he didn’t believe buying the new business jet was “the best use […]

At the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo, Cessna arrived with a new tail configuration for its SkyCatcher light sport aircraft. The new tail is Cessna’s response to a spin accident last year in which a prototype SkyCatcher was lost-the pilot parachuted to safety. The new vertical tail is larger and has less sweep than its predecessor, […]

Citing the state of the economy, the National Business Aviation Association has chosen to cancel plans to hold an independent Light Business Airplane Conference. The meeting had been scheduled for March 13-14 in San Diego. Instead, the association will incorporate elements of the conference into its regular annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, later this year, […]

When Microsoft announced layoffs for 5,000 employees, it also shut down its subsidiary ACES Studios-developer of the Flight Simulator gaming software. The first version of Flight Sim came out in the pre-Windows era-1982-and is one of Microsoft’s oldest and most widely known products. The current version, Flight Simulator X, is supported not only by the […]