Aviation News

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 […]

At the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Florida, this past week, Garmin introduced its new GDU 370 and GDU 375 displays. The new products are essentially versions of the Garmin GPS 695 (without XM Weather capability) and GPS 696 (with XM Weather) portables. But the new products are configured with power and antenna coupling […]

By all accounts, some persuasive discussion from Kansas congressman Todd Tiahrt (R-Kans.) convinced his colleague Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to remove anti-bizav language written by Frank from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). As originally devised, the legislation governing the fiscal bailout would have forbidden companies from owning or leasing business aircraft-across the board. The purpose […]

The safety statistics for 2008 did not bring good news to most turbine operators. Part 91 operations by owner-pilots saw accidents and fatal accidents more than double. According to safety analyst Robert E. Breiling Associates, owner-flown business aircraft were involved in 29 accidents last year, of which 14 involved fatalities. That contrasts with 2007, when […]

When no qualified bidders emerged last week, the scheduled auction for the assets of Eclipse Aviation was canceled by bankruptcy court judge Mary Walrath. That cleared the way for EclipseJet Aviation International, a subsidiary of Luxembourg-based ETIRC Aviation, to acquire the company. The deal was approved verbally by the judge on Tuesday and signed off […]

Economics be darned, Cessna is on track with new product development at all levels. Its Model 162 SkyCatcher light sport aircraft is finalizing its test program, with certification and first deliveries scheduled for later this year. The company has incorporated extensive ground vibration testing for the composite airframe, even though it is not required, to […]

No pilot could possibly reflect on the one-in-a-million emergency landing in New York’s Hudson River without imagining himself or herself in the pilot’s seat. We all hope we could remain as calm as the heroic pilots and crew that day. We also hope we have prepared ourselves as completely as we can for this, or […]

John Winant, the first president of the (then) National Business Aircraft Association, died at his home in Massachusetts January 14. The former Sprague Electric vice president was 85. Winant is remembered as the driving force that took NBAA (now the National Business Aviation Association) from 824 member companies to close to 3,000. An original member […]