Aviation News

The super-midsize Hawker 4000 business jet received final FAA certification earlier this summer and the company began deliveries. The airplane has a carbon fiber fuselage with 6-foot headroom and a flat floor and is, in most respects, the most advanced midsize jet in service. The rudder, steering and brakes all are fly-by-wire controlled, and the […]

If the list of twin-engine, very light jet contenders seems long, those hoping to build single-engine jets are now also starting to grow in number. Newcomer Stratos Aircraft in Bend, Oregon, announced last week it is developing a four-place very light personal jet (VLPJ) to be called the Stratos 714. Stratos claims it has the […]

Operators of Diamond aircraft that are currently powered by Thielert Aircraft Engines’ diesel piston power plants will have a first chance to see the alternative next week at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Diamond will have an example of its developmental AE 300 Austro engine on display. The developmental 170 hp turbodiesel engine is earmarked […]

More than 1,000 general aviation buyers braved triple-digit temperatures to visit Centennial Airport in Denver last week for the third in a series of Parade of Piston events. Fifteen aircraft manufacturers were represented and up to a dozen aircraft were sold on site. Sponsored in part by Flying and AMPT Associates, a leading motor sports […]

Anywhere Map’s handheld GPS navigators, which are loaded with features, have long given pilots a lot of value in easy to use portable navigators. The company’s latest, the Anywhere Map Travel Companion (ATC), might be the best yet. Offering advanced moving maps and a host of available safety utilities, the ATC might well be a […]

Announced at this week’s Farnborough Airshow, the Pratt & Whitney Canada PurePower family of turbofans attempts to tap geared engine technology to achieve lower fuel burns and higher efficiency. The PurePower PW1000G and PW800 are earmarked for regional airliners and business jets, including Bombardier’s developmental CSeries 100- to 149-seat regional jets, also announced at Farnborough […]

Lycoming Engines announced this week it has launched development of its TIO-360-EXP “Thunderbolt” engine-with the ultimate goal of operating the engine on unleaded fuel. But the company carefully notes a long pathway of research and approvals necessary before that goal can be reached. The turbonormalized, intercooled engine is nominally rated at 180 horsepower up to […]

Long known internally-and increasingly externally-simply as ‘The Jet,’ Cirrus’ single-engine turbofan now has an official name. The Cirrus Vision SJ50 harks back to one of Alan and Dale Klapmeiers’ first products, the mid-engine, rear prop-driven ST50. First conceived as a kitplane, the ST50 never went to production, but formed a backdrop for Cirrus’s highly successful […]

The European Aviation Safety Agency has certified the Chelton Flight Systems synthetic vision avionics system in Bell 407, 206A and B JetRanger, and 206L LongRanger single-engine helicopters. The certification covers Chelton’s latest software version 6.0B level A, and includes graphic depictions of terrain, obstacles and WSI-downloaded weather. The Chelton system offers highway in the sky […]

Hawker Beechcraft announced the long expected II version of its light jet Premier at EBACE in Geneva in May. The Premier II will have more powerful engines for better takeoff and climb performance, and elliptical winglets that will help the airplane cruise higher and farther. The airplane moves into the FAA’s Commuter Category of certification […]