Aviation News

Last Thursday, Cirrus’ single-engine personal jet flew for the first time. The 45-minute test flight was the first of a series to establish “verification and validation” of the proof-of-concept airframe, now dubbed V1 for that reason, according to Cirrus Chairman and CEO Alan Klapmeier. But the name also references the unique jet’s V-tail configuration, which […]

General Electric Aviation, a division of General Electric, announced last week it had acquired assets of Walter Engines of the Czech Republic. Founded in 1911, Walter currently produces turboprops in the same power range as the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-and in fact there are supplemental type certificates for replacing PT6As with Walters on certain […]

Phil Boyer, the ex-television executive who has served as president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association for the past 18 years, will retire at year’s end. Replacing Boyer, pending a September vote by trustees, will be Craig Fuller, described by AOPA as “an experienced Washington public affairs executive and political operative.” Fuller is also […]

Eclipse has developed software improvements to the full authority digital engine control (fadec) system of its Eclipse 500 very light jet. Pending FAA approval, the updated software will be made available to Eclipse customers. The software fix is designed to correct a fault that caused the engines of an Eclipse 500 to lock at full […]

Eclipse has received FAA approval for flight into known icing (FIKI) for its Eclipse 500 very light jet. The long awaited approval came following 300 hours of test flying, including up to 60 hours in natural icing conditions in the United States and Canada. Beginning in 2007, the test program involved three test aircraft. The […]

Mooney Airplane Company has scaled back production from eight aircraft per month to five and has laid off 80 employees. Reduced demand for piston aircraft is blamed for the cutbacks, with sales down 28 percent in the last reporting period by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. Perhaps due to the falling value of the U.S. […]

With growing success track record, the Parade of Pistons counts Dallas as one of its success stories. More than 1,000 visitors clicked the turnstiles at the event May 15 to 17, and no fewer than six aircraft were sold outright. They included two Mooneys, two Diamonds, a Liberty and a Cessna. A share in a […]

Cirrus Design Corp. and Frasca International have teamed to update one of Cirrus’ two Frasca flight training devices (FTDs) to incorporate the new Perspective avionics from Garmin. Training is now available at Cirrus’s Duluth, Minnesota, factory. Announced at the EBACE show in Switzerland, the new avionics suite includes Garmin’s synthetic vision technology and a center […]

When an Eclipse pilot at Chicago Midway Airport firewalled the throttles for a go-around caused by wind shear, the engine controls stuck in the maximum-thrust position. The very light jet landed safely with two pilots and two passengers on board, but the incident led to an emergency airworthiness directive from the FAA. According to Eclipse, […]

Captain Johnny Miller, a self-taught pilot whose flying career began with barnstorming during aviation’s golden age, has died at 102. Miller flew his own Beech Bonanza throughout the country up until a few years ago. Over his career, he flew the airmail, set a transcontinental record in a Pitcairn autogiro, competed in air races, served […]