Aviation News

With some 40 letters of intent (backed by refundable $250,000 deposits), Aerion announced its backlog sits north of the $3 billion mark for its proposed supersonic business jet, projected to cost $80 million each. Company Vice Chairman Brian Barents is even more bullish on the prospects for the jet now than he was 30 months […]

Cirrus announced on Tuesday it will offer a new Garmin avionics option package-dubbed “Cirrus Perspective”-for SR22 buyers. Perspective incorporates 12-inch screens, 35 percent larger than those on existing G1000 systems, and the ideal canvas for Garmin’s recently announced Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT). Cirrus also simplified data input with its GCU 478 alphanumeric keypad replacing the […]

For the first time the total value of general aviation airplanes delivered in 2007 broke through the $20 billion mark. Thanks to a 28 percent increase in business jet shipments, and an 11 percent growth in the numbers of turboprops, total billings by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association were $21.9 billion worldwide, up a whopping […]

Bombardier has increased the max takeoff weight of its large cabin Global 5000 business jet to 92,500 pounds, allowing it to carry more fuel. The added fuel increases the IFR range 400 nm to 5,200 nm when cruising at a fast Mach .85 (488 kts), a range increase of 8 percent. The extra fuel is […]

According to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association first quarter tally, deliveries of new piston aircraft were off by about 28 percent compared with Q1 numbers from last year. Manufacturers delivered only 399 piston-powered aircraft in the first three months of this year, compared with 544 in last year’s first quarter. Cirrus’ numbers were down by […]

“It’s a one-G maneuver. It’s absolutely nonhazardous, but it’s very impressive.” So Tex Johnson explained himself to Boeing president Bill Allen after performing an impromptu barrel-roll in the 707 prototype before a Seattle gathering of IATA bigwigs. Equally impressive, but more subtle, was Bob Hoover’s demonstration, watchable on YouTube, that he could smoothly pour water […]

Either it’s really early for next winter, or really late for last winter, but the FAA has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would disallow pilots from taking off with so-called “polished frost” on their aircraft’s wings. Part of the reason is the ambiguity of when frost can be considered smooth enough to be […]

The National Aeronautical Association (NAA) awarded the 2007 Robert J. Collier Trophy not to an airplane, company or individual, but to a technology, automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast, or ADS-B. The NAA also recognized a number of companies and organizations, private, nonprofit and governmental, for their part in the development of ADS-B. Even if you don’t know […]

The U.S. Army has ordered three new Twin Otters from Viking Air Limited, the Canadian company that is putting the venerable de Havilland twin turboprop back into production. The Army will use the high-wing Twin Otters as jump planes for its Golden Knights parachute team. The Army orders bring the total to more than 40 […]

Diamond recently announced that it would upgrade the Williams FJ33 turbofan on its single-engine D-Jet to a more powerful version on all of its production airplanes. The new powerplant, a 1,900 lb thrust Williams FJ-33-4A-19, will replace the 1,564 lb thrust Dash-15 variant. Several factors drove the decision to make the switch, says Diamond, but […]