Jets

At its NBAA Convention press conference last week, Cessna showed video of its Scorpion light attack jet undergoing ejection seat testing. It’s explosive footage. As I reported on my Twitter feed (@robertgoyer), Cessna plans to fly the Scorpion this year, a remarkably ambitious production schedule, and testing the seats is a critical step along that […]

Talk about a vote of confidence. Cessna says it will market, sell and install Tamarack Aerospace’s innovative active winglets for the CitationJet family – on the CitationJet through the CJ3 – starting in 2015. Tamarack’s active winglets provide the performance advantages of traditional winglets while adding what the maker calls the “active technology load alleviation […]

Aviation Partners Boeing (APB), a joint venture between Aviation Partners Inc. (API) and the Boeing Company, has developed a Split Scimitar Winglet (SSW) program designed for Boeing Business Jets. APB claims the new winglets improve the long-range performance of BBJ series airplanes by 2.5 to 3 percent, adding about 200 nautical miles of range over […]

The flight deck of Cessna’s Citation Latitude just got better thanks to the addition of autothrottles, an enhancement announced by the company at the National Business Aviation Association Convention in Las Vegas this week. With the move Cessna brings a level of easy operation typical of larger jets into the cockpit of the midsize seven- […]

The ink has barely dried on Flexjet’s history making $5.2 billion order with Bombardier but the fractional ownership provider is already changing the deal — which suits Bombardier just fine. Flexjet announced yesterday it has converted options for 30 Learjet 85s that it placed last month to firm orders and has asked for options on […]

The much anticipated HondaJet, which has been trudging toward certification since it first flew nearly a decade ago, is finally getting to the home stretch as the HF120 engine that will power the twinjet is nearing certification. With an emphasis on the word “all,” Terry Sharp, president of GE Honda Aero Engines, announced that all […]

At NBAA Airbus told reporters about its new safety utilities that aim to eliminate some of the most common types of commercial aircraft accidents. The ROW/ROPS (runway overrun warning and runway overrun prevention, respectively) give ACJ pilots visual indications that encourage go-arounds if things are not going well on approach. The ROP function automatically maximizes […]

Embraer is showcasing a full lineup of executive jets at NBAA’s static display at Henderson Executive Airport near the southern edge of Las Vegas. The flagship happens to be a newly introduced airplane, an upgraded version of the Embraer Lineage 1000, renamed Lineage 1000E, the E implying extended range and enhanced interior. Embraer says an […]

At the NBAA Convention on Monday Dassault announced a brand new fly-by-wire large body bizjet with a new wing and fuselage that it calls the 5X. The .90 Mmo, 69,600-pound max takeoff weight jet was pre-launched to a group of journalists in Paris earlier this month. The Falcon 5X occupies an unusual spot in the […]

As Embraer is getting closer to first flight of its midsize, midrange, fly-by-wire Legacy 450 business jet, the shorter version of the soon-to-be certified Legacy 500, the company announced some final design tweaks at a press conference at NBAA’s Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition in Las Vegas, which opens its doors tomorrow. A Legacy 450 […]