Jets

Piper on Monday indefinitely suspended its single-engine Altaire jet, previously known as the PiperJet, saying it would be unlikely to recoup its investment in a reasonable period of time. “Following an evaluation of Altaire development and light jet forecasts we determined the best course of action for the company going forward,” interim Piper president/CEO Simon […]

(October 2011) Shortly after retrieving credentials at the media counter, I glanced at my BlackBerry display. The time was 0830. Good deal. I had an hour of free time to wander around the nooks and crannies of EAA AirVenture before the scheduled arrival of the 787. After concluding that I really didn’t need to agonize […]

Piper Aircraft today issued a release detailing big changes at the company, which include the departure from Piper of aviation industry veteran and Executive Vice President Randy Groom, who has led the company for the past years to what Piper calls on-target performance despite the down economy. Also out is CEO Geoffrey Berger, who will […]

After years of exploring the dream of a jet-powered Aerostar, Aerostar Aircraft of Boise, Idaho, is test-flying a Pratt & Whitney re-engined airplane. Company president Jim Christy flew the twinjet to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for AirVenture in July. The airplane, which has very little time on it, is still a work in progress, though the most […]

Bombardier Aerospace has announced new suppliers for the Global 7000 and 8000 long-range business jets. The airplanes will be equipped with the Global Vision flight deck, based on the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion integrated avionics suite. The avionics system will be essentially identical to the Global Vision flight deck certified by Transport Canada for […]

Honda Aircraft Company president and CEO Michimasa Fujino announced at an NBAA press briefing in Las Vegas that the development program for the company’s HF420 light jet has been pushed back due to a delay in the certification of the GE-Honda HF120 engine. Fujino said the delay is due to a redesign project caused by […]

On Monday at the NBAA Convention, Eclipse Aerospace announced that it was restarting production of its EA500 very light jet. First delivery of the new jet is planned for 2013. Eclipse is calling the new model the Eclipse 550, but it will retain the type certificate of the original while incorporating some noteworthy changes to […]

Bombardier has begun production of the first Learjet 85 test aircraft, the company announced on Sunday at the NBAA Convention. According to Bombardier, teams in Wichita, Montreal and other locations throughout the world are now actively engaged in the manufacturing validation process. A full-length fuselage, as well as several other key parts of the all-composite […]

On the first day of the NBAA convention, Cessna launched a new light midsize airplane, the Citation Latitude, which will sell for around $15 million. The airplane will feature an all new all-metal stand-up cabin fuselage, a wing nearly identical to the Citation Sovereign midsize jet and the Garmin G5000 integrated avionics suite. Cessna announced […]

With certification of the G280 imminent, Pres Henne, Senior Vice President, Programs, Engineering and Test at Gulfstream, announced that extensive flight-testing has shown better than expected performance. At Mach 0.80 with four passengers, the airplane has shown a range of 3,600 nm, 200 nm better than the expected range when the program was first announced […]