Pistons

The FAA National Kit Evaluation Team recently gave a thumbs up to Sonex Aircraft‘s single-seat kitplane known as the Onex, granting Onex builders access to approved checklists for the foldable-wing design that will allow them to show compliance with the 51 percent rule. Powered by an 80 hp AeroVee engine and small enough to fit […]

(March 2012) When Matt Norklun decided to go surfing in the Bahamas, the airlines were not an option. The 6-foot-6-inch Norklun loaded up his airplane with his two brothers and three surfboards. Considering the size of the occupants and their cargo, you might assume Norklun owns a Beechcraft Baron or a Cessna Caravan. He doesn’t. […]

__Ever since major airplane manufacturers such as Cessna and Piper moved the third wheel from the rear of the fuselage to the front in the 1950s, most new single-engine airplanes have been delivered with tricycle gear. Some people question why anyone would fly a taildragger since the nosewheel-configured airplanes simply are easier to take off […]

Have you ever wanted to design an aircraft that actually made it onto the display floor? Pipistrel is giving aviation enthusiasts just that chance with its contest for the livery design of the first Panthera. The company is calling for exterior designs of its new fuel-efficient four-seater, and plans to award the selected winner with […]

Cessna has launched a safety initiative to educate owners of 100- and 200-series single-engine piston aircraft about new supplemental aircraft inspection procedures that will soon be added to Cessna service manuals. The supplemental inspections will cover more than 145,000 Cessna single-engine airplanes produced between 1946 and 1986. The inspections will be incorporated into the service […]

(December 2011) Remember Slovenia? It used to be part of what we now call “the former Yugoslavia.” Unlike Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia, Slovenia did not lay itself waste, after partition, with ethnic warfare. Perhaps that is why we hear so little about it; peaceful, prosperous and progressive, it is a sort of Slavic Sweden. It […]

Cessna late last week told Flying that it would raise the price of its popular light-sport Model 162 Skycatcher substantially to reflect the actual costs of producing the airplane. The former price of $114,000 will increase at the New Year to $149,900. The big increase is somewhat deceiving, though, as the airplane will come standard […]

The Ecuador Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana or FAE) has selected the Diamond DA20-C1 as its new primary flight training aircraft with an order for 12 airplanes. The new fleet of DA20s, currently in production at Diamond Aircraft‘s London, Ontario, factory, will be operated by FAE’s Air Force Academy “Cosme Rennella” at Salinas Air Base […]

__It’s not often that an amateur aeronautical tinkerer will hit upon a business idea so perfectly suited for the times that it advances, almost overnight, to become a runaway success story. Such was the case in 1971, when a young engineer from Oregon named Richard VanGrunsven tried, in his own words, to “build a better […]

Cirrus Aircraft has delivered its 5,000th airplane, and if you ever have a chance to see it, you’ll know immediately what it is you’re looking at. The Cirrus SR22 – N5000J – has a unique yellow-and-gray paint scheme with shiny black-and-white accents. Its tail is adorned with a large numeral 5 and the word “thousand.” […]