Turboprops

While the name Daher-Socata is new, the roots of the company can be traced back to the beginnings of man’s adventure with the airplane, starting 100 years ago under the name Morane-Saulnier. Over the last century, the company has developed 94 models and produced more than 17,000 aircraft. It also participated in many aviation firsts: […]

A prototype of the Evektor EV-55 Outback turboprop twin made its first flight from Kunovice Airport in the Czech Republic last Friday, delivering on a promise made by the fledgling aircraft manufacturer when it launched the project seven years ago.** ** Evektor test pilot Josef Charvat and military pilot Major Jiri Hana flew the airplane, […]

Hawker Beechcraft Corporation has earned FAA approval for the latest iteration of its popular turboprop twin, the King Air 250. FAA approval came after an extensive development program for a series of mods that make the 250 the fastest and most capable 200-series model yet. ** ** The airplane, featured in a Flying 2011 cover […]

(June 2011) We’d just landed, taxied in and shut down the one-of-a-kind King Air 250 on the Atlantic FBO ramp at my home airport of Austin Bergstrom. We’d made our fuel order, closed up the big airstair door and started into the FBO when my flying buddy, Hawker Beechcraft’s Mark Mohler, spotted a pretty King […]

__Flight level 280 in a TBM 850 was just perfect for us coming out of Peachtree in Georgia, headed down to cozy North Perry Airport near Fort Lauderdale in south Florida. On a really long trip we could have climbed up to FL 310, lost a few knots, saved a few gallons per hour and […]

Engine swaps for turbine airplanes are, as Lane Wallace pointed out in her overview of the turbine re-engining marketplace, a popular way for airplane owners to get more value out of an existing airplane. For those owners who are looking to get more hauling power or improved performance without trading up, an engine swap is […]

In 1991, Bobby Bishop and his father were operating a skydiving operation out of Celina, Texas. They had a Cessna 182, a Pilatus PC-6 Porter, a DC-3 and a de Havilland Caribou. But they wanted something in between the Porter and the DC-3/Caribou size aircraft. A de Havilland Twin Otter didn’t seem cost-effective, and the […]

Composite construction makes Dornier Seastar a practical seaplane for all sorts of missions.

What a world. I had just landed the Dornier Seastar flying boat in the Gulf of Mexico a few miles off the Florida coast. We shut down the engines and were sitting on top of the Seastar cabin enjoying the view and wishing for a fishing pole when Dornier Seaplane Co. CEO Joe Walker called […]

Cutter Aviation takes a derelict C90 King Air and makes it look like a million bucks. Well, a million and a half, to be exact.