Business Aviation

Slovenia-based Pipistrel has signed a $550 million deal with Sino GA Group Co. of China to build its Alpha Electro electric trainer and hybrid-powered Pantera high-performance aircraft in China. And while that’s significant in itself, it’s Pipistrel’s plans for the money it will earn in the project that is bound to raise eyebrows. “Pipistrel will […]

A local newspaper in the Silicon Valley has published photos of a test vehicle apparently under development by Zee Aero, a secretive company reportedly financed by Google founder Larry Page, which is working to develop a VTOL design that could be used as a “flying car.” The aircraft, seen in photos published online by the […]

Gulfstream has sold its last G450, which will be delivered to a customer early in 2018, the company said recently. The G450 began as the GIV, and evolved into the GIV-SP. All together the company built more than 870 of the airplanes. The jet will be replaced in the company’s line by the all-new G500, […]

Rockwell Collins has significantly broadened its customer base with the $6.3 billion acquisition of B/E Aerospace. The iconic avionics and electronics maker is now in the cabin completion business but the two worlds are not that far apart. B/E is a Florida-based supplier of business jet cabin fittings from galleys to lavs. All those things […]

The founders of the ModAero NextGen Aviation Festival launched their first event early this year with a great idea — to target millennials, the 18 to 35 age group. But the project got off to a rocky start, when its social media reach of more than 1.2 million translated to just over 500 attendees on […]

Only the FAA can set standards for aviation safety, AOPA told the Supreme Court this week, and states and courts should not be allowed to undermine that responsibility. AOPA submitted a “friend of the court” brief asking the judges to hear the case of Sikkelee v. Precision Airmotive Corp., which involves a 2005 airplane crash […]

The crew of a Hawker 700A jet that crashed in Akron, Ohio, a year ago showed a “disregard for safety,” NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart said today, and the company where they worked also “fell short of their obligations.” Both crew members and all seven passengers died when the jet crashed into an apartment building about […]

A new advanced robotics system that functions as a copilot has been successfully tested in flight in a Diamond DA-42 and a Cessna Caravan, Aurora Flight Sciences announced this week. On Monday, Aurora demonstrated automated flight capabilities with the Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) in a Caravan, flying basic maneuvers under the supervision of […]

Tier 1 Engineering has flown a battery-powered manned helicopter for a five-minute cruise flight, the company recently announced. The aircraft flew to 400 feet altitude and reached a peak speed of 80 knots during its first flight, which took place in late September in Costa Mesa, California. “I’m very pleased to achieve this historic breakthrough […]

What makes training good? What makes it stick so that when you really need it, you can make the right decision and execute accordingly? Anyone who has earned a flight instructor certificate will remember the Six Laws of Learning as elucidated in the FAA’s dreary Aviation Instructor’s Handbook. My friend John Deakin once told me […]