Business Aviation

Eclipse has major modifications in the works for its E550 jet, the company announced at EAA AirVenture this week, including a bigger wing, an engine upgrade and the option to install a Garmin G3000 avionics suite. The new model, dubbed “Canada,” will carry more fuel, extending the range to 1400 nm, and payload will increase […]

Textron introduced a mockup of its all-new Cessna single-engine turbroprop today at EAA AirVenture, and also announced that the model has been named “Denali.” The name captures the new airplane’s “rugged, yet refined” qualities, the company said. “The Denali will balance great handling characteristics with the enhanced capability of a high-performance turboprop, making it a […]

The Aircraft Electronics Association said this week they will award five aircraft owners $1,000 each, from a random drawing, to be used toward an ADS-B upgrade. The drawings will be held next week during EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh. By offering the incentives, AEA President Paula Derks said, “AEA hopes to send a message to owners […]

Pilatus officials held a groundbreaking ceremony last week for a new facility at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield, Colorado, which will provide completions, sales, and service support for the fleet, including the PC-24 twinjet. The new facility is expected to open in the spring of 2018, on the currently undeveloped west side of the […]

Cirrus Aircraft said today its special-mission platform, Cirrus Perception, is now FAA certified and ready to enter service for a variety of applications, including law enforcement, traffic monitoring, mapping, search and rescue, border surveillance and more. “Special-mission operators are constantly looking for ways to increase their capabilities while reducing operational costs,” said David Moser, vice […]

Founder and CEO of Icon Aircraft, Kirk Hawkins, spent his formative years in a way many pilots would envy—motocross racing, skydiving, flying little airplanes and ultralights and mucking around with boats. In the process he picked up a private pilot certificate and acquired an understanding of the wide appeal of motorsports, including recreational flying, across […]

Somewhere in the considerable reading I’ve done on the Apollo program, a comment from William Anders stuck with me. Anders was the lunar module pilot on the historic Apollo 8 mission in 1968. It marked the first time a manned spacecraft had departed earth orbit to journey to another body in the solar system. Anders […]

Comments filed by the NTSB in reaction to the FAA’s proposal to overhaul Part 23 aircraft certification were not wholly supportive of the changes, and now AOPA, EAA and the Aircraft Electronics Association have weighed in with a response. The three groups sent a joint letter to NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart noting that they share […]

European regulators have long restricted the use of single-engine turbine and turboprop airplanes for commercial operations at night or in instrument meteorological conditions, but that’s about to change. After 20 years of work and negotiations between industry and government agencies, a key EASA committee has voted to approve a new regulatory framework that will allow […]

The Falcon 8X is now EASA-certified, Dassault Aviation announced this week, and FAA approval is expected to follow by the end of next month. The design, based on the company’s 7X, offers the longest range of any Falcon jet, up to 6,450 nautical miles, and the biggest cabin, almost 43 feet long. “Feedback from the […]