Business Aviation

Swiss Rotor Solutions has developed a retrofit “bubble” window set for Airbus H125/AS350 helicopters, and recently announced it has achieved EASA certification. FAA certification is in the works and is expected soon, the company said. The kit consists of a new door with the bubble window, a new bow-shaped floor structure that the door conforms […]

Flying a seaplane off of the water is well up there on the list of the most purely fun things to do in aviation. When you take one of the most enjoyable of human endeavors—flying—and combine it with zipping across the water, you get a rush that’s tough to beat when engaged in doing anything […]

One Aviation has confirmed that it has laid off an undisclosed number of staff at its Eclipse Aerospace production facility in Albuquerque. In a statement released Thursday, the company said the move was in response to market forces and preparation of a major new development. “We are undergoing a corporate restructuring, including a personnel reduction, […]

NASA said this week they are ready to start airborne tests of new cockpit technology that aims to help air traffic controllers manage landings more efficiently. After years of research and lab tests, a full airborne demo of the system is scheduled to fly later this month over Washington state. The flight crews will be […]

A suite of satellites that launched on Saturday are the first of 66 that will expand real-time global coverage for tracking airplanes in flight. Ten IridiumNext satellites, which weigh about 1,900 pounds each, were successfully deployed into low-Earth orbit, about 485 miles above the surface. The satellites will be the first to launch for Aireon’s […]

“There’s something very special about a Boeing 747,” United Airlines President Scott Kirby said in a blog posted online Wednesday. But he went on to say the company has decided to retire its 747 fleet from scheduled service. “It’s the one aircraft that even casual travelers can easily identify,” Kirby said. “And we know that […]

The good thing about having advanced ADD is that the distractions can you lead you on some fascinating forays into the obscure, the esoteric and the downright bizarre.The other day, I was paging through our archives looking for something—I can’t even remember what—and I found an article published in a 1992 issue of Aviation Consumer […]

Piper Aircraft has received an order for 50 Archers from their dealer in China, China Air Shuttle, the company announced this week. The airplanes will be manufactured and certificated at Piper Aircraft’s factory in Vero Beach, Florida, and then shipped to Rizhao, China, where they will be reassembled by a China Air Shuttle affiliate company. […]

The next-generation Airbus airlifter, the Beluga XL, is now under construction in France. The company recently posted a photo of the first of the fleet, on the assembly line. “It will take some 12 months to shape the core airframe of our next airlifter,” Airbus said. The company said it plans to build five of […]

The FAA is working toward allowing more freedom for drone operators, and at the same time is working with NASA on a plan to develop technology that will manage drone traffic, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said last week. Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Huerta said “the next step” in the agency’s […]