Business Aviation

It’s been a long road for Cirrus to produce their first jet, but on Monday the company delivered a Vision jet to a customer, at a ceremony in Duluth, Minnesota. “It’s a major milestone to deliver the first airplane,” said Cirrus CEO Dale Klapmeier, according to the local BusinessNorth report. “This is a major step […]

A Chinese conglomerate has bought majority control of Diamond Aircraft’s London, Ontario, factory, the company confirmed today. Wanfeng Aviation, a subsidiary of a larger holding company, completed a deal on Dec. 13 that conveys 60 percent of Diamond Aircraft Canada to Wanfeng. Diamond’s Austria company remains unaffected by the agreement, except some production will be […]

Gulfstream’s new G600 flew for the first time Saturday, taking off from Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport at 1:50 p.m. for a flight that lasted almost three hours. First flight was slightly ahead of schedule and kicks off the flight test certification program. Two more flight test aircraft are in final preparation for flight and will […]

The FAA published a final rule on Tuesday that will allow operators to use an enhanced-vision flight system to descend all the way to the runway, under certain conditions. Currently, the FAA allows pilots to depend on enhanced vision in lieu of natural vision only to 100 feet above the runway, and only under certain […]

Piper’s six-seat single-engine turboprop, the M600, is now certified in Australia, the company announced this week. “This is a significant milestone for the Piper M600,” said Piper Aircraft CEO Simon Caldecott. “Australian owner/operators tell us they are very keen on the greater range and enhanced safety features.” The airplane, which was FAA certified in June, […]

That the death of John Glenn on Thursday came as no surprise made it no less sad. For my generation, Glenn was an indelible figure of towering accomplishment. Given his chosen profession and the risks that defined it, living to the age of 95 was itself a feat, never mind being launched into space twice. […]

The Atlanta Technical College, in Atlanta, Georgia, is no longer certified to offer aviation maintenance technician training, the FAA said this week. The FAA issued an emergency order alleging that the college failed to keep proper records for students. Some grade records were incomplete or lacked instructor signatures, the FAA said, and several students who […]

As airlines continue to unbundle what’s covered by a basic fare, United Airlines announced this week that it will begin charging for the use of overhead space in its cabins. While discount airlines such as Spirit have charged for the overhead for several years, United is the first major airline to do so. The Washington […]

I know it’s fashionable to decry flying on the airlines as the mass transportation equivalent of a slave ship, but I’ve trained myself to tune out the insults and degradations of airline travel. The airlines usually get you there at a fare less than you can fly yourself over the same distance. That’s just economic […]

With winter on the way for much of the U.S., the FAA has released a new training video about the dangers of ice-induced stalls. “Much has occurred since NASA’s original 1998 ice-contaminated tailplane stall video,” the FAA said. “The information in this training video supersedes, supplants, and replaces the instruction in all previous NASA tail […]