Aviation News

In rural Holden, Missouri, roughly 50 miles southeast of Kansas City, is a 10-acre island of recreational aviation in a vast ocean of corn and soybeans. The pole barns adjacent to its 1000-foot grass strip look like those on neighboring farms, until you look inside. The hulking gray lathe, milling machine, and drill press don’t […]

Viking, a Canadian company that has been building brand-new Twin Otters for a few years now, this week introduced a new variation, the 400S Seaplane, at the Singapore Airshow. While the twin was previously available with optional floats, the 400S is optimized for water-based operations, with corrosion-resistant packages for the airframe, powerplant and fuel system. […]

The CAFE Foundation this week announced the dates for their 10th annual Electric Aircraft Symposium, May 19 and 20, at the Marriott Waterfront in San Francisco. “CAFE Foundation believes that collaborative efforts are key in order to push forward electric flight,” the group said in a news release. “EAS 2016 will bring together the people […]

Despite some eyewitness reports, including one from a longtime pilot, it’s still not clear what led to the crash of a law-enforcement version of a Flight Design light sport aircraft in California last week. Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Ballantyne, 52, and James Chavez, 45, a pilot for the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office, died when the specially […]

AVweb’s search of news in aviation found announcements from FlyThisSim, Rectrix Aviation, Aviator Flight Training and Baldwin Aviation. Increasing demand for FlyThisSim TouchTrainers from international customers has prompted FlyThisSim to integrate worldwide navigation data into their range of TouchTrainers. “TouchTrainer customers can now switch their simulators to fly approaches into airfields in any country,” said […]

What to make of Mooney’s new M20V Acclaim Ultra? It’s at once more than I ever expected and less than I might have wished. Then again, in this business, the survivors learn that the orbits of expectation rarely intersect with those of reality and we all know about wishes, horses and beggars. But give the […]

General aviation manufacturing saw declines in the overall market worldwide as shipments for airplanes are reported down for 2015 over the previous year, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association reported Wednesday (PDF). Airplane shipments declined 4.6 percent, from 2,376 units in 2014 to 2,267 units in 2015. GA airplane billings also are down 4 percent with […]

A bill that would cap flight-training benefits for veterans at $20,235 should be scrapped, seven GA advocacy groups told Congress in a letter (PDF) issued today. “This legislation would effectively put flying careers out of reach for many vets,” said Jim Coon, AOPA spokesman for government affairs. “There are great jobs in aviation, and our […]

The former president of Sikorsky Aircraft was killed along with his passenger when his P-51D crashednear Maricopa, Arizona, on Friday. Jeffrey Pino, 61, was head of Sikorsky from 2006 to 2012. He was flying the Mustang, named Big Beautiful Doll, when it went down. The passenger was identified as Nickolas Tramontano, 71, of Brookfield, Connecticut. […]

AVweb’s search of aviation news worldwide found announcements from Avidyne, Jeppesen, Beechcraft and the National Air Transportation Association. Avidyne Corporationannounced that they are offering a new lower-priced IFD440 FMS/GPS/NAV/COM, starting at $12,399, including mounting tray and installation kit.The new entry-level pricing option allows customers to add wireless (Wi-Fi & Bluetooth) for $1,300 and Forward Looking […]