Aviation News

The FAA says it needs more information before it can decide whether to exempt the Icon A5 from the upper weight limit restriction for amphibious light sport aircraft and allow it to weigh 1680 pounds. As AOPA reported last week, the agency wrote a letter (PDF) to Icon President Kirk Hawkins that due to “the […]

It appears the three crew members lost in the overseas loss of a KC-135 tanker were from Spokane, Wash., but the aircraft was based in Kansas. Two of the three bodies have been recovered after the loaded tanker apparently exploded in flight and crashed in Kyrgyzstan. The aircraft was on its way to support the […]

An unmanned X-51A WaveRider aircraft reached 5.1 Mach, Monday, pushed to more than 3,000 miles per hour over the Pacific Ocean near Point Mugu, Calif., by a scramjet engine. The Air Force said Wednesday that the WaveRider was carried aloft from Edwards Air Force Base by a B-52. It was released over the ocean at […]

The Solar Impulse team sent their solar aircraft out from Moffett Airfield near San Jose, Calif., Friday at 6:12 a.m. Pacific time, for Phoenix, Ariz., on the first leg of a transcontinental U.S. flight. It landed in Phoenix at 12:30 a.m. Saturday. The aircraft is powered by four 10-horsepower electric motors that draw energy from […]

Jetman Yves Rossy, the man who flies strapped to a small wing powered by four small turbines, has been scheduled for flight displays at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2013. Rossy previously flew in the U.S. back in 2011 when he made a successful flight over a section of the Grand Canyon (video), but the flight was […]

Mike Spears Mike Spears is the new senior director for Lakota production and retrofit at Eurocopter’s Columbus, Miss. facility. He was formerly general manager of the Sikorsky Aircraft production facility in Troy, Ala.

Genaro Sanchez Genaro Sanchez has been appointed director of marketing and communications for Cutter Aviation.

Bill Minkoff Bill Minkoff is the new VP of global management and sales. He was most recently a regional sales director for Hawker Beechcraft.

Bill Blackwood Bill Blackwood is retiring as Superior Air Parts’ director of operations. He’s worked in aviation for 42 years and joined Superior in 2006.

Cessna has flown the production version of its updated Sovereign mid-sized business jet and, as expected, everything went well. The two and a half hour flight tested all the systems, including the new G5000 avionics suite that includes autothrottles. “The aircraft handling characteristics and performance were exceptional, just as we had anticipated after flying more […]