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Boeing and BAE In Merger Talks?… With all of the obstacles Boeing has faced over the last year or so, it seems interesting to note some reports that indicate that the company may join forces with a rival manufacturer. The Sunday Times of London broke the story when it reported that senior bankers held talks […]

…Environmental Issues Challenged… Matas said the draft plan by B.C. Parks Stikine Region suggests floatplanes are an environmental hazard, but she said that view doesn’t hold water. She said floatplanes are the only means of transportation that leave no permanent marks on the land. Trucks, all-terrain vehicles and even hikers need trails to get to […]

Last Wednesday, The Washington Post reported the existence of a task force created to assess the ground-based threat to air travel and try to prevent the use of shoulder-launched ground-to-air missiles that could theoretically be launched against airliners from beyond the airport security perimeter. While military technology might provide some of the answers, the task […]

FAA officials harassed a Missouri pilot for no good reason, causing stress that was cited by the NTSB as a factor in a fatal accident, and then failed to properly investigate charges related to the crash, DOT Inspector General Kenneth Mead reported this week. The report, undertaken at the request of Missouri Rep. Roy Blunt, […]

Diamond Aircraft has entered what has become a crowded field. The company announced Wednesday it will have its own single-engine mini-jet in the air in 2004 and start delivering it in 2006. “This is a natural progression for us,” said Peter Maurer, Diamond’s North American CEO. The D-Jet, as it is currently known, will carry […]

There’s been another change at the top at Mooney Aerospace Group Ltd. (MASG) but CEO Nelson Happy said he believes there is stability ahead for the reorganized company. Jack Jansen, the senior vice president of operations at MASG’s Mooney Airplane Company Inc., in Kerrville, Texas, was let go in December. Happy said the decision was […]

They share the same basic philosophy and their performance and capabilities are almost identical: Will Cessna’s Mustang and the Eclipse 500 now share the same basic engine? Pratt & Whitney Canada announced Thursday it will build a new type of small, efficient turbofan to power Cessna’s new entry-level Mustang, which is seen as a direct […]

The FAA announced Monday its next step in modernizing the nation’s air traffic control system through a contract awarded to General Dynamics Decision Systems (GDDS) for the purchase of up to 20,000 CM-300 series air traffic control radios over the next 10 years. The FAA will use the new radios to communicate from en route […]

The future of a high-performance single that traces its pedigree to the P-51 is now in the hands of a small Minnesota company. Sierra Hotel Aero, of St. Paul, bought the type certificate, engineering data and production jigs for Navion aircraft at an auction held Dec. 18. Sierra Hotel Aero spokesman Chris Gardner said his […]

Two aircraft disasters yesterday brought a one-day death toll of near 100 to commercial aviation. US Airways Express Flight 5481, a Beech 1900 with 19 passengers and two crew aboard operated by Air Midwest, out of Charlotte-Douglas for Greenville-Spartanburg, crashed yesterday morning on departure, killing all aboard. Three at first thought lost on the ground […]