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A complex maneuver that required accurate timing and at least some visual contact between the pilots for safe execution lacked both and resulted in the deaths of two of the air show world’s most respected pilots last July. The Canadian Transportation Safety Board says that Jimmy Franklin and Bobby Younkin didn’t have a clear idea […]

Subaru engines were spotted by kitbuilders 20 years ago when the Japanese automaker came out with a boxer (horizontally opposed) design similar to that of Continental and Lycoming. That’s where the similarity ends, however. The four-cylinder Crossflow models range in horsepower from 180 to 250 hp and the six-cylinders are rated at 250 to 350 […]

While Bombardier’s efforts are all but forgotten, they are apparently not gone. After a series of corporate structural changes, the reins for the project were turned over to a Florida company called Aircraft Engine Services (AES). Luc Gaspe de Beaubien, who was in charge of the project at Bombardier, is the CEO of AES and, […]

A tiny Canadian company is trying to do something a giant Canadian company apparently couldn’t. Ontario-based Crossflow Aero Corp. has begun the process of certifying the first new design of gasoline-powered piston engines for the mainstream GA market since Rotax came out with its four-strokes more than a decade ago. “We applied for certification last […]

Airshow legend Sean Tucker gathered a roomful of reporters at Sun n Fun yesterday morning to hear the riveting first-hand story of his harrowing emergency over Louisiana on Tuesday. An ounce of empathy turned some moments raw as Tucker described to a press corps of pilots the decision that would doom the “most magical piece […]

Bass told the news conference that Piper is revamping its product line. For the past couple of years, the sole topic of news conferences has been the announcement that one or two Piper models was being outfitted with Avidyne Entegra glass cockpits. True to form, Tuesday’s press conference started with the announcement that the Seminole, […]

Bass, who replaced the popular Chuck Suma as CEO last fall (there was a bomb scare at the plant on the day of the announcement) said his first priority was to “concentrate on the employees and management.” Whatever he did seemed to strike a chord with the workers and last week the National Labor Relations […]

There are fewer more compelling hard-luck stories out there than Piper’s recent history. But with “concrete bunkers” to replace its hurricane-ravaged buildings, new airplanes on the way (including — somewhere in the distance — the long-awaited jet), a seemingly re-energized de-unionized and united front office and factory floor, and a healthy increase in sales, Jim […]

Jahn flew the plane from Kerrville, Texas to Lakeland, Florida and told the large crowd of media (and the just plain interested) that those were the numbers she got. She also said that because the plane is a prototype, they expect performance to improve once the 280-hp, Continental TSIO 550G is tweaked to make the […]

AVweb’s special coverage of the Sun ‘n Fun air show in Lakeland, Florida, continues. Watch for more, Friday. Once the undisputed leader in high performance, Mooney was not too long ago sent to the canvas by that vexing mix of product liability, recession and management unable to overcome the challenges of the day. It soon […]