Multimedia

An extensive report on general aviation safety in USA Today this week doesn’t convey the whole story, says GAMA President Pete Bunce. He took a break from his work in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to talk with AVweb’s Mary Grady about ongoing efforts to build safer airplanes. Duration: 8:47 File Size: 8.0 MB download here

Lithium-ion batteries, which have three times the power of lead acid aircraft cells, are starting to find their way into new aircraft. Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics has formed a new division called True Blue Power to serve this market. In this AVweb video, MCI’s Todd Winter discusses the new battery products. view on YouTube

Chris Nesin knew he had to have the Piper Cub Special that the Buck brothers flew as Rinker Buck’s inspiration for Flight of Passage. AVweb’s Russ Niles spoke with the new owner of the iconic aircraft about its next transcontinental trip. Duration: 6:50 File Size: 6.3 MB download here

At its Gunskirchen, Austria, factory, Rotax celebrated both 25 years of producing the 912 series engine and the 50,000th engine in the series. AVweb was there and prepared this video report with the company’s Francois Tremblay. Learn more here. view on YouTube

In Slovenia, Pipistrel is well into certification testing of its exotic Panthera four-place retractable aircraft. AVweb recently visited the factory and prepared this test flight report on the new aircraft. Although it hasn’t hit its speed numbers yet, Pipistrel thinks further drag clean-up will take care of that. view on YouTube

Piper is touring Europe with its new Archer DX diesel, and later this summer, the airplane will appear in the U.S. While in Europe, AVweb took a flight demo in the airplane, and here are some impressions. view on YouTube

On Saturday, May 24, 2014, Continental Motors held its first Learn to Fly Day at its Fairhope, Alabama facility. AVweb attended the event and shot this brief news video. Learn more about the event on the AVweb Insider blog. view on YouTube