News

Vandals spray painted, slashed tires and smashed instruments on and otherwise tampered with at least 11 aircraft, including a Citation 550, in a spree that caused hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage at Monmouth Executive Airport, near Belmar, N.J. last week. It’s speculated that the vandals used a vehicle to tear the tail […]

It’s been a long time since Cessna built any gas-burning twins but there are plenty still in service and now they can have panels that rival the latest offerings. Avidyne and Southern Star Avionics, of Mobile, Ala., have added Cessna 320, 335 and 340 piston twins to their approved model list for the Envision Integrated […]

So far, most of the emphasis on biofuels and synthetic jet fuels has been on the heavy hitters, airlines and military. Pratt and Whitney Canada, whose engines power a big percentage of the small jets and turboprops in service, is evaluating the use of “second generation” biofuels that don’t compete with food production. The most […]

As the waiting lists for new business aircraft grow, innovation is taking hold in the used market, creating updated versions of proven designs via the Supplementary Type Certificate process. Among the leaders in this movement is Clifford Development, which recently announced the first flight of a Citation 550 with Williams FJ44-3A engines. The aircraft took […]

Diamond Aircraft will be exhibiting the new AE 300 Austro engine next week at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh. The Austro is a jet-A-burning,170-hp, next-generation turbo-diesel engine that soon will be available on the DA42 Diamond twin. The AE 300 offers 26 percent more power than the engines currently on the DA42, says Diamond, for better […]

Over the next few days, AVweb‘s crew will be packing up our gear, heading for various airports, and winging our way to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, ready to bring you daily news (including a full AVwebBiz next Wednesday) from the EAA AirVenture grounds all next week. The show promises to be an exciting one, with several aircraft […]

A British soldier and jump instructor participating in a parachute competition in Germany got hung up on the landing gear of his jump aircraft, reportedly a Britten-Norman Islander, and was rescued by the only person left on the aircraft — its pilot. The aircraft was 3,000 feet above the Joint Service Parachute Centre at Bad […]

If you want to win a vintage 1957 Cessna 172, your chances are one in 2,500 (as of Saturday). The 1940 Air Terminal Museum at Hobby Airport, Houston, Texas, Saturday announced the new contest along with the winner of its prior and first annual “Win Your Own Plane” raffle. Joe Montano of Pearland, Texas, won […]

It’s the economy, stupid. Bombardier’s pre-Farnborough assertion that its Pratt & Whitney geared-turbofan-powered CSeries 100-149 seat regional jets (due in 2013) could be 20 percent more efficient than rival aircraft has rival aircraft manufacturer Embraer saying “not so fast.” Embraer (the third largest aircraft manufacturer in the world) has spun the argument to operating costs […]

Ballistic Recovery Systems (BRS), maker of whole-aircraft parachute systems, Friday announced that its new 5000-series canopy complies with American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards. BRS has submitted to the FAA its plan for 5000 series Part 23 certification testing. This BRS system can support heavier piston airframes and higher-weight-category very light jets. It’s […]