News

Mike Cirillo, the FAA’s top official in Alaska, backs the installation of more Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) coverage in Alaska supported with two-way datalink systems and at a May 14 presentation, he said coverage would expand by the end of this year. Countering concerns that the system would not be further deployed, Cirillo said Fairbanks, […]

A nearly 20-hours-long crash of the FAA’s NOTAM database last week occurred because of a drive failure that took place “in the middle of updating the information on the hard drive,” which in turn “screwed up the database,” Barry Davis, manager of the aeronautical information management for the FAA, told ComputerWorld.com. The box in question […]

A coroner who led an inquest regarding the September 2006 midair explosion of a Nimrod sea control aircraft has said the aircraft “like every other aircraft within the Nimrod fleet, was not airworthy,” but the UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) does not have to comply the coroner’s recommendations and likely won’t. An RAF Board of […]

On the heels of last week’s European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE 2008) Cessna has confirmed orders for aircraft totaling nearly $750 million. The three-day event held in Geneva won Cessna orders for 70 Citation business jets, 14 Caravans and four single-engine pistons, including at least one Cessna 172 Skyhawk and one 182 Skylane. […]

As an economic barometer, the figures for general aviation suggest fuel prices and the economy may be hitting the little guys hard. The evidence is indirect and correlational, but abundant. Friday, AVweb‘s fuel finder, located at AVweb.com showed prices for 100LL averaging more than $5.30 per gallon and that they had climbed eight cents since […]

Eclipse Aviation formally announced its intention to begin production of a $1.35 million single-engine jet called the Eclipse 400. The announcement was made earlier today at the company’s annual “E-rrival” event in Albuquerque. At the same time, Eclipse announced it was boosting the price of its twin-engine 500 model by more than $550,000 from $1.595 […]

Located in the same industrial complex south of Vienna alongside Diamond Aircraft, Austro Engine is furiously gearing up to build new aerodiesel engines that will eventually replace Thielert’s troubled Centurion line. At the Berlin Air Show this week, Austro displayed the AE 300, a 2-litre powerplant that’s an evolutionary improvement over the same Mercedes-Benz engine […]

ATG, maker of the fighter-like Javelin jet, suspended operations in December and as of May 23, ATG has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The Colorado-based company that once sought to deliver its subsonic two-place “executive” jet failed to find a buyer and now leaves between 100 and 200 creditors seeking some return on investments ranging […]

The German law firm overseeing the bankruptcy of Thielert Aircraft Engines says it can’t consider the interests of owners, but is instead focused on paying off creditors and getting the company to break-even status. But a Diamond aircraft owner’s group would like to change that by banding together and becoming Thielert’s largest single creditor. (Thielert […]

In a letter to hundreds of owners stranded by Thielert Aircraft Engines’ bankruptcy, Diamond Aircraft accused the firm overseeing the insolvency of intentionally misleading the public and misstating Diamond’s policies. Further, said Diamond, because of Thielert’s new pricing, the hourly cost of operating its diesel engines has risen from under $13 to about $85, a […]