News

Embraer last Saturday rolled out its first assembled Phenom 100 very light jet (VLJ), joining an already-crowded field in this much-hyped market category. The event marked completion of assembly and systems-integration phases; the prototype will now go to the paint booth and then begin a series of ground tests over the next few weeks in […]

Of course, who needs an SSBJ when you can just buy a combination airplane and space ship, escape the atmosphere, go as fast as you want — within the physical laws of orbital mechanics, of course — and then land on a runway like nothing else happened. That’s the operational plan behind the new Astrium […]

Aerion, the guys working on putting together a supersonic business jet (SSBJ), is at this week’s Paris Air Show in force, working with potential suppliers and promoting their project. The Reno, Nev.-based company, formed in 2002, says it is “aggressively pursuing the development of a supersonic business jet,” but remains in the early stages of […]

What if they gave an FAA reauthorization bill and no one came? That question may be on the minds of many as one supposed deadline after another for the House of Representatives to develop its proposed version of a legislation reauthorizing the agency — and hopefully disposing of user fees — comes and goes. First, […]

The first Phenom 100 very light jet rolled out on Saturday from Embraer’s headquarters in So Jos dos Campos, Brazil, and is now in the paint shop. After its cosmetic upgrade, the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW617F-powered twinjet will begin a series of ground tests in preparation for its first flight this summer. “We are […]

The FAA this week is expected to issue the first Airworthiness Directive (AD) for the Eclipse 500 that will temporarily limit all flights in the very light jets to day visual flight rules to ensure flight conditions that do not allow the moisture in the pitot/AOA system to freeze. Eclipse says it has developed a […]

On Friday, Eclipse Aviation officially opened its Southeast Eclipse Service Center at the Gainesville-Alachua County Regional Airport in Florida. The 61,000-sq-ft complex, which is Part 145 compliant and fully operational, is the second Eclipse maintenance center to come online but is the first one outside of the company’s headquarters in Albuquerque, N.M. “Today is a […]

Three days after Hyannis-based Cape Air grounded most of its fleet of Cessna 402 aircraft, the airline was expecting to operate an almost normal schedule this weekend. Now the big question is what is causing crankshaft counterweights to wear out prematurely in the big Continental engines that power the aircraft. According to the Cape Cod […]

Kentucky Democratic Rep. Ben Chandler has presented a bill calling for an independent review of the FAAs progress on safety programs. Chandler suggested that the agency is dragging its heels on safety programs and he wants the National Research Council to find out what the real progress is on things such as runway safety, air […]

While the bills to reauthorize funding for the FAA have grabbed a lot of attention recently because of the attempt by the Bush Administration to impose user fees on general aviation, theres another FAA money bill making the rounds that may not be as controversial, but it will have some effects on GA. The Federal […]