News

Pathfinder-Plus, a pioneering solar-electric flying wing that set several altitude records, has become the fourth AeroVironment aircraft to land in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution. The flying wing, which spans 121 feet, is now on display in the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport. Pathfinder-Plus set a world altitude […]

A flight instructor who was held in a British prison without bail for five months awaiting extradition to the U.S. on suspicion that he had trained some 9/11 hijackers doesn’t qualify for compensation, a British court has ruled. The court said that since the U.S. eventually abandoned its case against Lofti Raissi, he was never […]

Anytime Cessna Chairman, President and CEO Jack Pelton reveals what’s on his mind, you can be sure that plenty of people will be paying close attention. Last Friday, he delivered a lengthy speech at the University of Northern Colorado in which he outlined what he sees as the assets and obstacles to growth in the […]

Phoenix Associates Land Syndicate earlier this month announced it had acquired Noble Jet Inc., a jet aircraft maintenance facility based at the Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Executive Airport (KFXE). The company said it acquired 80% of Noble Jet’s common stock for $2.0 million, paid through a combination of cash payments and a 10-year note. Noble Kurth, […]

If you think you’ve heard it all when it comes to air-taxi concepts, think again. West Palm Beach, Fla.-based Earthjet is adding its own twist by using a franchise business model for the Part 135 service, in addition to conceptually designing the roughly 14,000-pound light jet to be used by the franchisees. “We believe the […]

San Diego, Calif.-based charter, maintenance and refurbishment facility ElleJet this month said it is entering the charter brokerage business in a big way — by focusing on filling seats on deadhead, or empty, legs flown by certificated operators. According to Joseph Gold, ElleJet’s vice president of sales and marketing, the company maintains the “largest network […]

Most of the business links between aviation and Microsoft Corp. have involved the software giant’s “Flight Simulator” program, which used to allow would-be pilots to fly their PC into Chicago’s Sears Tower. Now, with the recently launched small-business product Microsoft Office Live, the publisher is offering 10 hours of private jet travel on a Citation […]

The Raytheon Company’s proposed spinoff of its aircraft-manufacturing business got a green light last week from Europe’s regulatory authorities. The European Commission automatically cleared the proposed sale to a new company formed by Goldman Sachs and Onex Partners after no antitrust problems were identified and no complaints from rivals were received. The EC allowed 25 […]

Embraer this month embarked on an ambitious multi-continent tour, featuring full-scale mock-ups of its under-development Phenom 100 and Phenom 300 light jets, to include some 30 cities in the U.S. The tour began in Daytona Beach, Fla., where the Embraer road show expected to draw attendees at NASCAR’s Daytona 500 race. An additional tour began […]

As a precursor to final U.S. type certification, the FAA this week published the proposed “special conditions” under which it intends to certify Dassault’s forthcoming Falcon 7X trijet. In its statement, the FAA noted the 7X will have “novel or unusual design features” not envisioned in its existing airworthiness standards for transport category airplanes, thus […]