News

Raytheon this month announced its fleet of TC90 twin turboprops based on its King Air C90 platform has reached a major milestone: 500,000 accident-free flight hours. The TC90 aircraft, operated by Japan’s Maritime Self Defense Forces (JMSDF) Tokushima Air Training Group (ATG), have been used for multiengine and instrument training since 1973; some 34 aircraft […]

Sikorsky Aircraft last month reached a major milestone when it delivered the 600th example of its venerable S-76 helicopter. Now available as model C++ — with a new version, the D, slated to enter service in 2008 — more than 220 operators in 59 countries are currently flying S-76 helicopters. According to the company, the […]

Cessna’s machine-like ability to design, announce, fly, certify and deliver a new version of its wildly popular Citation series will likely remain on track with Pratt & Whitney Canada’s announcement last month that it received Transport Canada type certification for its new PW615F engine. Cessna will use two of the engines to power its forthcoming […]

Bombardier late last month flew the sole example of its Challenger 605 bizjet to the company’s flight-test facility at Wichita’s Mid-Continent Airport, where it will begin a 200-hour flight test and certification program. The ferry fight from Montreal-Trudeau International Airport, where it made its first flight just a few days earlier, required only 03:08. Among […]

No one is saying the purchase price — both sides have agreed to keep those details confidential — but sometime this spring, Zurich-based Jet Aviation Group will complete its just-announced acquisition of Midcoast Aviation. Midcoast, presently owned by the Sabreliner Corporation, is one of the largest FBO, maintenance and refurbishment organizations in the Midwest. Jet […]

Spectrum Aeronauticals new Spectrum 33 light twinjet made two more test hops last week, following its early-January maiden flight. The two most recent flights together totaled less than an hour but the weather wasn’t cooperating: The day began with steady rain, 500-foot ceilings and a dropping barometer. Still, Bill Davies, Spectrums veteran chief test pilot, […]

Jan. 23 saw EADS Socata become the recipient of FAA paperwork granting the agency’s type certification to its newest aircraft — the single-engine turboprop TBM 850 — only six weeks following its European approval. That same day saw the TBM 850’s first production example take to the skies on its maiden flight, an 02:50 affair […]

Adam Aircraft this week took its first production version of its planned A700 twin-engine candidate in the coming very light jet (VLJ) sweepstakes for a spin. The airframe’s first fight was conducted from the company’s facility at Centennial Airport in Englewood, Colo., and was crewed by Bill Watters, vice president of flight operations, and Ken […]

…the next issue of AVweb‘s BizAVflash will be e-mailed to you on Feb. 8. See you then…

Flight Options, a Raytheon subsidiary and one of the nation’s top fractional operators, this week announced it has named Ray Bennett as its vice president of sales. Bennett has served as the regional sales director for the company’s southeast territory since June 2003. Prior to joining Flight Options, he held sales leadership roles with both […]