News

Piaggio America and Avantair last month inked a deal calling for 36 of the distinctive Italian-made Piaggio Avanti II aircraft to be delivered to the fractional operator beginning in 2008 and continuing through 2010. The deal is worth more than $230 million and represents the largest single order in the airframer’s history. “The demand for […]

Can a supersonic bizjet be in our future? If Gulfstream Aerospace’s ongoing roadshow, demonstrating what it calls its Supersonic Acoustic Signature Simulator II (SASSII) in an apparent attempt to change existing federal regulation on supersonic flight over the U.S. is any indication, an SSBJ might be close than we think. According to Gulftream, its research […]

Last week, the Raytheon Aircraft Company and NetJets announced an agreement for the airframer to supply 50 medium-sized Hawker 4000 aircraft to supplement the fractional operator’s global fleet. The combined total value of the deal — a 10-year guaranteed maintenance program was also negotiated — will exceed $1 billion, making it the largest single non-military […]

Eclipse Aviation announced yesterday it has received Type Inspection Authorization (TIA) from the FAA for its forthcoming Eclipse 500 very light jet (VLJ). With this authorization, the FAA is saying the technical data required for Type Certification have reached a point where it appears to the agency the aircraft will meet FAA certification regulations. The […]

The FAA’s Air Traffic Organization — that branch of AVweb‘s Favorite Aviation Agency responsible for the nation’s air traffic control system — will soon see a major reorganization, according to a letter its Chief Operating Officer Russell Chew published yesterday on the organization’s Web site. While details of the reorganization plan won’t be available until […]

…the next issue of AVweb‘s BizAVflash will be e-mailed to you on Dec. 7. See you then…

Sandel Avionics, which made a big splash several years ago with an all-electronic horizontal situation indicator (EHSI) in a three-inch form factor and recently followed it up with a similarly sized stand-alone TAWS instrument, has introduced two new four-inch cockpit display units designed to offer turbine aircraft operators with an upgrade path away from their […]

Avionics manufacturer Kollsman announced that its new Vision-Based Cockpit (VBC) — one of the industry’s latest synthetic vision systems — recently made its first flight aboard a company test aircraft. Flight tests are being conducted to validate the system’s compatibility with multiple avionics products and evaluate its operational use. The Kollsman VBC system is a […]

Beech’s smallest twin turboprop, the King Air 90, has always suffered somewhat for its reputation as, well, Beech’s smallest twin turboprop. Basically an overpowered, more-reliable version of the classic cabin-class piston twin, the King Air 90 is neither faster nor larger than the company’s other offerings yet it remains popular as an entry-level rung on […]

Bombardier Aerospace this month announced its latest evolution of the venerable Learjet platform: the Learjet 60 XR. The newest Lear will be certified to FL510 and feature a high-speed cruise of 0.81 Mach, while pilots will fly behind a Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics suite including four 8×10-inch LCD panels. Behind the cockpit, a […]