News

A Florida mailman landed his gyrocopter by the Capitol in Washington, D.C., Wednesday afternoon and was promptly arrested. Doug Hughes now faces federal charges including airspace violations after flying into the restricted area as part of a long-planned effort to protest government corruption. According to the Tampa Bay Times, a federal judge ruled Thursday he’ll […]

The economics of “synergy” were a driving force that motivated Eclipse Aerospace and Kestrel Aircraft to join together into a new company called One Aviation, Kestrel CEO Alan Klapmeier told AVweb on Wednesday at Aero Friedrichshafen. The new company was announced Wednesday in a news release. “This gives us more choices and more independence,” Klapmeier […]

Epic Aircraft is “pushing hard” for certification of its E1000 turboprop by the end of this year, the company said Wednesday. Structural testing is underway, and the first prototype will fly this spring in the first phase of in-flight testing, Epic said. There are more than 60 reservations from buyers and the first deliveries are […]

An Indiana company is hoping to demonstrate a multi-copter patterned after unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) that can carry a person while in autonomous or remotely operated flight at this year’s AirVenture Oshkosh. AirBuoyant, LLCof Anderson, Indiana, briefly pirouetted its VertiPod with a 125-pound man in a rudimentary cage suspended from a howling quadcopter for a […]

Pipistrel’s electric-trainer project, which started out with a prototype called Watts Up, now has evolved into the ready-for-the-market Alpha Electro, the company announced at Aero Friedrichshafen this week. During a pre-show news conference on Tuesday, Pipistrel chief engineer TineTomazicsaid the airplane, which can fly up to an hour with a half-hour reserve, is designed for […]

Aero Friedrichshafen, the biggest general aviation event in Europe, opened today with 645 exhibitors, a new record for the show, representing 38 countries. The show, held in the country’s southernmost region adjacent to a regional airline and GA airport — and a lofty Zeppelin hangar — attracts thousands of visitors, pilots and aviation enthusiasts, and […]

Flight Design brought its C4 prototype to Aero Friedrichshafen this week, just a few days after the airplane’s first flight. The flight, which took place in Germany last Thursday, lasted for about an hour. “We were able to finish all of our test points,” flight engineer Robert Adam told AVweb. “We checked controls and stability. […]

One of the leading makers of external GPS receivers for iPad and iPhone navigation and charting apps is warning customers to ignore the latest iOS update. Bad Elf says the update, iOS 8.3, sent earlier this week, apparently blocks the transfer of GPS data from its receivers and those of some other manufacturers (we’re confirming […]

In a surprise announcement Monday, Piper Aircraft revealed three new models of its upper strata M-Class aircraft, including a new turboprop called the M600 that’s loosely based on its popular Meridian. With a new G1000 variant from Garmin, the Meridian itself is getting some retooling, becoming the Meridian M500, and the Lycoming-powered Mirage will morph […]

Bug smasher pilots everywhere have hope that NASA may be flying to the rescue to save them from the summer chore of cleaning shattered insect bodies from the leading-edge surfaces of their aircraft. NASA, along with Boeing, will be testing five non-stick coatings that are the finalists in a years-long effort to foil the sticky […]