News

Citing the need to forge closer links with Chinas small but growing aviation market, Wichita, Kansas, mayor Carl Brewer announced yesterday his city has opened an office in the Chinese capital. We have 90 years of experience in aviation, and we think we can show our Chinese partners how to do some of the things […]

Less than 20 minutes after departing Mid-Continent Airport, Kan., Friday, a 1975 Cessna 500 Citation I carrying California faith healing pastor Ed Dufresne, 72, and his pilot Mitchell Morgan, 49, crashed in a field, killing both men. The aircraft reached an altitude of 16,500 feet before it was lost from radar shortly after 10:15 a.m. […]

A study by St. Louis University senior researcher Matt Vance seeks to discover key factors that would encourage or discourage travel on unmanned autonomous airliners and, while the results aren’t yet complete, Vance told AVweb Thursday that he expects at least one pattern to emerge. Vance performed a pilot study in March that included 44 […]

Incoming Mooney president Jerry Chen, a Taiwan native who holds a doctorate in aeronautical engineering, told AVweb Friday he intends to keep the heralded airframe manufacturer in its hometown of Kerrville, Texas. AVweb interviewed Chen at the Chinese International Aviation Convention in Xian, China, where Mooney is exhibiting an Ovation and an Acclaim. Those two […]

Bloomberg is reportingthat Beechcraft is for sale again and that Cessna might be one of the interested parties. Bloomberg quotes unnamed sources and Beechcraft spokeswoman Nicole Alexander said the company does “notcomment on market rumors or speculation about the company.”The Bloomberg story says Credit Suisse Group AG is actively shopping the storied Wichita planemaker around […]

AOPA has released 12 employees as part of an effort that will cut costs and make the organization “focus on grassroots events and reaching out to our members in real and tangible ways,” said AOPA spokeswoman Katie Prybil. “We are focusing on creating member value in everything that we do. The changes announced today will […]

This summer, a company called Universal Helicopters was called on to fight fires in Canada using the Bell 407, an aircraft often associated with executive or VIP transport, and AVweb spoke with one of the aircraft’s pilots about his experience. Geoff Goodyear said the aircraft was contracted to serve as a firefighter because clients found […]

One of the first owners of a Gulfstream 650 has flipped the aircraft for 10 percent more than she paid for it. Fabiana Flosi, the wife of Formula One Racing CEO Bernie Ecclestone, who paid $65.5 million for aircraft number 6023, sold it in September for $72 million. According to Bizjet Blogger, Ecclestone wasn’t happy […]

The National Business Aviation Association’s annual convention and exhibition scheduled for the Las Vegas convention center, Oct. 22 through 24, is expected to attract 25,000 attendees and more than 1000 exhibitors. Attendees will have access to more than 100 education sessions about the most pressing concerns facing business aviation today, in this country and abroad. […]

Forty-nine pilots (and planes) participated in a world-record-breaking attempt, flying a filled Vee formation in Van’s RV aircraft at Arrowhead Stadium prior to an NFL football game Oct. 13. Officially, there were 49 airplanes flown by pilots from 19 different states as part of the KC Flight Formation Team. That may set a record recognized […]