News

Those who fly on commercial airplanes seem to have mixed feelings about cellphone use in the cabin — it’s convenient when you want to call someone, but annoying when the person crammed in next to you talks too loud or too long. This week, the FAA released a draft report (PDF) addressing whether more cellphone […]

Kestrel Aircraft will receive $30 million in federal tax credits, the state of Wisconsin announced on Tuesday, to help the company create new jobs. Alan Klapmeier, CEO of Kestrel and co-founder of Cirrus Aircraft, said the credits will provide $7.5 million in new cash for the company, which is working to produce a single-engine turboprop. […]

The bizjet sector is the bright spot for Chinese civil aviation but (relatively) tough times are ahead as China continues to cope with lessened demand for its products. Reporting from the Beijing International Business Aviation Show, China Daily reported that a senior government official was praising the importance of business aviation to the overall industry. […]

photo from The Hill AOPA and NBAA (no mention of EAA) have taken the unprecedented step of setting up at both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions to press issues of concern to general aviation. The Hill covered the joint schmoozefest at the Liberty in Charlotte on Tuesday. Among those attending were senior Democratic congressmen […]

The used business aircraft market isn’t much better but the numbers are headed in the right direction, according to the most recent report from JetNet (PDF). The company’s annual review of activity in the used market from July of 2011 to July of 2012 shows 13.5 percent of the world fleet of business jets (a […]

The FAA Safety Team is asking aircraft owners and operators in the general aviation community to participate in an online survey about how they use their aircraft. The annual survey is the only source of information on the activities of the GA fleet, including number of hours flown and the reasons people fly, according to […]

Gulfstream’s super-midsize G280 has been certified by the FAA, the company announced on Monday. The G280 can fly up to 3,600 nm and take off from a 4,750-foot runway, an improvement of 1,300 feet compared to the aircraft it replaces, the G200. With a new transonic wing design and new fuel-efficient Honeywell engines, the G280 […]

The Red Bull Stratos team, which is working toward breaking the longstanding highest-ever parachute jump record, has delayed its final record attempt because the capsule, which carries skydiver Felix Baumgartner aloft beneath a helium balloon, was damaged in a test jump last month. Baumgartner landed safely after jumping from 97,145 feet above the New Mexico […]

A member of the Hoppers civilian jet demonstration team was killed Saturday when his L-39 Albatros went down at an airshow in Davenport, Iowa. The pilot, Glenn Smith, of Frisco, Texas, was part of a three-ship formation when his aircraft went down in a field near the airport. The crash was visible to the crowd […]

New Zealand aviation groups are lining up in opposition to major increases in fees for obtaining and maintaining a pilot’s license. The one-time “issuance fee” for a pilot’s license is going up from $55 to $230 but it’s the new “medical service application fee” that is raising the collective blood pressure of the pilot population. […]