News

Diamond Aircraft President Peter Maurer says the company isn’t ruling out anything, including Chinese investment, to get the D-Jet to market. As AVweb reported last week, the Canadian government turned down Diamond’s $35 million loan application to finish the development program. In a podcast interview with AVweb, Maurer said the government loan, despite the dire […]

Cirrus Aircraft was not at fault in the accident that killed Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and instructor Tyler Stanger in 2006, a New York court ruled on Tuesday. A six-person jury decided the wrongful-death suit after a four-week trial and three hours of deliberation. “We’re gratified that the jury reached a decision that confirmed what […]

Hawker Beechcraft is the latest to announce it’s considering building aircraft in China. CEO Bill Boisture told Bloomberg the company has been negotiating with Chinese officials about a technology transfer in exchange for greater access to the Chinese market, which is expected to grow rapidly with the relaxation of airspace regulations. Hawker Beech could potentially […]

In a page-one story published over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported on the use of private jets as documented by FAA flight records obtained via Freedom of Information Act requests. The FAA released data from 2007 through 2010, including details of privately operated flights that are protected under the BARR program (Blocked Aircraft […]

A volcano in Iceland is sending ash plumes into the atmosphere that are affecting aviation in Europe, but the impact is not expected to be nearly as dramatic as last year’s eruption. In April 2010, Europe’s airspace was shut down for five days due to volcanic ash, grounding more than 100,000 flights. Since then, flight […]

Swift Enterprises, which is working to create an alternative aviation fuel to replace 100LL, said this week it has taken “a large step” forward in the approval process. ASTM International has published a new fuel specification for Swift’s UL102 high-octane unleaded test fuel. “This will allow us to test every batch of a fuel to […]

A huge area of the U.S. Southwest is under an flight advisory (PDF) warning of potentially unreliable GPS performance as unspecified “GPS testing” is carried out in the area of Truth or Consequences, N.M., from May 27-Jul. 1. It’s not immediately clear if the advisory is related to LightSquared’s ongoing program to test for interference […]

An amendment that some said was stalling progress of the long-awaited FAA reauthorization bill has been withdrawn. Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Bill Shuster’s amendment passed the House by a narrow margin on April 1 and would have required the FAA to conduct studies and analyze the possible impact of rulemaking with “a mandate that regulations are […]

Maine legislators are expected to pass a bill (PDF) that will eliminate a so-called use tax on aircraft purchased outside the state but used within it for more than 20 days in the first year after the purchase. Although the current law affects relatively few aircraft, publicity surrounding a few cases of enforcement and attention […]

The NTSB blames the operator of a large RC model for its highly publicized collision with a full-size biplane at a fly-in in Colorado last Aug. 14. In its final report, the board says the RC operator flew the model outside the area designated for RC operations at Brighton Van-Aire Estates Airport before it was […]