News

Click for video of the Vision’s first flight AVweb has confirmed that former Cirrus Design CEO Alan Klapmeier is making a bid to acquire the rights to manufacture and sell the Vision SF 50 single-engine jet. A source close to the negotiations, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Klapmeier announced that he has “formed […]

Celebrating a 37-year career in aviation and his 60th birthday, Tim Carter has set himself a goal of flying 60 aircraft in the year starting immediately after his Nov. 1, 2008, 60th birthday. He’s got about four months left and, according to his Web site, he’s flown 29 aircraft. Carter’s career has taken him through […]

American Legend Aircraft announced Thursday that its Legend Cub, a modernized Piper J-3 Cub, could be had for as little as $2900 down and flown for $28 per hour when purchased through the LetsFly four-person joint-ownership program. The LetsFly Cooperative Ownership Program is “the largest aircraft cooperative in the country,” according to President Eldon Corry. […]

Investigators recently reported that the crew of Air France Flight 447, lost earlier this month with all aboard, may have been fed faulty air data, and Friday the NTSB announced that it is investigating “two recent incidents” in which A330 instruments may have malfunctioned. Earlier this month, after it was publicly disclosed that Airbus had […]

FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said on Wednesday a new rule establishing flight and rest rules for pilots at regional airlines will be drafted by Sept. 1, and called on the airlines and unions to make changes in hiring and safety practices by the end of July. “We know that the airline industry is committed to […]

AVweb noted on Monday that some Angel Flight organizations have amended their pilot requirements in the wake of last year’s three fatal crashes, but we would like to re-emphasize — as we stated in that Monday story — that several different groups use the “Angel Flight” term and not all of them have the same […]

Waco Classic Aircraft, of Battle Creek, Mich., announced this week that it has overhauled its YMF-5C biplane, adding many new features and upgrades, and is now introducing the YMF-5D. “This new model of aircraft delivers greater performance than ever before,” the company said in a news release. It has more horsepower, thanks to a new […]

Solar Impulse, an airplane designed to fly around the world on solar power, will be unveiled tomorrow, Friday, June 26, at Dubendorf airfield near Zurich, Switzerland. The aircraft has a wingspan of 210 feet and weighs about 3,500 pounds. It’s powered by four 10-hp electric motors and carries more than 11,000 solar cells on the […]

Last week it was the SkySpark project flying fast on batteries, this week we heard that the first electric-powered airplane has flown in China, and on Wednesday Bye Energy announced that it has received a grant from the Wolf Aviation Fund to research electric motors for small GA aircraft. It’s getting easier to believe the […]

Boeing said on Tuesday that first flight of the 787 Dreamliner will be postponed again, due to a need to reinforce an area within the side-of-body section of the aircraft, and it will be several weeks before a new first flight or delivery date will be announced. Boeing officials had said as recently as last […]