Aircraft Upgrades

Diamond’s special-mission version of its DA62 light twin, the MPP (multi-purpose platform), which was introduced last year at the Paris Air Show, has been delivered to its first customer, the company said this week. DEA Specialised Airborne Operations, based in the UK, will use the aircraft to provide airborne-sensing services, such as surveillance and surveys. […]

Uber will invest $23 million over the next five years to create a new Advanced Technologies Center in Paris that will focus on the company’s Elevate project, which aims to bring autonomous eVTOL taxis into urban areas, the company has announced. “France is a perfect home for our next step forward, with its strong history […]

The Sun Flyer 2, an electric two-seat trainer in development by Bye Aerospace in Denver, will be powered by a Siemens SP70D motor, Bye announced on Tuesday. “The Siemens motor provides great performance and all of the propulsion energy required for normal flight training profiles,” CEO George Bye told AVweb in an email.”The batteries give […]

Aircraft Spruce People travelling to AirVenture 2018 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, can place orders with Aircraft Spruce for pickup at the company’s booth at the show. To take advantage of that option, orders need to be received by noon EST on Monday, July 16. Orders can be placed on the company’s website. To have the order […]

Vik Kachoria, CEO of Spike Aerospace, said last week he expects to have a commercial supersonic aircraft design flying by the end of 2023. “There’s a lot pieces that have to come together,” Kachoria told Bloomberg’s Caroline Hyde in an online interview. “You’ve got to be able to fly at a reasonable cost, and you’ve […]

Charter operator JetSuite will be the launch customer for Zunum’s 12-seat hybrid-electric aircraft, now in development, Zunum announced on Monday. JetSuite plans to add up to 100 of the new airplanes to their fleet in the early 2020s, the company said. “We arethrilled bythispartnership,” Zunum co-founder and chief technology officer Matt Knapp said in a […]

The FAA’s rules currently prohibit civil aircraft from exceeding speeds in excess of Mach 1 over U.S. land areas, and the FAA says that’s not going to change. However, the agency said this week it wants to support the development of civil supersonic aircraft, and will propose two new rules that suggest a move in […]

ASTM has developed a new international standard for ice detectors for GA aircraft. The detectors could be used to enhance pilot awareness of icing conditions and the standard was developed with the FAA’s Non-Required Safety Enhancing Equipment policy in mind. The is designed to make safety-related equipment more accessible for small aircraft by eliminating most […]

For many aircraft operators, a tug is a must-have hangar accessory. Chino, California-based AC Air Technology has devised a unique take on the tug with its line of remote-control tugs running on rubber tracks. The tugs attracted lots of attention in the outdoor exhibit area at this year’s Sun ‘n Fun in Lakeland, Florida. In […]

A decade of low interest rates on aircraft loans continues to stimulate aircraft sales, but worries about inflation are pushing rates up, says Airfleet Capital, a leading aircraft lender. While no spikes are expected short term, the market is definitely headed higher, says Airfleet’s Jim Blessing. In this podcast recorded last month at Sun ‘n […]