Aircraft Upgrades

Regional airlines say the FAA is vastly understating the cost of a proposed AD that will require them to replace 10,482 passenger seats in various small airliners. The FAA said the AD will only cost the airlines a total of $900,000 because it is only tallying the labor cost of removing the Slim and Slimplus […]

John Travolta is hanging up his four-barred Qantas uniform and donating his personal Boeing 707 to an Australian museum, which will restore it. Travolta said he plans to personally deliver the Boeing to the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) in Illawarra, New South Wales, after some maintenance on the aircraft. Travolta discussed the possibility of […]

Garmin has introduced its first head-up display, the company announced on Wednesday. The GHD 2100 is designed for super-midsize, midsize and light business aircraft, and will launch on the new super-midsize Cessna Citation Longitude, with the G5000 integrated flight deck. The GHD is a compact, self-contained projection system with a large 30-degree by 24-degree field […]

When proposals for a custom paint job on my second-generation Cirrus came in as high as $25,000—with up to 10 weeks of down time—I considered stepping up to a newer model. But my investment in numerous upgrades and my comfort with the aircraft in a variety of missions and weather convinced me to keep my […]

After first demoing the concept in 2015, Innovation Solutions and Support (IS&S) announced they’re one step closer to bringing an autothrottle to the single-engine turbine PC-12. IS&S says the FAA has granted the Supplemental Type Certificate for their integrated PC-12 flight deck and that new avionics package includes compatibility with the IS&S autothrottle system. The […]

When I do research on maintenance and aircraft ownership issues, I often hear a comment like this, from a shop owner or manager or an I&A: “The owner just didn’t want to replace [name of component]; he just didn’t see the value.” I understand the sentiment. Maintaining an airplane is so expensive that owners have […]

Along with showing off its P2012 twin-prop commuter plane, Tecnam unveiled a slew of new features and updates for its fleet at the Aero Friedrichshafen show in Germany this week. The P2006T twin, the company’s top-selling airplane with 200 flying, now comes with the Garmin G1000 Nxi next-generation flight deck, ADS-B Out as a standard […]

New options are now available for the Piper M600, the company announced at Sun ‘n Fun. Buyers now can choose to add the five-blade composite Hartzell prop, and also can select an interior/exterior upgrade package with a range of design choices. The five-blade prop reduces vibration, the company says, and comes with an unlimited life […]

iStart is a gadget that controls the fuel in an injected engine and improves hot starting. At Sun ‘n Fun, they were showing the system and announced approvals for certified aircraft. Here’s an AVweb video explaining the system. view on YouTube

AOPA says the FAA is about to approve more liberalization of aircraft certification by relaxing some requirements for GA aircraft. In a story on its website, AOPA says the agency is ready to adopt less stringent standards for software, electromagnetic protection and lightning strike survival for equipment in light aircraft. Current standards apply to all […]