Ownership

Cessna 172s may be not be fast or sexy, but there are plenty of them out there and prices reflect that supply. There are also lots of aftermarket mods for these airplanes. Larry Gettleman of Louisville, Ky., put that to work in his refurb of this months Refurbished Aircraft the Month. I have owned this […]

Lithium-ion batteries, which have three times the power of lead acid aircraft cells, are starting to find their way into new aircraft. Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics has formed a new division called True Blue Power to serve this market. In this AVweb video, MCI’s Todd Winter discusses the new battery products. view on YouTube

Continental Motors says it will take the wraps off a new 300-hp aircraft V-6 diesel engine at AirVenture in July, according to CEO Rhett Ross. Like the Centurion 2.0 and 2.0S diesels, the new engine leverages automotive technology from Mercedes Benz and is aimed at the high-performance single- and twin-engine segment not yet served by […]

AVwebs weekly survey of whats new in aviation uncovered an expansion of the long-running Citation Special Olympics Airlift, election of there new board members of the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators, a Fly First Year Free promotion for one Diamond DA40 XLT and the scheduling of a Heavy Bomber Weekend in Milwaukee just prior […]

The U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday voted to provide $15.7 billion to the Federal Aviation Administration in fiscal year 2015, representing a slight increase from the current $15.6 billion funding level. AOPA is reporting that the bill prohibits the imposition of aviation user fees and also fees for digital navigational charts. The bill also directs […]

As a journalist, Ive come to recognize a certain look when I ask a victim…err, I mean, a source, a question I know is going to be sensitive. If the question is getting close to pay dirt, the person suffering the interview adopts a certain Cheshire cat look that implies to me: if only I […]

A team of scientists at the University of Illinois has developed materials that can immediately respond to damage and self-repair large cracks and holes. “We have demonstrated repair of a nonliving, synthetic materials system in a way that is reminiscent of repair-by-regrowth as seen in some living systems,” said chemist Jeffrey Moore. The technology comprises […]

Late last week, I visited the Rotax factory in Austria, where Ive been once before and Ive interviewed the company executives and technical people more times than that. These discussions drift around various themes, but two recur noticeably. First, Rotax and its parent, BRP Powertrain, is, above all else, an engine company. But the conversations […]

At its Gunskirchen, Austria, factory, Rotax celebrated both 25 years of producing the 912 series engine and the 50,000th engine in the series. AVweb was there and prepared this video report with the company’s Francois Tremblay. Learn more here. view on YouTube

At its Gunskirchen, Austria factory, Rotax on Thursday rolled out its 50,000th 912-series aircraft engine and celebrated the 25th anniversary of the engine family with a fly-in at the nearby Wels airport. Manufacturers from around Europe flew in Rotax-powered aircraft for sales demos. The company combined the event with an annual homecoming of Can-Am Spyder […]