Ownership

Van’s Aircraft has delivered its first ready-to-fly aircraft and it seems like there will be a lot more to follow. George Longino took possession of his Signature Series RV-12 S-LSA at Van’s Aurora, Ore., manufacturing plant on May 31. He flew it back to his home near Dallas with a transition training pilot. Van’s did […]

Robust demand for Gulfstream’s new ultra-large-cabin G650 jet is driving a hiring surge in the company’s Greenville, Wis., plant, which has added about 60 new jobs so far this year and plans to fill 30 to 40 more positions in the next few months. General manager Gregory Laabs told the Appleton Post-Crescent the company has […]

When I was at Aero in Germany in April, one of the head-turner airplanes there was a scale P-51 Mustang LSA proposed by FK Lightplanes. See a video about it here. The reaction to this was interesting to watch and once again demonstrates how pilots love to complain about lack of innovation and then bitch […]

The insurance market for older pilots isn’t as grim as it once was. Stick with the same company, fly often and get recurrent training. The insurance market cycle has come a full 180 degrees from where it was in 2003, from very hard to very soft. The number of insurers competing for every GA insurance […]

Residents in the urban neighborhoods that surround busy Santa Monica Airport in southern California have complained about operations there for years, citing noise, air pollution, and the danger from plane crashes, and now the city has approved new landing fees that not only more than double the fees for transient flyers, but also now apply […]

Surf Air, which aims to offer private air travel in PC-12s among four California cities for a flat monthly fee, has received FAA approval to start flying. Flights will start June 12, with service between San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles. The company also said it has closed on a round of funding […]

AOPA is expanding its presence in the aircraft finance market with a new service for its members. The AOPA Finance Company is a brokerage that brings together borrowers and lenders to make getting money for airplanes and upgrades easier. Adam Meredith, who is heading up the new company, said in an interview with AVweb that […]

New Jersey’s Attorney General (AG) and Division of Consumer Affairs (DCA) have filed a lawsuit regarding the distribution and sale of 100LL at six gas stations in the state, last December. The suit charges that the avgas was advertised as unleaded auto fuel and sold to customers between Dec. 6 and 8, 2012. According to […]

Researchers at MIT recently developed two new methodologies for creating composite materials that are both lighter and stronger than today’s materials. Their methods make it easier to create composites of carbon fibers coated with carbon nanotubes, a process that has proved problematic in the past. “Up until now, people were basically improving one part of […]

Aspen Avionics has been offering a wifi-connected panel interface in the aftermarket for about a year now, and this week Pilatus announced it will offer its own version of the system as a factory option or retrofit for its PC-12 NG turboprops. Pilatus worked with Aspen, Jeppesen and Honeywell to create four customized applications designed […]