Ownership

These days, I seem to be associated mostly with metal airplanes, RVs in particular. Just take a look at that byline down there—I have been flying my RV-8 since 2005, the RV-3 was finished late in 2011, and it doesn’t even mention the RV-6 my wife brought to the marriage. (We fly together on trips […]

Rolls-Royce has delivered the 8,000th engine assembled at its manufacturing facility in Dahlewitz, Germany. The BR725 engine is headed to Savannah, Georgia-based Gulfstream Aerospace to power a Gulfstream G650ER business jet. Rolls-Royce began production at the site, which is Rolls-Royce’s Centre of Excellence for business aviation engines, in June 1995. “We are very proud of […]

Aviation and marine self-serve fueling solutions company QT Petroleum on Demand (QTpod) announced on Wednesday that it has restored service to its M4000 fueling terminals, which have been down since the evening of Friday, May 29. The company cited an unspecified issue related to an IT system that supports its M4000 terminals as the source […]

It’s easy to see why the Piper Seneca after all these years still makes sense as a step-up twin. Arguably, it does nothing extraordinarily well—it’s not exceptionally fast or a joy to fly compared to other light twins, nor will it turn heads on the ramp—but it does a lot well enough. It obviously works […]

Texas Aircraft Manufacturing has introduced a new financing program for its Colt-S and Colt-SL S-LSA aircraft. Fly-Away Financing is the result of a partnership between Texas Aircraft and Hondo, Texas-based Community National Bank. According to the company, prospective aircraft buyers can now access an online form to calculate their down payment, loan terms and total […]

Aircraft paint work is a big investment and the quality of the job can depend on the experience of the shop handling the project. If you had your aircraft painted in the last few years, the editors of Aviation Consumer magazine want to hear about it. Please take a few minutes and complete this short […]

It rolls downhill and engine maker Rolls-Royce has announced it plans to lay off 8,000 of its 52,000 workers worldwide, mostly from its commercial airline division, as the future of air travel starts to come into focus. Its biggest customers, Boeing and Airbus, have cut production by a total of about 30 percent and with […]

No matter how you slice it, aircraft ownership is expensive. Required inspections, airworthiness directive compliance and regular replacement of wear items can gang up on us to make the total cost of ownership a somewhat breathtaking experience. There are almost as many ways to manage these expenses as there are people flying, but one consistent […]

Unleaded aviation gasoline developer Swift Fuels has introduced a new program offering participants all future FAA avgas supplemental type certificates (STCs) issued to the company for a one-time fee. The “FOREVER” program covers the specific aircraft and piston engines registered by the owner. According to the company, it will notify FOREVER certificate holders when new […]

Airlines are employing tactics used by professional sports teams to find and attract new talent for their businesses, according to a South Carolina technical college. While the pilot shortage tends to hog the headlines, an equally crippling deficit of maintenance techs is forcing airlines to be much more proactive in keeping their hangars humming, according […]