Purchasing

The Cessna 182 series is one of the most popular and prolific all-purpose flying machines in the general aviation fleet. They are dependable, straightforward, and easy to fly. They are traded frequently on the market, and lots of people are looking to buy one at any given time. While the huge run-up in the cost […]

Let’s assume you had a cash budget of up to $160,000 to buy an airplane. Your short list of required equipment includes a glass cockpit with autopilot, a modern interior, plus a proven engine that’s easy to service and economical to operate. You’ll use the plane for local flying, short trips and perhaps some basic […]

How did this whole “brand” thing come about, anyway? When Coca-Cola and General Motors became iconic American companies as far back as the 1920s, was anybody talking about the actual word “brand”? In college during the 1970s and in my early years in journalism, I hardly recall the word itself ever being used in normal […]

At Aero in Friedrichshafen, Germany, this week, Eclipse, under its One Aviation banner, was showing the first completely certified-for-Europe 550, a new-production aircraft that CEO Alan Klapmeier flew from the U.S. Before the show, Klapmeier told us about something we’re hearing more and more: Regulators in both Europe and the U.S. have become much more […]

Environmental groups have filed suit (PDF) against the EPA to try and force the agency to set emissions limits for all aircraft. The suit was filed by Earthjustice (on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity) and Friends of the Earth on Thursday, saying the EPA has “delayed unreasonably” coming up with rules for aircraft […]

I have always been baffled by the psychology of paying a company a tidy of sum of money to assure that I get one of the first new-and-improved widgets it proposes to make: the pre-production deposit or, as it’s popularly known, a “position.” This is quite common in the aircraft business as most recently demonstrated […]

As Sun ‘n Fun drew to a close, Aspen Avionics announced yet another encouraging development in the avionics market: compatibility with Garmin’s new line of ADS-B systems. Through a newly approved STC, Aspen’s Evolution-series PFD and MFD retrofit display systems can display ADS-B weather and traffic when connected with Garmin’s GDL88-series dual-band ADS-B receiver. The […]

ICON Aircraft CEO Kirk Hawkins says the company is open to changing its controversial buyer’s agreement based on the feedback it’s receiving on the document and “doing what is ultimately right for our owners, the industry and the company.” What exactly that means isn’t clear in the open letter (PDF) sent to aviation media on […]

As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, the biggest story here at Sun ‘n Fun this week was one we didn’t even expect: EAA’s announcement that it has partnered with Dynon Avionics to bring less expensive, non-certified avionics to the cockpits of certified aircraft. The first AML-STC list is modest: Cessna 172s and Piper’s PA-28 and […]

Although the design is more than four decades old, the Cessna 177 Cardinal—with its racy sloped windshield, wide doors and strutless wings—looks more modern than the newest Skyhawks coming out of Cessna’s Independence, Kansas, plant. Yet, sadly, the Cardinal is a poster child for why innovation and audacity in general aviation development has often met […]