Purchasing

Rick Mathews, the president of AAP (Aviation Access Project) thinks that common sense is one of the key ingredients needed to reduce the 80 percent dropout rate in general aviation flight training. His goal is to reduce it to 25 percent or less while also doubling the pilot population to one million or more. Thats […]

Brent Owens is a professional pilot, RV-8 builder, and former (and current) AVweb podcast subject who has recently found the attention of aviation publications for his written articles and his latest endeavor — a blog dedicated to money-saving tips for pilots. The website, FixedWingBuddha.com, is a collection of articles that detail methods that can help […]

Preparations for production of the Cirrus Vision SF50 jet are bringing changes to the company’s Grand Forks, N.D., facility that will affect SR-2X series aircraft as well, Cirrus said Thursday. The company’s expansion includes the addition of an autoclave facility that will move some previously outsourced production “in-house.” Cirrus expects the autoclave to go online […]

Before there was eBay, Craigslist and Controller.com, not to mention web sites for every imaginable aircraft marque, the one and only place you looked for a used airplane or obscure parts to fix one was Trade-A-Plane, the iconic yellow shopper that, for many of us, was and is a dreamsheet. Despite the onslaught of competition […]

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 […]

The economic downturn continues to depress used aircraft prices so if you’ve managed to escape significant and sustained financial peril you could be well positioned to pick up a good used aircraft at a very good price. Unfortunately, not all bargains are what they seem. The old phrase “buyer beware” is as true as it’s […]

Cirrus is promoting aircraft ownership to non-pilots through “Cirrus On Demand,” which offers two programs of service as an option for purchasers of new Cirrus aircraft. Both programs come at additional cost to the buyer and in either case, includes a pilot “trained to the company’s corporate flight standards.” The program can operate like a […]

Thursday, Eclipse Aerospace earned an amended production certificate from the FAA, “authorizing the final assembly, test, and certification of the new production Eclipse 550” jet, the company announced. Earlier this month, Eclipse powered up the first truly new aircraft to roll out of its Albuquerque factory in nearly five years. The amended production certificate grants […]

This year could be “a pivotal year to recover market growth” for jet sales, said Ernie Edwards, president of Embraer Executive Jets, at a news conference at EAA AirVenture on Wednesday. “There were record corporate profits in the first quarter 2012 in the U.S.,” he said. Buyers still seem reluctant to spend, he said, but […]

As for the future of the Symphony 160, “I don’t know, specifically,” Jeremy Keninger, the company’s former national sales director, told AVweb. “I don’t think it’s the end of the aircraft — it’s a great value at that price point [IFR-equipped for about $165,000],” Keninger said. “It’s too bad it didn’t work out in Canada,” […]