Business & Military

The FAA and EASA have certified the first lithium ion battery for engine start and main ship use in light aircraft. Mid-Continent Instrument announced at HAI Heli-Expo Tuesday that the TrueBlue TB17, a 17 amp hour battery designed for piston and light turbine aircraft, is now available for OEMs to incorporate into new aircraft. The […]

Under a proposed new budget for the U.S. Department of Defense announced on Monday, the Air Force would shut down its fleet of A-10 “Warthog” close air support aircraft and also would retire the U-2 spy plane. Funding would be continued to develop the new Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a new aerial refueling […]

Qantas is expected to cut up to 5,000 jobs, including pilots, and sell off its terminal lease at the Melbourne airport as it struggles to get out of debt, according to media reports this week. An official announcement from the airline is expected on Thursday. A Qantas spokesman wouldn’t comment on the speculation, but said […]

The Bower family of Gualala, California would like nothing better than to keep their private, public-use airport open – but since they don’t fly themselves, they’re hoping those with some skin in the game will pay the $60,000 necessary for repairs. AVweb’s Russ Niles spoke with Julie Bower about the unique situation in a remote […]

Letter of the Week:The Rest of the Story The new rest rules do not cover cargo flights, nor do they cover foreign flights in U.S. airspace. But the basics should be that professional pilots take care of their bodies, including getting adequate rest. Carriers give crew regulated rest periods, but unless the FAA wants the […]

Cirrus Aircraft delivered 276 new aircraft in 2013, nearly a 10 percent increase over 2012, marking its best aircraft shipment performance since 2008. According to its announcement, Cirrus Aircrafts annual market share has grown to 37 percent and the SR22/22T model remains the best-selling four- or five-seat airplane for the 11th year in a row. […]

Bucking the downward trend of general aviation, the U.S. Parachute Association (USPA) is reporting record-high membership for the second consecutive year. With roughly 3.2 million skydives made last year in the U.S., it announced that more and more people are taking not only a first leap but continuing to pursue skydiving as a hobby and […]

What appears to be the first of its kind report on the helicopter fleet in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan has been released by Asian Sky Group (ASG), an aviation consulting company based in Hong Kong, with offices throughout China. It notes that the civil helicopter fleet in what it refers to as […]

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) today released the worldwide 2013 year-end aircraft billing and shipment numbers. GAMA Chairman Steve Taylor, President of Boeing Business Jets, reported that for the year, total worldwide general aviation airplane shipments rose 4.3 percent, from 2,164 shipments in 2012 to 2,256 shipments in 2013. Billings for GA airplanes worldwide […]

The Citation Latitude, the first in the line of new midsized business jets that Cessna hopes will challenge Embraer in that market, made its maiden flight on Tuesday and it went well according to Cessna. The aircraft, which was announced a little over two years agoat NBAA 2011, flew for 2.5 hours, climbed to 28,000 […]