Recent Updates

Cirrus announced Sunday that its Cirrus SF50 personal jet has been type certified and that deliveries will begin in December. The company made the announcement at a hastily arranged function two days after it received the FAA paperwork and two days before the National Business Aviation Association Convention in Orlando, Florida. CEO Dale Klapmeier told […]

The Boeing 747 assembly line has been thrown a substantial lifeline with a major order from UPS. The freight service has ordered 14 new 747-8 freighters and taken options for 14 more as part of its international fleet modernization. It’s the biggest 747 order since Lufthansa bought 20 in 2006. There have been steady predictions […]

The Canadian government has begun laboratory testing of two unleaded aviation fuels that the FAA is also testing as possible replacements for 100LL. Canada’s National Research Council (NRC) is using its altitude chamber at its Ottawa research complex to put Swift 102 and Shell’s candidate fuel through its paces. Pervez Canteenwalla, the researcher heading up […]

There are two ways to look at the ongoing FAA fuels testing project called the Piston Aviation Fuels Initiative. One is that no news is good news and things must be perking along as planned. The other is that no news is bad news and that things aren’t going as planned or else we would […]

Canada’s National Research Council is doing independent ground testing of two alternatives to 100LL avgas that are undergoing tests by the FAA. The Canadian organization is comparing the performance of Swift Fuels’ and Shell’s lead-free aviation fuels to regular avgas in an altitude chamber that allows it to replicate flight conditions in the controlled environment […]

After 10 years of development, Cirrus Aircraft has announced certification of its SF50 Vision jet. AVweb’s Russ Niles spoke with CEO Dale Klapmeier about the challenge, the process and the reward. Duration: 5:30 File Size: 6.2 MB download here

Slovenia-based Pipistrel has signed a $550 million deal with Sino GA Group Co. of China to build its Alpha Electro electric trainer and hybrid-powered Pantera high-performance aircraft in China. And while that’s significant in itself, it’s Pipistrel’s plans for the money it will earn in the project that is bound to raise eyebrows. “Pipistrel will […]

With a few weeks having passed since my ditching on the way to Catalina (KAVX), I finally had time to calm down and reflect on what happened. It all began with our typical debate about where to fly for Saturday lunch. Someone suggested Big Bear Lake, a nearby resort nestled in the San Bernardino Mountains. […]

It would appear that almost everything worked as intended at LaGuardia on Thursday night when Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence’s Boeing 737 had a hairy landing in bad weather. Whatever happened with the landing, the aircraft apparently ended up on the overrun and it stopped the plane the way it was supposed to. There […]

Boeing is apparently working on a large passenger aircraft with vertical takeoff and landing features. The company received a patent for a tilt-rotor design that has room for at least 100 passengers, according to a Business Insider report Thursday. The VTOL plane has potential for both civilian and military use, according to the report. It […]