Recent Updates

The president of the world’s second largest AOPA pilots group is retiring sometime in 2015. Kevin Psutka, president of the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA), will step down as soon as a replacement can be hired, COPA said Thursday. Psutka, a former RCAF navigator and reserve pilot, has been in the job for 18 […]

AVweb’s search of new developments in aviation uncovered the latest test flight of CIrrus Aircraft’s jet, a first flight for Airbus’ latest military helicopter, and acquisitions announced by Continental Motors and Momentum Aviation Holdings. Cirrus announced the successful first flight of their second certification flight test aircraft, C-One (C1), in their Vision SF50 personal jet […]

Video of passengers pushing an airliner where its wheels had frozen to the ground in northern Russia made news around the world this week. The video shows people pushing the Tupolev Tu-134 backwards on a tarmac in Igarka, where it was 61 degrees below zero, the Associated Press reported. The UTair Russian airliner was to […]

Cirrus’s SF50 jet program took a major step forward on Tuesday with the first flight of its second certification flight test aircraft. C1, as it has been dubbed, took off at 3:30 p.m. from Duluth International Airport for a 45-minute flight. Pilot Terry LeSage said it went the way test pilots like test flights to […]

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines took customer service to a new level in recent weeks with a five-day publicity event assisting thousands of travelers around the world. In a video released this month, the airline described the social media-based “#happytohelp” campaign as its way of reaching out to non-KLM customers. “We decided to help out everyone, […]

Continental Motors Group Ltd. has expanded its Alabama-based maintenance and service operations into avionics and aircraft interiors. Continental, a subsidiary of AVIC International Holding Corp. of Beijing, China, announced on Monday it has completed acquisition of Southern Avionics and Communications of Mobile.Southern Avionics is now a division of Continental Motors Services of Fairhope, Alabama, and […]

Rotax is well known for its line of aircraft engines, but these are just a small part of the company’s engine-manufacturing business. Last summer, AVweb’s Paul Bertorelli visited the factory and produced this engaging video of how the company builds its aircraft engines. view on YouTube

A story in Monday’s Wall Street Journal (subscription required)says the FAA’s proposed rulemaking on commercial use of unmanned aerial systems will face so much backlash that it could take years to enact. Citing unnamed sources, the Journal says the big sticking point will be the requirement for a private pilot certificate for commercial UAS pilots. […]

I’m quite certain my first encounter with the word “disruptive” was when Sister Claire used it in a note to my parents to describe my behavior in second grade phonics class. If only she knew the depth of her prescience, she could have made a killing in the stock market. Now, the word has taken […]

Airbus has filed a patent for a futuristic “flying doughnut” design for a passenger aircraft, the Daily Mail reported this week. The patent drawings show a circular cabin with seats arranged in a “doughnut” pattern, and a delta wing plan. The design aims to overcome some of the problems associated with pressurizing the traditional “flying […]