Recent Updates

On March 12, DAHER-SOCATA revealed its new TBM 900 single-engine turboprop at a ceremony in Tarbes, France. (PDF) Including what was described as 26 modifications to its predecessor, the TBM 850, the recently certified TBM 900 has an announced max cruise speed of 330 knots at 28,000 feet. At a reduced power setting, it has […]

Boeing is inspectingthe carbon fiber composite wings of 787 Dreamliners for potential hairline cracks that are due to a change in the way the wings are manufactured. The inspections of 42 planes started a few weeks ago after the airplane maker was notified of the problem by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which makes the wings in […]

Update: On Feb. 7, the FAA announced that it has appealed the dismissal of its civil penalty action against commercial drone operator Raphael Pirker to the full National Transportation Safety Board. The appeal has the effect of staying the law judge’s decision until the full Board rules. NBC Newsreported that a National Transportation Safety Board […]

Garmin International Inc. announced new capabilities for G1000-equipped King Air 200/250/300/350 series aircraft. These enhancements provide a number of new features and optional equipment upgrades that offer King Air owners and operators more capability. These new upgrades include several key NextGen components like Automatic Dependence Surveillance- Broadcast (ADS-B) compliance, as well as customer-requested capabilities such […]

With more than 70 employees now employed at its Kerrville, Texas, facility, and about to restart the assembly line to produce the first M20TN Acclaim Type S, Mooney has announcedthat its management leadership team is in place. CEO is Dr. Jerry Chen, who has extensive experience in the aviation and aerospace industry and holds two […]

Ten out of every 100 Army helicopter pilots are women – but they account for only three out of every 100 accidents. Thats the bottom line in an Army report that, in an effort to study the impact of women on the front lines, compares accident rates of men and women flying U.S. Army helicopters […]

Global business aviation activity grew by 4 percent in 2013 according to Jet Support Services Inc.’s (JSSI) annual report. While the solid increase was in itself encouraging, the company noted the uptick outpaced the 2.9 percent the International Monetary Fund’s predicted the global economy would grow last year. “The global growth in flight hours is […]

A new federal budget plan released by the White House on Tuesday includes a proposal to “establish a surcharge for air traffic services of $100 per flight.” NBAA President Ed Bolen said similar proposals in the last three budgets were stopped when the aviation community mobilized and asked elected officials to oppose the fees. “There […]

I think people who have been in wars not only think about the experience differently than those who have not, but their views of it change as they grow older. I thought of this the other day when I was in the local YMCA waging my own daily war against gravity. You know, came a […]

A British company has parlayed a $300 million project abandoned by the U.S. Army into a media spectacle that might launch a commercial airship business. Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) had originally partnered with Northrop Grumman to develop the Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle, a lighter-than-air vehicle with aerodynamic properties that nominally put it into a new […]