November 8, 2019

FAA Approves Epic E1000 Turboprop

The certification of the fast and pretty pressurized turboprop single immediately changes the marketplace.

The FAA type certification of the Epic E1000 has been a long time in coming, coming, seven years and 23 minutes, according to one Epic employee. But who’s keeping track! So if there was a celebration going in Bend, Oregon, last night, our only complaint is that we weren’t there too. It is not every more »

November 4, 2019

2019 Planes Of The Year: Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet G2 And Piper 100

It was déjà vu for this year’s big winners and a sneak peek at what could be a big year to come.

In some ways, the year 2019 was a remarkable one in aviation, but when it came to new plane introductions, it was, well, a continuation of a familiar trend. In the Part 23 world, there were no newly certificated planes, though at least one looks like an outside shot at getting approved by the end more »

November 1, 2019

Diamond DA50 Retract Flies!

The company announced the first fight yesterday of its five-seat, diesel-powered retractable single.

Diamond Aircraft announced yesterday the first flight of its DA50 with a gear retraction. The flight presumably took place from the company’s headquarters in Wiener Neutstadt, Austria. The DA50 is a carbon fiber five-seat, low-wing retractable gear single that will compete pretty closely with the Cirrus SR22. It has, claims Diamond, a larger more »

October 28, 2019

Incredible Plane: Ball-Bartoe Jetwing

The only blown-wing plane in the world

The Ball-Bartoe Jetwing at the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum in Denver, Colorado, is a one-of-a kind, head-scratching marvel. This single-engine, “blown-wing” taildragger jet was donated to the museum in 2007 from its previous home at the University of Tennessee, but the aircraft is a Colorado native through and through. Are you more »

October 25, 2019

NBAA 2019: Textron/Cessna And GE Update Denali Program

The big turboprop single is running a little late. Here’s why.

At NBAA 2019, both Textron Aviation and GE gave program updates on the Cessna Denali, Textron on the program as a whole and GE on the progress of the Denali’s engine, the GE Catalyst. The plane will compete in the same space as the Pilatus PC12NGX, which was announced at NBAA this year. Subscribe today to more »

October 25, 2019

NBAA 2019: Pilatus Unveils New PC-12

Big changes for the incredibly rugged and roomy single.

At NBAA, Pilatus unveiled the latest version of its PC-12 NGX, an update of the seminal rugged pressurized turboprop single made in Switzerland. This is just the third big version change for the plane, which was introduced in 1994 and of which Pilatus has hand-built more than 1,700. The NGX incorporates a host of new more »

October 22, 2019

NBAA 2019: Gulfstream Unveils Gulfstream G700 At Hollywood-Caliber Spectacular

The biggest, baddest Gulfstream ever is this close to flying. Here are the incredible details.

On the eve of the start of the National Business Aviation Association Convention in Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada, Gulfstream unveiled its latest dream machine, the G700, the biggest, longest range and most sophisticated aircraft the company has ever built. It is arguably, the most advanced non-military aircraft ever created. Subscribe today to Plane & Pilot magazine more »

October 22, 2019

NBAA 2019: Gulfstream Introduces Incredible Ultra-Long Range G700

The amazing new bizjet had an unveiling that was totally worthy of the brand.

It was a secret, the existence of the Gulfstream G700, but when the company did decide to break the news, it did it at the Henderson, Nevada, static display of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention in Las Vegas, and it was amazing! We don’t know for a fact that the video for the more »

September 24, 2019

This Incredible Plane: Cessna 140

Never has a little plane grown so much or so many times!

When do planes that are developed from an earlier model stop being derivatives of that original design? Is the Gulfstream G550 a derivative of the original turboprop Gulfstream I, which begat the G2? No way . . . but kind of, too. Now, if Cessna’s lineage is to be traced forward from one point, as more »

September 11, 2019

This Incredible Plane: Lockheed C-130 Hercules

The longest continuously produced plane in history shows no sign of fading away.

Overview: Back in the early 1950s, when the Lockheed C-130 Hercules (now the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules) was created, it was unlikely that anyone knew what a huge impact on aviation history this transport/jack-of-all-trades would have on aviation. Surely no one would have suspected that the new plane, a replacement for 10-year-old designs from more »

August 14, 2019

2019 Four-Seat Piston Singles Round-Up

A look at today's four-seat singles. What they do, how they do it and how much it all costs.

For reasons that are both easy to understand and completely counterintuitive, the four-seat, piston-powered airplane has, for decades, dominated the GA marketplace. And it continues to do so, even though the number of pilots who buy these planes as a transportation tool has slowed dramatically, mostly in lock step with the slowing of the overall more »

August 9, 2019

Video: NEC “Flying Car” Makes First Flight

Japanese Electronics Giant Ventures Into Urban Aerial Mobility

This week electronics giant NEC released a video of the successful first flight of a flying car it’s been developing. (We can’t wait for the video of the first drive!). The craft, actually an autonomously controlled passenger-carrying vehicle, is much more like a helicopter than a flying car. It’s really a quad-copter, and a pretty more »

July 26, 2019

Flight Design Electric F2 At EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2019!

It didn’t fly in, but its presence alone was huge.

Flight Design had its Siemens electric-powered F2 at Airventure Oshkosh 2019. This one’s a proof of concept, but it incorporates nearly all of the features the production model will have. There will be four designs down the road, but the first will be a two-seat model powered by a Rotax 915. For much more, more »

July 25, 2019

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2019: Ameravia V.1 Enjoying Success; Plus, A New Model Coming

The four-seat trainer Italian trainer is selling well while it’s getting better.

At Oshkosh AirVenture 2019 Ameravia director of sales Mike McMann had little but good news for reporters. The four-seat high-wing piston single, which we flew and reported on in our May 2019 issue of Plane & Pilot, is a natural rival to the Cessna 172 and Piper PA-28. And at $278,000, it’s a relative bargain more »

July 24, 2019

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2019: Something Extra From Aerobatic Plane Maker Extra

The latest model, called the NG, is totally different from any Extra that came before. Here’s how.

Arguably the most advanced civil one- and two-seat airplanes ever, the Extra series of unlimited class aerobatic airplanes just got better and cooler. And a few other superlatives to boot. Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest news, notes, and information from Oshkosh 2019! Extra announced the new plane at the International Aerobatics more »

July 23, 2019

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2019: Epic Fast Turboprop: Big Progress Toward Certification

The Bend, Oregon company reported major progress toward FAA approval along with some other interesting tidbits.

It wasn’t the news that Epic Aircraft had hoped to share at Oshkosh 2019, but it was still really good news. The Oregon-based airplane maker, which has copious production capabilities, has made great progress toward FAA certification, which will, of course, lead to the company beginning production and sales of its super sleek Epic E1000. more »

July 9, 2019

How The New Learjet Liberty Is New And How It’s Not

The latest model from the Wichita plane maker will compete with other light jets, but only sort of. Here’s why it’s got a niche of its own.

The “new” Learjet Liberty is a brand new plane, well, at least according to much of the hype surrounding its launch, but it’s not really new at all. A follow-on offering of the Learjet 75, which was certificated in 2013, the $9.9 million Liberty is not a different plane in terms of its type certificate more »

June 20, 2019

A Flapping Wing Airbus? Yup.

The aerospace giant is testing a flying scale proof of concept model that kind of flaps. Here’s what it is and why they’re doing it.

Aerospace giant Airbus is testing a large scale model of an A321 with wingtips that flap, kind of. The model makes use of what Airbus is calling an “aeroelastic hinge” that flaps in response to gusts and turbulence. Named after a bird, the albatross, which is known to be a great long-distance flyer, the AlbatrosOne more »

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