The NTSB final report on the September 21 collision between an Army UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter and a DJI Phantom 4 small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS/drone) is something of a cautionary tale regarding what not to do when flying a UAS. For the basic facts, the collision occurred near Hoffman Island, New York, at around more »

What’s the best birthday present a pilot can get? Most of us would agree that time in the air is pretty high up on the list. For British inventor and aviator Dr. John C. Taylor—who has been flying for 65 years—David Fabry, CEO of Daher’s TBM U.K. distributor, Flying Smart, arranged something particularly special along more »

This past week Dassault announced that it was officially putting the 5X out of its misery, pulling the plug and calling it a day on the $45 million Gulfstream competitor. There’s no one in the industry, however, who doesn’t suspect that Dassault has Plan B not only hatched but well on its way. The 5X more »

How much FBOs can and should charge for services—like fuel and ramp use—has been a matter of concern to the general aviation community for quite some time. So much so that last August, AOPA took the data it had gathered from pilots and filed a Part 13 complaint regarding fees charged by FBOs located at more »

The FAA is once again reminding people decorating for the holidays to be mindful of the risks outdoor laser light displays can pose for aviation. If poorly aimed, the popular displays have the potential to disrupt flights—and possibly injure pilots—passing overhead. According to the FAA, “Each holiday season for the past several years, [it] has more »

Swiss airplane manufacturer Pilatus has earned FAA and EASA type certification for its PC24 twinjet, and the model is set to disrupt the light jet segment mightily. The new aircraft is unlike any jet currently being built, and its closest analogs might be specialty jets once built for military use, but even then the PC24 more »

There’s another contender looking to enter the big-city air taxi race. On Wednesday, Erik Lindbergh—longtime pilot and grandson of historic aviator Charles Lindbergh—announced the formation of VerdeGo Aero, which will be focused on creating and producing a short-range aircraft suitable for on-demand flights in urban areas. The new company is headquartered at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical more »

Finding what you’re looking for on the FAA website isn’t always an easy thing. The organization covers a lot of ground (and air) and collects quite a bit of information on all things aviation. In an effort to help streamline access to important aviation industry and FAA data, the FAA has begun publishing its monthly more »

In an era where autonomous drones are being suggested for everything from package delivery to air taxi operations, GPS can’t do everything. Instantaneous see-and-avoid technology is a must if those ideas are ever going to be practical. Recently, researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) tested out a vision-based navigation system for autonomous drones by more »

As of last month, 10,000 Van’s RV kit planes have officially made it through the assembly process and into the skies. There are most likely more than 10,000 flying, according to the company, but it doesn’t keep tabs on the progress of all of the many kits that head out of the factory doors, so more »

When Garmin introduced its G5 instrument last year, it was a big deal. But its functionality was somewhat limited. Not any more. The G5 originally came out as an additional (not primary) attitude indicator, but it soon took on an second role as a heading indicator, albeit one that couldn’t provide a source of attitude more »

When it comes to the potential damage impacting an unmanned aerial vehicle in flight might cause, there has been a lot of discussion about how bad it might or might not be. Would hitting a drone really be all that different than a bird strike? A recently released report from the Alliance from System Safety more »

After the introduction of its award-winning Part 23 XCub last year, CubCrafters focused on its industry-leading Experimental model, the Carbon Cub and has introduced two new models. The EX-3 is the traditional Experimental Amateur Built model and the FX-3 is the factory-assist version. Both airplanes feature three big improvements over the already popular Carbon Cub more »

Coming up in less than two months is the annual edition of the Sport Aviation Expo. Based at Sebring, Florida’s impressive-sounding Multimodal Logistics Center, the Sport Aviation Expo has grown into a wider-ranging event than many of those first year attendees might have predicted. What initially attracted attention as an LSA gathering has grown into more »

Cessna, which once again proved that it’s pretty good at keeping secret projects secret, unveiled this week a clean-sheet turboprop twin that targets small freight and short-haul passenger service. The 19-seat plane will cruise at around 200 knots with a maximum range of 900 nm and a typical freight-hauling range of 400 nm. The launch more »

Last week, we asked you, our readers, for your thoughts on some of the issues related to small (under 55 pounds) drones. We were surprised to find that you had very strong views on the subject. How big a deal is the drone issue? According to the survey results, pilots think that it’s huge. With more »