BEND, Ore. – Epic Aircraft achieved a milestone in its E1000 certification program in late December, with the successful maiden flight of its first conforming flight test article, code named FT1. The company remains on track to achieve Type Certificate and begin customer deliveries in 2016, according to company officials. The Epic E1000 prototype took its […]
Aircraft
First flight: Mooney M10
Mooney International Corp. has successfully completed the first flight of the M10T Proof of Concept (POC) aircraft. The first flight was performed by test pilot Len Fox on Wednesday, Dec. 23, in the vicinity of the Chino Airport in California. The flight lasted approximately 15 minutes, with Fox conducting basic flight maneuvers and verifying design data. […]
Fighting off boredom
Chuck and Shannon Avon attended the 2015 Blakesburg Fly-In. When Chuck came across Sparky Barnes Sargent’s story on the fly-in on the General Aviation News website, he called me to buy a copy of the print edition with that story. His Stinson 108 was in the “sunset” photo at the end of the online story. Sadly, […]
Merlin PSA makes U.S debut
Just introduced to the U.S. is the Merlin PSA, a single-seat Personal Sport Aircraft. The all-aluminum aircraft features a cantilevered wing and a 120 mph cruise speed. Price is under $35,000, which includes the builders’ assistance program in Florida, according to company officials. The Merlin PSA is available now as a quick-build Experimental Amateur-Built aircraft. The design was created on 3D CAD/CAM […]
First flight: Aerolab from a kit
LONE ROCK, Wis. and MILAN, Italy — Francesco Rizzi, founder of Aerolab Manufacturing, and designer of the Sport Camp series of Experimental/Amateur-built kit aircraft, and Ed Leineweber, managing member of Golden Age Aeroworks, distributor of Aerolab products in the United States, recently conducted the first flights of the first Aerolab aircraft built from a production kit. LoCamp […]
Diamond DA40 Tundra introduced
Diamond Aircraft has introduced the jet-fuel-powered DA40 Tundra designed for backcountry flying. The four-seat cabin with folding rear seat backs, large forward opening canopy and rear door means plenty of room for fly fishing rods, guns, tents, skis, snowshoes, and even mountain bikes, according to company officials. The all-composite airframe offers resistance to bumps and scrapes and […]
Discovery Channel’s ‘How It’s Made’ to air tonight
VERO BEACH, Fla. — The Discovery Channel’s “How It’s Made” documentary television series featuring Piper Aircraft airs tonight, Dec. 17, at 9 p.m. EST on Discovery’s Science Channel. Filming of “How It’s Made” began at Piper Aircraft’s factory the end of January of this year. Over the course of three days, a film crew collected footage of various […]
GAMA calls on Obama administration to issue small airplane certification rule
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Officials with the General Aviation Manufacturers Association are calling on the Obama administration to issue the final rule to implement the Small Airplane Revitalization Act, noting that the deadline set for the final rule is today, Dec. 15. “Today marks the deadline set by the U.S. Congress more than two years ago […]
Tecnam P Twenty Ten achieves FAA certification
The FAA has approved a Type Certificate for the Tecnam P Twenty Ten. The P Twenty Ten is a new single-engine, high-wing, four-seat aircraft from Tecnam that brings together an all carbon fiber fuselage with a metal wing and stabilator. Officials with the Italy-based company noted that the establishment of the Tecnam US customer delivery center, assembly […]