Have you heard of The Flying Santa flights that have continued uninterrupted for 94 years? They started on Christmas Day 1929 in a floatplane built by Travel Air, the airplane manufacturer started in 1925 by Walter Beech, Clyde Cessna and Lloyd Stearman. Early aviation pioneer William Wincapaw loved flying, especially amphibious airplanes that were practical…
Textron Aviation recently announced a noteworthy upgrade for its Beechcraft King Air 260 and 360 turboprops with the introduction of new CoolView® windows to minimize heat transfer into the cabin on the ramp and offer an unprecedented level of passenger comfort and cabin cooling. According to Lee Aerospace, the manufacturer of the windows, independent testing…
Garmin has announced imminent Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification to bring Garmin Autoland and Garmin Autothrottle to the retrofit market, starting with select G1000® NXi-equipped King Air 200 series aircraft, and soon after, select King Air 300 series. The certification marks the first time Garmin Autoland and Autothrottle have been offered as a retrofit solution,…
McCauley Propeller Systems recently announced that its newest C780 propeller for the Beechcraft King Air B300 series, featuring four aluminum swept blades and a 105-inch diameter, has successfully achieved certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The new high-performance propeller offers King Air B300 operators additional payload, increased takeoff and climb performance, reduced noise in…
Bluetail Introduces Mach 2 Search Bluetail, the leading Software as a Service (SaaS) aircraft records platform for business aviation, has introduced its second-generation Bluetail® MACH 2 Search feature. “When we introduced our MACH Search engine in 2021, it set the standard as the first machine learning search engine purpose-built to meet the specific needs of…
Loaders rolling dynamite kegs into a ski-equipped Beechcraft S18A-172, registered CF-BGY, in Hudson, Canada (located 166 miles northwest of Lake Superior) recognized the “twin-tailed wonder” as the first of its type working commercially beyond the U.S.-Canada border. No one on that frigid January day in 1938 could have known that lessons learned would one day…
The current aircraft market is enough to make your head spin! Is it getting better or is it getting worse? Are inventory levels actually going up or is it just a bunch of junk listed on Controller.com? What will I pay? Am I able to complete a prebuy inspection? Is it still a seller’s market?…
Bonus depreciation continues to impact purchase decisions of many taxpayers. While the general rule is 80% bonus depreciation for business assets, business aircraft may qualify for 100% bonus depreciation in 2023. If you have signed a purchase agreement prior to 2023 and made a non-refundable deposit of at least $100,000 – you qualify to take…
Robert Johnson saw a Facebook post in August 2017 from friend Doug Jackson asking fellow general aviation pilots in the Dallas area to help in an effort he was leading to fly critically-needed relief supplies to small airports in coastal Texas. While ground transportation was unsafe due to catastrophic flooding, aircraft could land with basic…
I fly some version of a Piper PA-46, a Daher TBM or a Beechcraft King Air five to six days a week. I’m either instructing, examining or sometimes I get to fly those beauties all by my lonesome. Not a bad gig, eh? I love my job and would not choose to do anything else. My…