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New TBM 940s For The French Ministry of Defense
The French Ministry of Defense has ordered four new TBM 940 very fast turboprop aircraft from Daher Socata. The four aircraft are to be utilized as flight test centers, along with associated services for the operation of these airplanes...
Joby eVTOL To Outfit With Garmin G3000 Flight Deck
Joby Aviation has been in the news alot recently and the latest foray is because today they partnered with Garmin to provide the G3000 flight deck for the Joby eVTOL. The G3000 suite is not new but it is in service on the flight deck of several executive jets today. For example the G3000 can be found on the Daher TBM 930/940, the Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet, the Piper M600 and some smaller Citation jets like the Citation M2. It is fitted on the HondaJet too along with the Phenom 300 by Embraer. This flight deck will be a sophisticated outfit for the new Joby eVTOL which is expected to hit the market by 2024...
Textron Aviation unveils Cessna CJ4 Gen2
Textron Aviation today announced the next generation of the well-loved CJ4. It is called the CJ4 Gen2...not the CJ4+, which would have continued in vein as they were naming their incremental upgrades to current production models. The CJ4 Gen 2 is the largest offering in the Cessna light jet category. Most of the enhancements that can be seen with the CJ4 Gen2 is on the inside of the aircraft in the passenger cabin because passenger comfort and experience was paramount in these upgrades. On the outside though you will find a new stairs with a new handrail too...
First Pilatus PC-24 With Commuter Seat-Plan Delivered
The first Pilatus PC-24 with a Commuter Seat-Plan has been delivered to a customer in the Western United States. The aircraft in question is fitted with ten (10) seats in the cabin which is considerably more than what the average PC-24 executive jet carries. Although it is a commuter style seat-plan, premium materials have not been sacrificed...
First King Air 260C To Enter Service With Air Archipels
Textron Aviation announced the King Air 260 late last year. The King Air 260 is a King Air 200 family aircraft with many of the features of the new and larger King Air 360. However, the first 260C which is a cargo door variant of the 260 will enter service with French Polynesian service Air Archipels. The cargo door is not a regular feature and thus is an optional accessory for customers who have special missions credentials or needs...
Aviation Clean Air (ACA) Cabin Ionization Retrofit For Beechcraft; Cessna Customers
Covid-19 has pushed many airframers to be more crafty with the products they offer customers to keep them safe as they continue to utilize their aircraft. Textron Aviation is now offering an Aviation Clean Air (ACA) Cabin Ionization Retrofit For Beechcraft and Cessna customers in a bid to make them feel more comfortable in the skies as they travel. "In today’s world, cabin air quality has never been more important...
Gulfstream G700 Pearl 700 Engine Run On 100% SAF In Test
The Pearl 700 is the new powerplant in development by Rolls Royce (RR) for the brand new Gulfstream flagship G700 jet. The Pearl 700 engine is a 18,250 lbs thrust engine which is being hailed as more efficient and powerful than the BR725 powerplant that currently powers the Gulfstream G650. The Pearl 700 also shows that it can consume Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The breakthrough here is that in a recent test the Pearl 700 engine utilized 100% SAF. Previous to this all engines that consumed SAF utilized blended SAF which with a mixture with conventional aviation fuel up to 50% ratio...
Lilium Expanding Florida eVTOL Network
Normally when speaking about the progression and development of the eVTOL sector most just focus on the eVTOL aircraft themselves that are in development. They eVTOL aircraft cannot function effectively if a network of vertiports are not available. To this end, JetForums is taking a look at the plans eVTOL player Lilium is putting in place to broaden its network of vertiports in Florida. The vertiport is essentially the airport for eVTOL aircraft. They do not take up alot of footprint compared to that of an airport that needs large terminal buildings and runways...
Q4 Ends Strong For Gulfstream But Deliveries Still Lapse
To get an idea as to how the large cabin sector of the executive jet industry is doing just take a look at how one of the big players in that segment performs. For Gulfstream, the last quarter of 2020 ended strong but overall deliveries lapsed for the company. Some nitpick at figures but overall the company did well in the prevailing world circumstances of the Corona Virus Pandemic. For example, in Q4 of 2020 Gulfstream delivered 40 jets which was down by 4 aircraft compared to Q4 2019. The jet deliveries comprised of a hefty share of large cabin jets - 34 large cabin category jets accounted for in the 40 jets delivered...
Russia Certifies HondaJet ELITE
Another major certification body has given the nod to the Honda Aircraft Company's HondaJet ELITE. The Russians (Federal Air Transport Agency (FATA) have now certified the Over The Wing Engine Mount executive jet. In fact the first Russian Registered HondaJet ELITE started service immediately after the news of the certification. As a reminder, the HondaJet ELITE has approval from a multiplicity of world certification bodies and countries...
Production Starts For Bye Aerospace eFlyer 2
Bye Aerospace is moving full steam ahead with the start of production for its eFlyer 2. Yesterday the company made the announcement and that they have partnered with Composites Universal Group (CUG) to begin assembly of the production eFlyer 2 fuselage, the first major component being assembled...
Y6SPlus eVTOL By Autonomous Flight
Something new again in the eVTOL space is coming to the market. It is called the Y6SPlus aptly named for its ability to carry six persons and its Y-shaped design from above. To be fair the Autonomous Flight eVTOL existed before in design but only as a two-seat initial variant. The Y6SPlus is the new current design evolution of it from the UK based startup . If and when the eVTOL becomes certificated and available they are suggesting that a commute from Lower Manhattan to JFK would take just eight (8) minutes. London Heathrow to Battersea Heliport is just twelve (12) minutes...
Twist; AeroTec/Magnix eCaravan For Sale
The last time JF explored this collaboration between AeroTec and Magnix on the eCaravan with the electric 750 horsepower powerplant there was news that during a test flight the aircraft lost partial power. Earlier last year an inverter issue shutdown resulting in a loss of approximately a quarter of the aircraft's power. The testbed returned to the ground safely without incident...
Key Development Milestone Achieved By EcoPulse™
The latest project collaboration between multiple interests has reached a key developmental milestone. Of course we are talking about the EcoPulse™ which is under development by trio, Airbus, Safran and Daher mainly but with support from France’s CORAC civil aviation research council. The base aircraft being utilized is a TBM model from Daher...
Wing Production Facility Opens For HondaJet ELITE
Starting construction in mid-2019 and completing in September of 2020, the new wing production facility for Honda Aircraft Company's HondaJet ELITE is now operational having been recently opened. It is a new 83,100 square foot facility now added to the growing Honda Aircraft Company campus in Greensboro, North Carolina. The extra production space represents a further investment of 24.3 million dollars...
Fiat Chrysler In On Archer Aviation eVTOL
An eVTOL that is in the works from new-comer start-up Archer Aviation has received significant interest from the Fiat Chrysler automotive (FCA) company. This interest though, so far is to provide the aviation company with composites and support engineering wise. It is not clear if this will eventually translate into big financial backing from the automotive giant. None-the-less it is yet another automotive company that wants to get its hands in the eVTOL space. Previous automotive companies like Toyota and even Hyundai have thrown their hat into the eVTOL space partnering with budding aerospace entities of this market...
100th Pilatus PC-24 Delivered Since 2018
Pilatus Aircraft today announced that they have delivered the 100th example of the Pilatus PC-24 Super Versatile Jet to customers around the world. In less than three years the Stans-Switzerland based company has achieved this milestone delivery. PC-24s are around the world performing a myriad of duties including executive travel for charter and leisure, personal use, medivac services and transport for Government officials...
Second King Air 350CER Delivered To NOAA
The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has taken delivery of a second Textron Aviation King Air 350CER (Cargo-Extended Range) aircraft. The first one was delivered to the scientific weather organization back in 2009. "We are honored the King Air 350CER aircraft continues to be the aircraft of choice to fill a variety of critical mission needs for NOAA," said Textron Aviation special mission sales v-p Bob Gibbs...
First Legacy 450 Converted To Praetor 500 In Europe
In mid-2020 JF alerted you that Embraer was undertaking the first Legacy 450 conversion to upgrade it to a Praetor 500 model. Embraer has now marked their first Legacy 450 to Praetor 500 conversion in Europe as well. The conversion work was actually done at a service center in France, in Le Bourget to be precise...
Cessna Announces New Flight Data Monitoring Service For Citation Jets
With the recently made announcement of the provision of advanced Flight Data Monitoring Service options for Citation Jets, the CJ4 will be the first in the family of Citation jet models to receive this. There is a bit of a catch though, aircraft should be equipped with Aircraft Recording System II (AReS II)...
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