News Archive

Boyer and others speak of the future at Diamond Fest 2007
The future was on the minds of featured speakers at Diamond Aircraft's elegant evening affair at EAA AirVenture. "I'm very upbeat and see a bright future for general aviation, devoid of an onerous fee structure," AOPA President Phil Boyer told gathered guests at Diamond Fest 2007 held in the Eagle Hangar of the EAA Museum. Amid historic aircraft in the museum Diamond's President Peter Maurer discussed his company's future, emphasizing its supportive training program. "The future of aviation includes flight training," he said, noting that Diamond owners share a passion for flying and the desire for "travel on our own schedule." EAA President Tom Poberezny offered accolades to Boyer on AOPA's efforts in combating the user fee proposal in this country. "AOPA has a tremendous command on this issue. I have great confidence in AOPA," Poberezny said. "AOPA deserves recognition for a tough job; Phil knows the issues." Poberezny also thanked EAA's "aviation friends," including Diamond, which, he noted offers the "full spectrum" of aviation aircraft. It was at Diamond Fest 2006 that Diamond introduced its D-Jet. "There are great times ahead for general aviation," Poberezny concluded.

'Red Tail Reborn' film honors Tuskegee Airmen
A legendary group of aviators finds the limelight in Red Tail Reborn, a documentary produced by Hemlock Films. Red Tail Reborn turns a lens to the Red Tail Project, a program to restore and demonstrate the North American P-51C flown by the cadre of African American pilots in World War II. With interviews with many living airmen and narrated by Michael Dorn, the movie documents the rebuilding of the airplane after it crashed during an airshow over Memorial Day 2004. The movie was previewing at AirVenture. In related news, the Red Tail Project suffered a similar tragedy during Friday's airshow at AirVenture when the primary technician on the project, Gerard Beck, was killed on landing in a P-51A. In the immediate aftermath, the program crew vows to press on — who better than the Tuskegee Airmen to give an example of perseverance in the face of adversity?

Piper Aircraft on the auction block?
Reports circulating at Oshkosh indicate that American Capital Strategies, present owner of Piper Aircraft, may be shopping the company to prospective buyers. Officially the company would say only, "Most companies are for sale at the right price." American Capital Strategies of Bethesda, Maryland, is a holding company that invests in companies in trouble and resells them after improving profits. It bought New Piper Aircraft in 2003 and typically holds companies only a few years. Piper's announcement of the PiperJet last year along with its alliance with Honda Aircraft to help sell and support the HondaJet as well as the substantial backorder for the PiperJet may make the company more attractive to suitors.

Cessna to begin delivering new LSA next year

Cirrus to offer an LSA
Cirrus Design joined the light sport aircraft (LSA) fray with the announcement that it will be importing and "Cirrus-izing" a German microlight built in Poland. The airplane that will become the Cirrus SRS was designed by Peter Funk, founder of Fk Lightplanes. Known in Europe as the Fk 14 Polaris, the two-place canopied airplane is powered by a Rotax 912 engine. More

Mooney customers can design paint scheme online
Mooney Airplane Company's new Web site has an added feature that allows buyers for a new Acclaim, Ovation3, or Ovation2 GX to design their airplanes' exterior paint schemes and select carpet and upholstery for the interiors. Created in cooperation with Scheme Designers of Cresskill, New Jersey, the interactive program can be accessed by choosing the "Aircraft" drop-down in the menu bar at the top of the home page and then clicking on "Design Your Mooney."

Continental offers new engine for Cessna light sport
Continental Motors has developed a fully certified new model of its O-200 engine to power the Cessna SkyCatcher. More

Eclipse tempts market with single-engine jet
Eclipse Aviation surprised AirVenture media when company founder Vern Raburn taxied up to the Eclipse tent during a press conference in the new Eclipse ECJ — the concept jet. The single-engine four-place jet features a dramatically swept V-tail with the engine sitting on top of the aft fuselage. Raburn said the concept airplane is just that; today's unveiling was not a product announcement or decision to move forward, but simply the company testing the market for its reaction to such an airplane. More

Diamond Super Star makes U.S. debut
Diamond Aircraft unveiled its new DA50 Super Star, a $600,000 five-seat luxury turbocharged piston single with a wall-to-wall glass cockpit. Designed for family or air taxi use, the DA50 is also aimed at those stepping up from smaller piston singles. More

Epic brings two new jets
Epic Aircraft CEO Rick Schrameck was all choked up as he introduced the first flying jets in the company's stable at a special presentation at Aeroshell Square. The single-engine Victory — "ready to fly on the Fourth of July," according to Schrameck — came to fruition just six and a half months from its paper inception; the twin-engine Elite jet made its first flight in June. More