Embraer has announced it will introduce two new executive jets, which will enter service in 2012 and 2013. A new midsize jet, recently named the Legacy 500, will enter service in 2012, while a slightly smaller “midlight” jet, the Legacy 450, will enter service a year later. The two jets will be positioned between Embraer’s Legacy 600 and its Phenom 300 ...

Thielert Aircraft Engines filed for insolvency on 25 April as its share price dropped to .35 Euros—the company has traded as high as 25.22 since it went public in 2005. The very existence of the company is now in question as the insolvency process begins. “The going concern of Thielert Aircraft Engines GmbH can only be ensured permanently by restructuring ...

Tracplus Global Announces “Truly Portable” Iridium Tracking New Zealand-based company TracPlus Global has announced support for NAL Research’s range of portable tracking terminals. At only 170 grams and measuring 112 mm long, the pocket sized NAL9601 is the smallest and lightest portable tracking product currently available. “The NAL9601 is not only smaller and lighter than competing products, it also includes a battery ...

Following an assessment of its A380 production programme, Airbus has announced a further revision to its delivery schedules for the aircraft. Instead of delivering 13 A380s during 2008, Airbus says it will now deliver 12; while in 2009, instead of delivering 25 aircraft, it now plans to deliver only 21. As things stand now, Airbus is predicting an average delay of ...

SportStar—Evektor-Aerotechnik’s Stellar Performer The Evektor-Aerotechnik SportStar proves that Mike Friend was correct in his article, Composites or Metal For Your Next Aeroplane? (Pacific Wings, March 2008), that aluminium still has a place in modern light aircraft. Rob Neil flies the SportStar and decides it is appropriately named. I Have Seen the Future—and it Looks Electric Senior aerospace engineer Mike Friend provides the first ...

The more I see and experience of Eastern European aircraft, the more I begin to wonder if the entire Cold War thing wasn’t just an elaborate Western plot—instigated by American and English aircraft manufacturers—to prevent Western pilots from realising just what their aircraft were missing in terms of performance, quality and reliability, compared to the magnificently practical and capable offerings ...