Augustawestland will be making Yeovil its military helicopter HQ following the announcement that the British govt is buying 70 Future Lynx helicopters for the Royal Navy and British Army in a £1 billion deal. First of the new design Lynx will arrive in 2014. W: www.agustawestland.com ... more

Photos shot from a Robinson R44 newscopter have won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Dallas photographer Smiley Pool (yes, that's his name).The award-winning photos were of a flooded New Orleans during last year's devastating hurricane. The R44, flown by Ken Pyatt of Houston-based Sky Helicopters, was designated by the FAA as the shared helicopter for still photographers.Flying into a city just hit by a Category 4 hurricane had its difficulties. ... more

... the LOOP Trophy for the inaugural Classic Aircraft aerobatic event.MARK 'Lofty' Simpson, popular member of the host aero club, took away the handsome LOOP trophy for the first Classic Aerobatic event organised by the British Aerobatic Association, held at Leicester on 17 June. An interesting mix of aeroplanes took part, ranging from the winning Starduster Too through Bucker Jungmann, Acrosport, Cessna 152, Chipmunk to a diminutive Forni ... more

THE British gliding team, ranked number 1 in the world, scooped two gold and two bronze medals at the World Gliding Championships last month.Phil Jones, an airline pilot, from Hungerford won the title in the 18m Class and Leigh Wells, a teacher from Cheltenham, won the Standard Class.  There were also bronze medals for Jez Hood in the Standard Class and for Pete Harvey in the Open Class.The Rocket Software sponsored UK team also ... more

Symphony Aircraft has filed for creditor protection under Canadian bankruptcy laws. The company, maker of the two-seat SA160 trainer, is seeking $6-10 million fresh capital and is considering moving to the US. W: www.symphonyaircraft.com Tiger Aircraft, maker of the AG-5 based on the Grumman American AA-5, has had to lay off more workers while it too seeks fresh capital. W: www.tigeraircraft.com ... more

AN accident during takeoff has badly damaged the Sport-Jet prototype (news, LOOP June 06). Witnesses report the aircraft rolled rapidly 90 degrees at about 30 feet of altitude. A wingtip struck the ground, cartwheeling the Sport-Jet onto its tail, which suffered major damage. Amazingly, neither of the two pilots was injured. W: www.sport-jet.com ... more

Mooney has launched its second new aircraft in two months. The latest Ovation3 is claimed to be the fastest non-turbo single engine piston aircraft with a max cruise speed of 197 knots. Rick Neely, a Mooney director said, "On a recent trip in the prototype, it was immediately apparent that its takeoff, climb and cruise numbers are considerably better than the highly successful Ovation2 GX. With three passengers and a full load of fuel ... more

HORSE riders are to get free high visibility clothing as part of a campaign to encourage riders to be seen by low-flying helicopters.Horses can be spooked by low-flying helicopters, said Tom Watson, Under Secretary of State for Defence, at the launch of the campaign at RAF Benson in June. The campaign is a joint venture by the Ministry of Defence and British Horse Society.An MOD trial in 2005, conducted using helicopter crews from RAF Benso ... more

THE Dawn to Dusk Spitfire Challenge, an attempt to fly to as many Spitfire airfields as possible in one day, visited 14 historic venues across the UK in an epic 14-hour journey on 29 June.Pilots Steve Bridgewater and Louise Walker took off from Oxford in a Piper Cherokee at 0715, and went on to visit Coventry,Blackpool, Coningsby, Wittering, Duxford, Cambridge, North Weald, Manston, Chichester (Goodwood), Lasham, Lyneham, Kemble and Little ... more

EARTH-trembling fastjets, eastern European rarities, classic warbirds, UK debutantes and four international aerobatics display teams – including the Red Arrows – will share the world’s largest stage at the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire on 15-16 July. The show’s operational theme is Rapid Global Effect, highlights include the first UK flying display of the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor, a Spanish Eurofight ... more

Certification of the new Eclipse 500 personal jet is 'nearing completion' says the Albuquerque company. A deadline of 30 June 2006 had been set by the ambitious company but even though it has five aircraft involved in flight testing, that date had not been met."Our test fleet of five Eclipse 500s continues to burn test points and build hours at a rapid rate.  We accumulated more than 300 flight hours in the last four weeks," ... more

A replica of the famous Piper L-4 Cub used in WWII as an airborne 'jeep' has been developed by American Legend Aircraft.The all-new Legend 'Combat' is certified for the US Light Sport category for sub-600kg aircraft. The Combat is a two-seat tube-and-fabric aircraft with military paint and markings. "It's reminiscent of the historic Piper L-4, L-18 and L-21 produced as liaison aircraft for the US Army and Air Force," said the Texa ... more

Extra Aircraft unveiled its new EA-300SHP at the Berlin round of this year's Red Bull Air Races. American Michael Goulian flew the lighter, more powerful aircraft to fifth in the event. More than 45kg has been shed from the airframe, the centre of gravity moved rearwards to enhance manouevrability, and the tail completely redesigned to help create tumbling manouevres. It's powered by a 350hp from Lycoming's 'Skunk Works', Thunderbolt Engine ... more

Jeppesen UK sales manager Lucy Clements has made it through to the final 100 contestants, from thousands of hopefuls, in a new motor racing competition, Formula Woman. She was due to compete in a knockout competition in early July with the final 16 going forward to the championship held through 2007. ... more

ALPHA Aviation has received Type Certification for its 120 and 160 Alpha two-seat aerobatic trainers. The aircraft is an updated version of the all-metal Robin 2160. The French factory sold the rights, parts and manufacturing jigs to the New Zealanders two years ago. The UK agent for Alpha is Mistral Aviation. W: www.alphaaviation.co.nz ... more

Changes to the wing are part of a final batch of design upgrades for the Javelin jet before it goes into production.ATG, the Colorado company developing the two-seat military and personal jet says the wingspan is being increased by 1.85ft and the wing area by 29 sq ft to achieve a lower stall speed.The wings are also being fitted with Fowler flaps and leading edge flaps.Aerodynamicists expect these wing improvements to yield a 5 to 7 knot d ... more

Aircraft and crews flew in from all over Europe for the bi-annual four-day floatplane meet at Biscarrosse last month.Visitors came from Sweden (Cessna 208 Caravan), the Netherlands (Cessna 185), Italy (Aero- Club Como), UK (the new Amphibious Flying Club’s Maule M7-235) and there was even a Portugal- based Brazilian-designed microlight seaplane.The French group based at Biscarrosse produced everything from a converted pedalo with a wing a ... more

A FIX has been developed and approved by EASA which means the French CAP 231 and 232 single-seat aerobatic aircraft shouyld be flying and competing at top level soon. The aircraft were grounded almost a year ago after bulkhead and wing spar problems and a specialist, Regis Alajouanine, has been working on a mod. This has now been tested in flight and also using heavy duty jigs at Le Centre d'Essais Aeronautique (CEAT) in Toulouse. All aircr ... more

WILL Cessna announce details of its 'Next Generation Piston' (NGP) aeroplane at the annual AirVenture at the end of this month?That's the buzz going round the General Aviation industry as it gears up for the world's biggest light aviation event, held every year at the home airfield of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA.The new Cessna, dubbed the "Cirrus Killer" because it will be in direct competi ... more