A Gulfstream G550 business jet aircraft has set four city-pair speed records in three weeks. The records are Edinburgh-Beijing (4494nm in 8hr 47min), Beijing-Edinburgh (4407nm in 10hr 1min), Beijing-Louisville, USA (6216nm in 13hr 27min), and Guatemala City-Madrid (4849nm in 9hr 11 min).  W: www.gulfstream.com ... more

SurvivorA pristine and original 1952 Beech 18 will be displaying at airshows across Europe during 2007. Bought by Danish import specialists, Opmas, the former Royal Canadian Air Force 3NM ‘Expeditor’ will also be used as a company aircraft.Now renamed ‘Great Danes’, the Beech 18 twin was manufactured in 1952 for the Canadian government for use as a navigation trainer. However it was never used for that purpose but was instead operat ... more

ON PIPERJETWe’ve always had great interest in the market. There’s a saying in business: “Hit ‘em where they’re not”. We think the PiperJet does that.ON PIPER AIRCRAFTWe are actively working on a number of changes to our product line. You can be confident that we will have a number of exciting, innovative and very desirable changes to our entire product line.ON RIVALSThey certainly have been category killers for certain models in ... more

FOUR classic Luftwaffe WW11 aircraft have been bought by collector and pilot Peter Holloway and will be based at the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden Aerodrome.The four aircraft are: lFocke Wulf FW44J Steiglitz (reg G-STIG) l Bucker BU181B-1 Bestmann (G-GLSU) l Klemm 35D (N5050) l Fieseler F156A-1 Storch (G-STCH)“The Steiglitz and Bestmann have already been flown into Old Warden,” said a spokesperson for the Shuttleworth Collection ... more

Film producer, Peter Jackson’s own collection of WW1 aircraft is to form the centrepiece of a new museum dedicated to classic aircraft. The museum, Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre, opened at the beginning of December. It’s located at the historically significant Omaka Aerodrome at Marlborough, New Zealand, not far from the ‘Lord of the Rings’ mountains where Jackson made his most famous movies.The WW1 aircraft – one of the world’ ... more

AN American company is developing a stable and affordable ultralight helicopter for under $50,000 (£34,000). The 'AirScooter' and is in the final phase of testing with a new 'AeroTwin' engine and is expected to be available in 2007. President of AirScooter Corporation Dwaine Barnes said, "Traditional recreational vehicles like ATVs and jet-skis are fun, but limited in use. The AirScooter will provide a simple way for man to achieve th ... more

AERIAL footage of police helicopter operations are now available online. Western Counties Air Operations Unit, which flies a Eurocopter EC135 helicopter based at Filton, has decided to post the videos online to make the public more aware of the work it does. The site has so many hits on the day of its launch that the force's IT system couldn't cope. Inspector Nigel Tinslet-Such, from the Unit, said, "Mystery often surrounds what the he ... more

TWO one-day schools for would-be air racers will be held on 29 and 30 March at North Weald Airfield. The schools are a prelude to a season of eight weekends of racing from April to September, organised by the Royal Aero Club.Any pilot with at least 100 hours P1 is eligible to race. The races are time handicapped to allow a mixture of aircraft to compete on an equal basis, from basic club Cessna 152s up to more exotic planes such as a Siai M ... more

THE government has reneged on its promise to protect airfields in its new housing planning guidance policy.A document known as PPG3 published on 29 November has failed to take into consideration the huge response made by General Aviation last March when the guidelines were put out to consultation (LOOP, Mar 06)."Yet again the Government is saying one thing and doing another," said the General Aviation Awareness Council (GAAC) whic ... more

RECOGNITION FOR EUROCOPTER'S MOUNT EVEREST LANDINGEUROCOPTER has been awarded one of France's top aviation awards for landing a helicopter on the summit of Mount Everest. The Association Aéronautique et Astronautique de France (AAAF) awarded its 'Prix Réussite' to Eurocopter for setting a world altitude record by landing on 'top of the world' in an AS350 B3 helicopter on 14 May 2005. The AAAF's Prix Réussite has been awarded every year s ... more

SEAPLANE flights will start operating from the River Clyde in the centre of Glasgow from the New Year.Loch Lomond Seaplanes is Britain's first commercial flying boat service for more than 50 years. It will operate a Cessna Turbo Stationair T206 to the Scottish islands, including Arran, Bute, Oban and Tobermoray.The company was started by airline pilot David West three years ago, and has been successfully operating charter flights from Loch ... more

End of duty exemption threatens huge price rise for aviationPILOTS will have to pay more for Avgas and Jet A1 in the New Year because the EU says current tax exemptions on the fuels can no longer stay in place.It seems that even though avgas is already expensive at £1.30 a litre (compared to motor fuel at £0.87 a litre), we have been enjoying a lower rate of duty that was never intended to remain in place permanently.The EU Commission's d ... more