The first quarter of 2013 was mixed for used business aircraft sales, according to the latest market update report from Amstat (Booth 931), although the good news is that inventories of used aircraft continue to drop from the 2009 highs.
Aircraft engines
May 9, 2013 - 3:35pm
The Tech 800 core engine demonstrator made its first run last month at Turbomeca’s Bordes, France headquarters, the company announced last week. A high-pressure spool for the 1,100-shp engine class, the Tech 800 is a precursor to the engine manufacturer’s TM800 Arrano. The Arrano turboshaft will power the Eurocopter X4 medium twin, a Dauphin successor planned for 2017.
April 25, 2013 - 3:31pm
Diamond Aircraft is exhibiting a mockup of a DA50 single with a 450-shp Motor Sich-Ivchenko AI450S turboprop engine this week at Aero Friedrichshafen 2013 in Germany. This engine would improve the performance of the seven-seat airplane, which was announced in 2006 with a 275-hp diesel engine as the DA50 SuperStar. Since then the SuperStar’s development stalled and it has yet to be certified, even though this milestone was originally planned for mid-2010.
March 27, 2013 - 1:20pm
Raisbeck/Hartzell swept-blade “turbofan propellers” entered service this month on a King Air B200. This aircraft is also the first installation of the Epic Platinum Performance Package with the new swept-blade props.
March 6, 2013 - 5:50pm
Airborne Engines (Booth No. N5804), a subsidiary of M International, used Heli-Expo ’13 as the venue for signing a memorandum of understanding with Rolls-Royce to become an authorized maintenance center (AMC) for the M250 engine line. M International’s Airborne Engines, a supplier of aftermarket technical, MRO and supply-chain management services, will perform the M250 maintenance at its 32,000-sq-ft facility in Delta, British Columbia (Canada).
March 6, 2013 - 9:15am
The FAA has adopted a new airworthiness directive, effective March 26, for certain serial number Pratt & Whitney Canada PW206B/B2/C and PW207C/D/D1/D2/E turboshaft engines. The AD was prompted by the discovery that certain power turbine (PT) disks were made to heat codes that may not achieve the maximum in-service life. This AD requires re-identification of the PT disk to a part number (P/N) with a lower life limit.
January 2, 2013 - 5:10am
Turboprop-engine manufacturers continue to develop technologies in anticipation of future demand for new or derivative regional airliners designed to carry approximately 90 passengers, a step up from contemporary aircraft offering around 70 seats. By January 1, Pratt & Whitney Canada hoped to have completed the first phase of a next-generation regional turboprop (NGRT) demonstration program intended to validate characteristics for a main centrifugal compressor. Meanwhile, U.S.
November 13, 2012 - 8:53am
China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co., Ltd. (Caiga) has chose GE Aviation’s new H85 turboprop engine to power its new Primus 150 aircraft. Set to be the first purpose-built executive single-engine turboprop built in China, the Primus 150 is a pressurized five-seater with an all-composite carbon-fiber airframe.
October 31, 2012 - 10:50am
Smyrna Air Center, a full-service FBO based at Smyrna/Rutherford County Airport near Nashville, Tenn., is showcasing its new GE H80 engine conversion option here at NBAA’12. While Smyrna (Booth No.
August 17, 2012 - 10:42am
Boeing reported the first flight of the X-48C blended wing body (BWB) research aircraft at Edwards AFB on August 7. The unmanned 8.5-percent scale model reached 5,500 feet during a nine-minute flight. A week later, however, the company’s third X-51 Waverider hypersonic testbed flight ended in failure when its scramjet failed to ignite.
