The Weekly of Business Aviation, January 15, 2018

What does it take in 2018 to make a quadcopter stand out as an aircraft worth writing about?...More

The second P2012 Traveller aircraft has achieved first flight, Tecnam says....More

Business aircraft activity in North America rose 2% in December from a year ago, down from a forecasted 5.6% increase, Argus International says....More

View the December 2017 Business Aircraft Activity In the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean chart in PDF format....More

Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu predicts a modest comeback for business jet deliveries in 2018....More

European business aircraft activity declined 1% in December compared to a year ago, WingX Advance says....More

TruAtlantic already was reporting to Summit Aviation, another Greenwich subsidiary....More

Textron is stretching an ongoing corporate restructuring to include consolidation within the Bell, Textron Systems and Industrial segments....More

Shareholder approval came despite significant concerns voiced over the proposed acquisition by leading aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing, as well as by some investors....More

Piper Aircraft, based in Vero Beach, Florida, has received FAA certification for the G1000 NXi integrated flight deck for the Piper M500 single-engine turboprop and the M350 pressurized, single-engine piston aircraft....More

Two former executives of Italian aerospace and defense firm Leonardo have been acquitted in a corruption case....More

Global aviation aftermarket services provider AAR on Jan. 18 said Chairman and CEO David Storch will retire as chief executive, effective May 31, and that President and Chief Operating Officer  John Holmes will become CEO the next day. Storch hands over the reins after a lifetime career at AAR, especially after helping to build its presence in the increasingly popular aftermarket market in recent years, including high-profile contract awards....More

In a further step toward making the takeover of Zodiac Aerospace a reality, Safran has appointed Hélène Moreau-Leroy director of the Zodiac integration project, the Paris-based company announced Jan. 8....More

Dassault Aviation’s order and delivery numbers for 2017 indicate Falcon business jet sales have stopped sliding....More

Dan takes over the FAA on an acting basis as the agency faces a March 31 congressional reauthorization deadline....More

London Biggin Hill has set goals for the airport which include the creation of 2,300 new jobs in the next two years and a total of 3,000 new jobs by 2031....More

Boeing HorizonX, which the airframer set up to pursue potentially disruptive ideas inside as well as outside the company, has flown a prototype electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) unmanned cargo aircraft. The eight-rotor cargo air vehicle (CAV), which can carry a payload of up to 500 lb., was designed and built in less than three months by a cross-company team. The prototype has completed initial flight tests at Boeing Research & Technology’s (BR&T) Collaborative Autonomous Systems Laboratory in St Louis....More

In collaboration with ride-hailing giant Uber, Bell Helicopter is developing an air taxi....More

West Star Aviation has finalized a service center agreement with Embraer Executive Jets for its Chattanooga, Tennessee, location....More

The United States Aircraft Insurance Group (USAIG) is celebrating 90 years as an insurance provider to the aviation and aerospace industries....More

JetNet is introducing a new service called Aircraft Flight Activity/Utilization Program....More

Argus International has launched a Flight Department Best Practices Assessment for business aviation flight departments looking to enhance safety practices with a globally recognized set of best practices....More

Textron Aviation has received an order from Aerolineas Ejecutivas for three Cessna Citation Latitude midsize jets....More

PWI, based in Wichita, has forged a new distribution partnership with Aerospace Products (API)....More

Duncan Aviation has increased the size of its pool of rental turbine engines by 33% to meet increased customer demand....More

C&L Aviation Group has purchased two ATR72-212 aircraft to be parted out at its Bangor, Maine, headquarters in order to make parts available for sale or exchange to ATR operators....More

Duncan Aviation has developed three new supplemental type certificates to meet mandates for Embraer Legacy aircraft, it said....More

Caleb Gillaspie has been promoted to assistant chief pilot at Executive AirShare....More

Jan. 24, 2018—NBAA Regional Forum, Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), West Palm Beach, Florida, www.nbaa.org...More