The World of Aviation

Cessna’s updated Citation X has been officially validated as having the fastest maximum operating speed of any civilian aircraft currently flying, reclaiming the title from Gulfstream’s G650. The Citation X regained its position following the conclusion of high-speed certification flights with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which recorded a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.935 (536kt

After taking delivery of the 200th GippsAero GA8 Airvan, Hawker Pacific has begun a regional demonstration tour of the aircraft across the ASEAN region. Starting in Singapore last week, Hawker Pacific will showcase the GA8 in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and IndoChina. It is hoped the aircraft will appeal to the region’s tourism, utility and private markets.

Ballina Byron airport has commissioned Airservices to introduce RNAV (RNP)-AR terminal instrument flight procedures – or Smart Tracking. Airservices is developing new arrival flightpaths for both Runway 06 and Runway 24 at the regional airport, which has experienced rapid high-capacity traffic growth with the introduction of services by Jetstar and Virgin Australia. The new flightpaths

Traffic figures for September released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) show continued robust growth in demand, but persistently soft air cargo market conditions. During the month, the region’s airlines recorded a solid 8.2 per cent growth in the number of international passengers carried to a total of 18.0 million compared to the

  F-35A test aircraft AF-6 has launched a AIM-120 missile against an aerial target drone, the first live-five launch of an air-to-air missile for the Joint Strike Fighter program. AF-6 was piloted by Capt Logan Lamping and took off from Edwards Air Force Base, with the live fire taking place in an over-water test range.

The latest variant of Northrop Grumman’s Fire Scout unmanned helicopter, the MQ-8C, has made its first flight, with a short seven minute hop from Point Mugu in California. The MQ-8C takes the mission systems and sensors developed for the MQ-8B Fire Scout and fits it to a larger airframe based on Bell’s 407 helicopter, which