PIPISTREL UNVEILS PANTHERA
One of the major product announcements at Aero 2012 in Friedrichshafen is a fast. efficient four-place design from Slovenia. Pipistrel unveiled its Panthera and aims to take a slice of the high-speed cruiser market from Cirrus with an aircraft it says will cruise at 200 knots on 10 gallons an hour of unleaded gas for 1,000 nm with all the seats filled. The fully-equipped aircraft will sell for less than $500,000, well below the list price for a decked out SR22. "Panthera will shake the World of General Aviation, setting the benchmark for efficiency, cabin comfort and safety for others to follow," said Pipistrel CEO Ivo Boscarol. This is Pipistrel's first foray into the Part 91 world with a fully certified aircraft and there were some unique challenges in that process. More...

VIDEO: PIPISTREL PANTHERA REVEALED
Have you ever wondered how a new aircraft is born? At the Pipistrel factory, Tine Tomazic gave AVweb an exclusive look at the prototyping process for their much-anticipated new Panthera. More...

DIAMOND'S DA52 A CENTERPIECE
Even before the Aero opened on Wednesday, Diamond's new DA52 twin was drawing a lot of attention. During a pre-show press tour, Diamond's chief test pilot Ingmar Mayerbuch said on the flight into Friedrichshafen from Diamond's Wiener Nuestadt, Austria factory, the airplane burned only 60 liters of Jet A to fly about 260 miles. (For the metrically challenged, that's about 16.6 MPG and notable economy for any airplane, much less a twin.) The DA52 is powered by two 180-horsepower variants of the Austro AE300 diesel engines that Diamond's sister company, Austro AG, developed specifically for the airplane. More...

VIDEO: DIAMOND'S NEW V1 TWIN
At Aero 2012 in Friedrichschafen, Diamond is showing off two new twins, including the DA52 Austro-powered V1. With major work on drag reduction, improved engine performance, and lower weight, the V1 definitely has better performance over its predecessor, the DA42 NG. More...

AERO OPENS WITH BIG U.S. COMPONENT
As the 20th European Aero show opens on Wednesday, organizers were expecting a strong event thanks to rebounding economies and a number of new products and events. Aero Project Director Roland Bosch told AVweb on Tuesday that more than 500 exhibitors have registered for the show. Although that's down a little from last year, he said one reason is that 2012 marks the first year that Aero has been conducted as an annual event rather than a biennial event, which it had been in the past. Some manufacturers stick to a two-year schedule and thus aren't represented. What is represented, however, is more North American companies than ever, according to Luann Alesio, Aero's U.S. marketing representative. More...

VIDEO: AERO 2012 OPENS IN FRIEDRICHSHAFEN
As Aero Friedrichschafen begins its 20th year, it's becoming an increasingly important international trade show, and AVweb is there on the ground. Here's a video report on opening day of the show. More...

CREW REST ISSUES CITED IN PILOT-INDUCED TURBULENCE
A sleepy Air Canada first officer who was waking up from an approved cockpit nap initially mistook the planet Venus for a C-17 and is being cited for a wild ride that hurt 14 passengers and two flight attendants on a flight from Toronto to Zurich in January of 2011. Canada's Transportation Safety Board issued a report Monday that suggests pilot fatigue was behind the FO's decision to throw a Boeing 767-300 into a dive and send unbelted passengers and flight attendants to the ceiling. Seconds later, the flight's startled captain yanked back on the yoke and ensured an uncomfortable return trip for the affected people in the back. Most suffered bumps, bruises and lacerations from their unscheduled contact with aircraft fixtures. Everyone on the back side of the bulletproof door thought turbulence was to blame and some weren't happy to learn a year later that the turbulence was pilot-induced. "No one came on for an announcement and said, 'This is what happened, but everything's OK, or there might be some more turbulence up ahead,'" passenger Ashlyn O'Mara told CBC News. More...

WICHITA TORNADOES DAMAGE BOEING, AVIATION MUSEUM
Tornadoes that swept through Wichita, Kans., over the weekend damaged buildings belonging to Boeing and subcontractor Spirit AeroSystems, and several aircraft at the Kansas Aviation Museum were torn from their tiedowns. Spirit builds fuselages for Boeing 737s, and the production line could be slowed while the company recovers, according to the Wichita Eagle. "It will be a couple days before we have a good, solid plan," Spirit CEO Jeff Turner told the Eagle on Monday. Several hundred workers were in the building on Saturday night when the storms hit, but all were safe. At the museum, one airplane was wrecked -- a Vietnam-era Cessna O2-B Super Skymaster -- and three others were damaged. More...

REPORT: CIRRUS READY TO MOVE AHEAD WITH JET
Cirrus Aircraft has secured most of the financing it needs to move forward with development of its single-engine personal jet, with production expected to start in Duluth, Minn., in 2015, the Minnesota Star-Tribune reported on Tuesday. Cirrus CEO Dale Klapmeier declined to tell the Star-Tribune just how much cash had been secured from new owners CAIGA (China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co.), but said it will cover most of the projected development cost, which has previously been estimated at $150 million. "It has been a struggle to keep this program moving forward," Klapmeier told the Star-Tribune. "It has been a struggle just to survive." Cirrus had said last week that it would reveal a major announcement at the Aero Friedrichshafen show in Germany on Wednesday. More...

HAWKER RELEASES 2011 SALES DATA
When the General Aviation Manufacturers Association published its annual summary of sales data in February, it came with an unusual omission -- Hawker Beechcraft was not ready to release its fourth-quarter numbers. On Tuesday, GAMA published an update (PDF) with the Hawker data included, but it resulted in minimal change to the overall report. In February, the available numbers showed a 3.5 percent drop in total shipments compared to 2010. Now, with the added data from Hawker, the 3.5 percent drop remains unchanged. Hawker said it delivered 198 aircraft during the year. In 2010, Hawker delivered 214 aircraft. Adding Hawker's numbers did, however, affect the total billings trend for the year. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: A DOZEN SPITFIRES IN FACTORY CRATES? A DREAM FIND
The weekend's news brought a report that a British farmer named David Cundall has discovered a squadron of Mark XIV Supermarine Spitfires buried in their factory crates as surplus at the end of World War II. If the story has legs, it will be the historical aircraft find of the century. On the AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli asks the question on everyone's mind: "Whattya figure those things will be worth?" Read more and join the conversation. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: IS THE FLYING CAR OUR MOONSHOT?
Should a practical flying car be the next moonshot? After all, cars that fly have held perennial fascination for both pilots and drivers for decades. Mary Grady examines the idea on the AVweb Insider blog. Read more and join the conversation. More...

WHO'S WHERE? YOU TELL US
Get a promotion or a new job? Your colleagues want to know about it, and AVwebBiz can get the word out. Drop us a line about the staff appointment, with a nice recent photo, and we'll do our best to include it in our new section, "Who's Where." The items will be permanently archived on AVweb for future reference, too. More...

AVWEB'S NEWSTIPS ADDRESS ...
Our best stories start with you. If you've heard something 255,000 pilots might want to know about, tell us. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. What have you heard? More...

MEET THE AVWEBBIZ TEAM

AVwebBiz is a weekly summary of the latest business aviation news, articles, products, features, and events featured on AVweb, the world's premier independent aviation news resource.

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Paul Bertorelli

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Glenn Pew

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