CANADIAN FRACTIONAL aircraft ownership company AirSprint Inc took delivery of its fifth Embraer EMB550 Legacy 450 medium-cabin business jet on September 5, 2018.

A SINGLE H135 helicopter was delivered to the Heath Commission of Qingdao in China's Shandong Province, Airbus Helicopters announced on September 28, 2018.

TOLL AVIATION announced on September 24, 2018, that its Aeromedical Crewing Excellence (ACE) Training Centre in Sydney has now received Australian Civil Aviation Authority (CASA) Part 141 and 142 Approvals.

GULFSTREAM ANNOUNCED on October 1, 2018, that it has formally acquired the Nordam Group Inc's G500 and G600 Nacelle manufacturing facility, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

IN A ceremony at the company's headquarters in Savannah, Georgia, on September 27, 2018, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation delivered the first G500 business jet to a customer.

Virgin Atlantic Airways Boeing 747-743 G-VROM (c/n 32339) recently conducted the first commercial jet flight using fuel produced using recycled waste carbon gases.

AIRBUS HELICOPTERS announced further successes for its H145 helicopter in September 2018, with orders from Aramco Overseas Company and the Philippine Coast Guard for a total of six aircraft.

A new Multi-Function Computer has been introduced for ATR turboprops.

UNITED STATES-based start­up company Zunum Aero is developing a hybrid-electric commuter passenger aircraft. The Zunum ZA10 will be a 12-seat aircraft with 700 miles (1,126km) range, designed to offer low operating costs and "unprecedented door-to-door travel times that are two to four times faster than today". The ZA10 will have two power sources: propulsion batteries and an engine. Early in October 2018, Zunum announced it had selected Safran to provide a new 1,700 - 2,000shp (1,267 - 1,491kW) powerplant from the company’s Ardiden engine range called the Ardiden 3Z. This engine will be coupled to an electric generator to supplement the battery packs. Zunum claims the ZA10 "will deliver breakthrough operating costs of 8C per available seat mile or $250 per hour for the aircraft, which is 60-80% lower than conventional aircraft of comparable size". It says the ZA10 aircraft is designed to cruise and land on turbo-generator power alone, offering full redundancy. The first delivery is planned for the early 2020s.