Matt Thurber
Editor-in-Chief
Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.
Latest from Matt Thurber
In The Works: Aviation Technology Group Javelin
ATG’s Javelin, a sporty contender in the VLJ market with its two engines and military-looking canted vertical stabilizers, will need the FAA to grant speci
In The Works: Eclipse Aviation Model 500
Delivery of the first Eclipse 500 very light jet happened on either Dec.
In The Works: Quest Aircraft Kodiak
While Quest Aircraft’s brawny high-wing all-metal utility turboprop didn’t achieve FAA certification by the end of last year as the company had hoped, the
In the Works:Hawker Beechcraft Hawker 4000 on Horizon
One month after the Hawker 4000 won FAA certification on November 21, Raytheon announced that it agreed to sell Raytheon Aircraft to Onex Partners and GS C
Training and Workforce
MU-2 training changes ahead
The FAA received a fair number of comprehensive comments during the 30-day comment period for the proposed special regulations (SFAR) that will mandate typ
Congressman Tom Tancredo wages lengthy battle urging the FAA to ground the Mitsubishi MU-2
A spate of crashes that led the FAA to propose mandatory pilot training requirements for the Mitsubishi MU-2 galvanized Rep.
Michimasa Fujino: father of the HondaJet
Twenty years after beginning a quest to develop a jet, Michimasa Fujino stood proudly at the Honda display during last year’s NBAA Convention as Honda Moto
Pratt & Whitney team brings PW600 series to three light jets
Building a new engine is a huge gamble, but if the timing is right the payoff can be enormous.
Cessna’s Citation Mustang team certifies and delivers VLJ on schedule
Announced at the 2002 NBAA Convention, the recently certified Citation Mustang is cementing Cessna’s reputation as an on-time, as-promised manufacturer.
Aircraft
2007 looks bright for makers of entry-level bizjets
For this year’s look in the crystal ball, AIN added a number of aircraft to the list to reflect ongoing programs more accurately.
Design changes continue on Eclipse 500
Eclipse Aviation has further refined the Model 500 very light jet’s design to reach performance goals, according to a customer technical communication sent
Aircraft
Mustang approved for full-scale production
Cessna received the FAA production certificate for its new Citation Mustang very light jet on November 22, two-and-a-half months after type certification o
Safety
Big-iron pilots flood corporate market
Pilots of large-cabin jets who work as independent contractors complain that former airline pilots and young pilots willing to work for much less are under
Aircraft
Flying the HondaJet simulator
Honda engineers built a non-motion simulator–the Honda Nonlinear Aerodynamics Flight Simulator–for test-pilot training and to evaluate the flight character
Aircraft
Honda reveals new details about the cabin of its jet
During a briefing held on November 20, Honda Aircraft president Michimasa Fujino showed off the extensive research and testing that the Honda team has acco
FBOs
No night fueling on Dublin ramp
ExxonMobil Aviation is no longer providing fuel services on the Bravo ramp at Ireland’s Dublin Airport.
FBOs
Monaco Air Duluth anniversary
Monaco Air Duluth, the sole full-service FBO at Duluth International Airport, celebrated its one-year anniversary on November 2.
FBOs
New runway opens at Logan
Runway 14/32 opened in late November at Boston Logan International Airport.
FBOs
Hawthorne Resurrected
If pilots flying into Hawthorne Municipal Airport/Jack Northrop Field on the morning of November 22 wondered why the airport was closed for an hour-and-a-h
FBOs
ASD operating at Ottowa
Air traffic controllers at Canada’s Ottawa International Airport can now “see” traffic on the airport surface in the southwest area of the airport using a
FBOs
Burrows breaks ground at SBM
Burrows Aviation is building a new FBO at Sheboygan County Memorial Airport (SBM) in Wisconsin.
Regulations and Government
The aircraft certification process
You are sitting in a diner, sipping your fourth cup of coffee, solving aviation’s problems with an old friend, when the idea comes to you in a caffeinated
FBOs
Another FBO chain abuilding
JetDirect Aviation is planning a new national FBO chain, backed by Philadelphia private-equity firms CD Ventures and Argosy Capital.
FBOs
Passur signs Avitats
ExxonMobil’s Avitat FBO network has adopted Megadata’s Passur FBO software suite to help track and serve Avitat customers.
FBOs
Company targets the midsize market
The strategy for large FBO chains backed by big private equity funds is to buy FBOs in wealthy destination markets, either major metropolitan areas with lo
FBOs
IAM Jet Montego Bay facility operational soon
IAM Jet Centre’s second Caribbean FBO, at Sangster International Airport, Montego Bay, Jamaica, will open on December 15.
FBOs
…while franchise plans to add more bases
The Million Air FBO franchise has reached 35 bases, with the addition of nine new facilities in the past 12 months, one of which, in Paris, is the chain’s
