Australian Aviation

Captain Doug Whitbourn, an ERJ-135 pilot with Brisbane-based JETGO, has retired after a distinguished career spanning 54 years. Captain Whitbourn flew his final flight, JG6 from the Osborne Mine to Brisbane on February 14, and was fittingly given a water cannon salute by two ARFF fire trucks on his arrival. This content is available exclusively

The founding commanding officer of the RAAF’s Roulettes display team, SQNLDR (ret) Philip Dunn died in Canberra on February 17, aged 79 . SQNLDR Dunn was the Roulettes’ first commanding officer after the team was established and flew its first display at Point Cook in December 1970, and had previously flown with the RAF’s renowned Red Arrows

Aeromil Pacific will bring a new Cessna Citation Sovereign+ to Australia for a demonstration tour in March. The new Sovereign+ features the Garmin G5000 avionics suite in a redesigned flight deck, the Cessna Clairity cabin management system, new blended winglets giving greater climb performance and range, and a new increased warranty. This content is available

A new infra-red search and track (IRST) system for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet has commenced flight trials in the US. The system, designed by Lockheed Martin and developed from the IRST used on the F-14D Tomcat, has been adapted to fit in the front half of a Super Hornet centreline auxiliary fuel tank. The sensor allows

Cessna has announced its new Citation Latitude mid-size business jet successfully completed its first flight at the company’s Wichita facility on February 18. The the prototype of the nine passenger Latitude reached an altitude of 28,000 feet and airspeed of Mach 0.6 during the flight, and tested the flaps, landing gear, pressurisation systems, anti-ice capabilities,

Commercial heavylift helicopter company Columbia Helicopters has bought three former US Army CH-47D Chinooks to add to its fleet. Columbia already operates six commercial Model 234 Chinooks and 14 Vertol 107-11s (the commercial version of the military CH-46), and the company owns the FAA type certificate and production certificates for both types. This content is