Top 10 General Aviation Stories Of The Year

Here are the blockbuster aviation stories of a remarkable 2018 for GA.

Plane & Pilot

Tuesday, December 18, 2018 at 05:08 AM ET

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Plane flies by control tower.

Key Takeaways:

2018 was a mixed year for aviation, marked by significant challenges such as the looming ADS-B deadline, high FBO fees, the closure of Santa Monica Airport, and complex drone integration issues, though attempts to privatize ATC were successfully resisted.
Despite these hurdles, the year saw major triumphs, including the Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet winning the Collier Trophy, the widespread adoption of affordable digital retrofit avionics, and general aviation achieving its safest year ever.
The aviation industry also experienced a massive pilot hiring boom due to demographic shifts, while new technologies like electric and autonomous aircraft ("Ubers of the Skies") signaled potential future directions.

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2. Cirrus Jet Wins Collier

Cirrus Aircraft SF50 Vision Jet, photographed on March 27, 2017 from Wolfe Air Cessna O-337.

It’s not often that general aviation gets a big win, but in April Cirrus Aircraft took home aviation’s highest honor when it was awarded the 2017 Collier Trophy for its groundbreaking SF50 Vision Jet. Competing against a field of nine aircraft and spacecraft, including the favorite for the prize, the Boeing 737 MAX, and several other noteworthy nominees, the Vision Jet became the first light aircraft to take home the prize since 2005, when the Eclipse 500 twinjet won the honors. Cirrus delivered the SF50 in December of 2016 and has by now delivered almost 100 of the jets and has orders for hundreds more.

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