Also: Australia’s SOAR Aviation, New Tower At Sarasota FL, GA-ASI Guardian, AEGEAN Airlines A320neo Order

The PC-24 has made its first landing on an unpaved runway as the aircraft undergoes a program of post-certification tests with special emphasis on unpaved runway operations. Pilatus plans on obtaining “Rough Field” certification in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Woodbridge Airfield to the north east of London offers optimum test conditions. Pilatus spent two weeks there testing the PC-24’s landing and take-off capabilities on the airfield’s unpaved runway for the first time. Aircraft departures at KSMO have been steadily declining in the five months since the city disastrously shortened the airport's runway. The most recent data shows departures fell from 3,057 in May, 2017 to 2,417 in May 2018 ... a 14 percent drop when compared to the two-year average. The fall in the number of jet departures was even more dramatic. There were only 136 jet departures from KSMO last month, an 83 percent drop against the two-year average. Jet noise was the primary reason that the city wanted the shorter runway. Cessna has announced the end of production of the Citation X Plus business jet, which for two decades was the company's biggest and fastest model. "The Citation X platform has a storied heritage within the Citation brand and has become a beloved aircraft by operators and passengers alike as the fastest civilian aircraft in the world," Textron said. "With the upcoming entry into service of the Citation Longitude, we are taking the opportunity to minimize overlap within this customer segment and discontinuing production of the Citation X+." All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne!!!

Airborne 06.29.18 is chock full of info in this Daily News Episode, Friday, June 29th, 2018... Presented by Aero-TV veteran videographer and Airborne Hosts Brianne Cross, Christopher Odom, and Laura Hutson, and is supported by ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell, Chief Videographer Nathan Cremisino, and Aero-Journalist Tom Patton, this episode covers:

• First Landing On An Unpaved Runway For The PC-24 
• Traffic At KSMO Continues To Decline 
• Cessna Shelves Another Airplane
• Australia’s SOAR Aviation Boost Training Fleet With Tecnam 
• FAA Commissions New Tower At Sarasota, FL Airport 
• GA-ASI Guardian Concludes Demonstration Flights In Japan
• AEGEAN Airlines Firms Up Order For 30 A320neo Family Aircraft 

Get Comprehensive, Real-Time, 24/7 coverage of the latest aviation and aerospace stories anytime, at aero-news.net. And be sure to join us again for the next edition of "Airborne Unlimited" here on Aero-TV. Thanks for watching. See you, again, tomorrow!

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