Also: Midnight eVTOL Certification, Falcon 9 Record, Pro Line Fusion, Europa Clipper

The warbird community celebrated Mark Novak, Chief Pilot of their B-29 'Doc', and his accomplishment of racking up 500 hours in the vintage bomber. On top of that, Novak built up more than 300 hours of time flying the other B-29 'Fifi', making him the modern era's most experienced B-29 pilot. The Airspace Center for Excellence has been given the blessing to begin operating Lakeland Linder International Airport's first concessions store, riding on the tail of new commercial service by Avelo Airlines. Evidently, there weren't too many bidders for the opportunity, with most in the area eschewing what they believed is a non-starter. The approving body came by way of Lakeland commissioners, who voted unanimously to approve the Center's lease agreement. If you've been looking for exciting aviation oriented programming, a new reality series just MAY do the trick. P

Also: NATA CEO In Legal Dilemma, WestJet Encore Settle, Drone Bill H.R. 8416, USN Jet Trainer 

GAMA released their 1Q/24 GA Aircraft Shipment and Billing Report -- with mostly mixed news. The results for the first three months of 2024 when compared to the same period in 2023, show deliveries were flat for piston airplanes and piston helicopters, decreased for turboprops and turbine helicopters, and increased for business jets. Total aircraft billings were up 3.2% at $4.7 billion. Czech sportplane manufacturer Direct Fly has finished delivering its 200th ALTO NG, the latest iteration of their 600-kg sportplane. The Alto was previously offered as the Alto 912 TG model, sporting some light tweaks and changes for improved stiffness and durability. One such modification added additional engine space up front, shifting the weight a tad to prevent the TG's habit of tail standing when disembarking. The newer ones also make full use of the 15-kg

Klyde Is Most Definitely Not 'Woke'

FMI: www.klydemorris.com

Funky SAF Alternative Gets Vote of Confidence from Swiss Manufacturer

Pilatus and Synhelion have announced a partnership aimed at scaling up the use of solar fuels in aviation. Pilatus will lead by example, using Synhelion's fuels in its own operations, and offer them to customers in similar fashion. To that end, Pilatus even became a shareholder in Synhelion, a brand spun off of ETH Zurich in 2016. Synhelion is tackling the fuel issue from a different direction, building an "industrial solar fuel production plant" in Germany as a pilot plant, with a commercial one planned for Spain in 2025. They're understandably cagey about the specifics, given the amount of money spent researching the process, but the basic system coalesces solar rays on a single point to leverage that heat to catalyze water and C02 into something that passes for pure fuels. 

Also: VA Scholarships, Certification Standards, 'Staff the Towers', Women in Aviation Advisory

In partnership with Revv Aviation and the Eastern Iowa Airport (CID), Coe College is opening a new flight school and aviation management program. Those interested in becoming a professional pilot can complete their certification while enrolled as students within Coe's new aviation management concentration. Just as they got themselves a new contract, things spiraled out of control as the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots claimed, "Managers use intimidation, aggressive interrogation tactics to silence the Union's voice." Scarcely a few weeks passed since the parties sat down at the bargaining table and inked a 5-year pilot contract, something all expected would put the very acrimonious relationship on the back burner until time for negotiations arose anew. Stratus Financial and Wayman Aviation Academy have joined forces to deliver customized fin

Easy Online Forms Available For Sport Plane Manufacturers And Suppliers To Be Listed In The Upcoming eSPRG

Work on the SportPlane Resource Guide is going well… Albeit a little bit behind schedule, because as we got into this process, things became a bit more complicated simply because we learned we could do an even better job at certain aspects of this project than we thought from the beginning. They say that the enemy of true quality is the phrase "good enough" and we want to be far more than “good enough.” FMI: www.sportplane.com, Online eSPRG Vendor Survey Form, Online eSPRG Sp

With The eSPRG Only Weeks Away From Its Start Date, A-AF Will Help To Support Sport Flyers, Worldwide

With the all-new and all-digital SportPlane Resource Guide getting ready for publication early next year, the Aero-News Network is pleased to announce yet another addition to the Airborne video news programming roster… Airborne-Affordable Flyers. Dedicated to keeping people up-to-date on the most affordable aspects of sport and general aviation, Airborne-Affordable Flyers is one of our most exciting offerings yet. A-AF will delve into more than just the current LSA community, but look at all aspects of aviation to examine and evaluate the most enjoyable, and most affordable, solutions to flying, operating, and owning aircraft in the 21st century.

From 2016 (YouTube Version): A VW Bug Engine Conversion Has Matured Into an Engine for the Airplane Homebuilder…

While at EAA AirVenture 2016, ANN News Editor, Tom Patton, visited with the folks at RevMaster and talked with Ralph Maloof, who is an aeronautical engineer and inventor. The first thing we find out in this interview is that the RevMaster engine is based on the Volkswagen Bug engine, but it is not simply a Volkswagen engine with slight modifications to make it fit in an airplane. Maloof says it has been modified to the point that it is really designed for aircraft use, not for automobile use.

Large Heavy-Duty Deer Feed Bag Obstructed The Radiator Inlet And Restricted Its Designed Cooling Capability

Analysis: Before departing on the local area flight in the experimental powered parachute, the pilot installed a large heavy-duty deer feed bag that partially covered the radiator. He was concerned that the experimental engine would run “too cold” during the flight unless the radiator was partially covered.The powered parachute was flying about 400 ft above ground level when the pilot noticed that the engine overheat light illuminated. The pilot decided to continue flying. 

BIG Upgrades In The Works --- ANN Is Seeking EXCEPTIONAL New Staffers

The last few years have been about as challenging a time as we can recall... but we survive (yeah, we're kinda surprised, too) and look forward to 2023 and what we see as a very rewarding (and yes, still challenging) new generation of activities at ANN. After some truly weird times during the pandemic, ANN continues to expand slowly, but surely, and we have some truly intriguing upgrades coming up over the next few months. In other words, we're about to grow again -- REALLY/TRULY -- and in some novel directions. The much-appreciated expansion of "AIRBORNE UNLIMITED", the incredible potential of the all-new digital edition of the