Aviator Awarded $188,000

A federal whistleblower investigation has vindicated an aviator wrongfully fired for refusing to fly under circumstances he deemed dangerous and contrary to federal aviation regulation. The pilot filed a grievance with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) after his employer, Metro Aviation LLC of Shreveport, Louisiana, forced him to choose between resigning, retiring, or being involuntarily terminated after he twice refused to operate a helicopter in low-visibility conditions.

Not Much To Say, NTSB Ignores The Many Questionable Actions Undertaken by Pilots

Last April's ill-advised TV stunt, under the PR guise of a Red Bull event, embarrassed the GA world to the extreme... and now the NTSB has had a few things to say about it... a very few things to say. Mind you, the characters who put this stunt together broke a number of regs and were less than honest about the authorizations they claimed to have... but the NTSB has simply stuck to the facts and looked only into the aerodynamic issues involved in this aero-embarrassment. However; the FAA has had more (and will still, we understand) to say about the issue.

Also: $10-Million eVTOL Deposit, Clay Lacy Expands, VNY Runway Reopens, Artemis Launch Date

The CT-114 Tutor aircraft flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force’s Snowbirds flight demonstration squadron have been ordered grounded until a deliberate, detailed, and broad airworthiness risk-assessment can be completed. The move was ordered by the Operational Airworthiness Authority for the RCAF, Maj. Gen. Iain Huddleston. AEA represents nearly 1,300 member companies in more than forty countries. Their Avionics Market Report for 2022’s second-quarter showed an 11.7% increase in avionics sales over the previous quarter, and a 19.9% increase over the same period in 2021. AEA president and CEO Mike Adamson states: "It is encouraging to see sales continue to climb, up nearly 16% compared to the first six months of 2021..." Paul Allen was many things: an entrepreneur; a tech mogul; the owner of the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers; a phi

Also: Flight Design Update, F/A-18E/F SLM, Flight Delays Worsen, SWA Attdt Hurt by Hard Ldg

In all the hub-bub of readying for Oshkosh, we missed the chance to publish our first impressions of a recent flight test series using the TL Sport Aircraft TL 3000 Sirius... A slick high-wing tractor tri-gear produced by a Czech company, TL Ultralight. Using a variety of 912 and 914 series engines for power (with the 915 not far away), the 112-136 mph Sirius was a machine that, for some reason, we had overlooked to this point... to our regret now that ANN Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell, has flown the bird -- and liked it-- a lot. Boeing has made public the results of its much-anticipated Pilot and Technician Outlook (PTO)—a work that peers twenty-years into the future of the aerospace industry and portends what profits or perils lie therein. Happily, Boeing’s forecast calls for tremendous growth throughout the commercial aviation sector. Between

Also: Astronaut Training, Taiwan Pilot Shortage, I Hart Flying, USAF and Aptima

Thrust Flight has earned FAA Examining Authority over the Commercial Single-Engine Land facet of its Part 141-approved training curriculum. Examining Authority enables designated academy personnel to perform check-rides for enrolled students pursuing Commercial Pilot Certification. The U.S. is in the midst of a nationwide shortage of Designated Pilot Examiners—pilots authorized by the FAA to perform check-rides in the stead of FAA examiners. Delta is among the world’s oldest, largest, and most profitable airlines. Delta's Propel program transforms baggage-handlers and ticket-agents into airline pilots. Viewed through a more refined lens, the program—which was founded in 2018—allows Delta personnel who hold Private Pilot Certificates and have been in the carrier’s employ for more than three-years to undergo a screening process and—if

"Bill Gives Aviation Fuel More Favorable Treatment Without Having To Demonstrate Improved Environmental Benefits"

Not everyone is enamored of recent lawmaking pushing the SAF agenda for the aviation community... though the aviation world seemed to have embraced it all while ignoring the potential damage the rest of the bill may inflict on US Taxpayers and citizens. NATSO, representing America's truckstops and travel plazas, and SIGMA: America's Leading Fuel Marketers, issued the following statement regarding passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Also: NTSB Updates Definition, Masten Space Systems, Artemis Payload, Schiebel’s Camcopter S-100

VerdeGo Aero, the Daytona Beach-based manufacturer of hybrid-electric aerospace power-plants, has succeeded in raising $12-million in a Series “A” funding campaign spearheaded by RTX Ventures (Raytheon Technologies). The monies will finance the expansion of VerdeGo’s operation and accelerate the development of emergent hybrid-propulsion technologies. Founded in 2017 by the grandson of Charles Lindbergh—yes, THAT Charles Lindbergh—VerdeGo initially set out to develop its own line of eVTOL aircraft. In 2018, however, the company executed a decisive pivot, shifting its objective from aircraft-maker to hybrid-propulsion pioneer. Skylift, the U.K.-based maker of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) founded by a pilot, a sailor, and software developer, is making ready to demonstrate the ability of its drones to deliver prescri

Also: Astronaut Training, F-15 at 50, Canadian ADS-B Mandate, Thrust Flight

The Annual Oshkosh “Meet the Boss” event was one of the most sparsely attended editions we’ve seen to date… seemingly due to the fact that word was out that the FAA had disappointing news… and they did. What everyone wanted to hear, was positive news about MOSAIC… a program that would determine the future of light aircraft. A working version, if not the NPRM itself, was previously promised for this year but due to the politics of separating the program into segments that set unmanned aircraft and autonomous vehicles apart from the pseudo-LSA sport aircraft community, it needed revision. SportairUSA, the Arkansas-based FAA certified Repair Station and aircraft and components distributor, has announced that the American version of Zlin’s new Savage Norden STOL aircraft has received FAA approval in the category of Special Light Sp

Multi-Orbit Connectivity to Benefit Airlines and Air Travelers

OneWeb—the London-based, Airbus affiliated provider of satellite Internet and communications services—has signed a global distribution partnership agreement with Intelsat—the Luxembourg-based satellite services concern. The deal enables Intelsat to distribute both its own geo-stationary (GEO), and OneWeb’s low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite services to airlines worldwide. The resultant multi-orbit satellite constellation promises to eliminate the oceanic and polar gaps, and major-terminal/hub capacity limitations by which extant Inflight Connectivity (IFC) services are afflicted.

Schiebel CAMCOPTER S-100 Again Proves Capable SAR Platform

Bristow Helicopters Limited—the British civil helicopter operator and subsidiary of the U.S.-based Bristow Group—has been awarded a ten-year contract by the UK Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) to support the Second-Generation Search and Rescue (UKSAR2G) program. Subject program tasks Her Majesty’s Coast Guard, and civilian contractors with the establishment and maintenance of a 24-hour maritime and coastal search and rescue (SAR) emergency response service throughout the UK. The new contract expands upon Bristow’s extant search and rescue partnership with Her Majesty’s Coast Guard, and includes the operational deployment of Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER S-100 Unmanned Air System (UAS)—a relatively large, all-weather, day-and-night, unmanned rotorcraft in broad use with worldwide civilian and military operators.