Hidden Costs of Musk’s Twitter Acquisition

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed the levying of a $175,000 civil penalty against Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) for the company’s alleged failure to submit launch collision analysis trajectory data directly to the FAA prior to the 19 August 2022 launch of the Starlink Group 4-27 mission.

Thou Shalt Not Conspire to Steal Trade Secrets

The third defendant accused by U.S. prosecutors of taking part in a conspiracy to illegally appropriate proprietary information from American aircraft manufacturers has been found guilty by a U.S. District Court. Following a three-day trial in Georgia’s Southern District, Joseph Pascua, 60, of Escondido, California, was found guilty of Conspiracy to Steal Trade Secrets.

MSC Tower Staff Falls to Unsafe Level

Owing to ATC staffing shortfalls and abject incompetence, the 2023 Copperstate Fly-In has been postponed from March to October. Sarah Andrews, Executive Director for the Copperstate Fly-In, explains the conundrum in a letter to event stakeholders ...

A Very Good Year Indeed

On 20 February 2023, the AEA released its 2022 Year-End Avionics Market Report. Total worldwide business and general aviation avionics sales for the year amounted to more than $2.8-billion ($2,877,281,308.00) as reported by those companies participating in the reporting process. The aforementioned dollar amount represents a 21.5% increase in total year-end sales compared to 2021—the largest annual percentage increase in the report’s 11-year history.

Strange Arithmetic

On 20 February 2023, Bell Textron Inc—the Fort Worth-based, rotorcraft manufacturing subsidiary of American industrial conglomerate Textron Inc—announced it had completed the AH-1Z program of record (POR) for the Kingdom of Bahrain. Bell delivered the final production aircraft to U.S. Naval Air Systems Command in December 2022.

Once Again, "They Don't Make 'em Like They Used To"

The Congressional Budget Office published its findings comparing the availability and use of the Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet with its preceding F/A-18C/D Hornets, and found the newer birds wanting. The Office particularly looked at availability and effective uptime, a shorthand to see just how much use the taxpayer actually gets out of their fancy new jets compared to the outgoing ones.

Also: 5G Retrofit Deadline, Skyborne Help Wanted, Coulson Returns, New NGPA Boss

After a number of recent high-profile accidents from the Chinese-owned GA builder, Cirrus Aircraft has yet another black eye to bemoan. Some of the SR-20 and SR-22 fleet have been grounded by Cirrus after another series of engine problems came to light... this time with undeniably serious consequences. According to industry sources, some 700 engines may ultimately be affected. Fearing the Russian Bear, SpaceX has taken some small steps to prevent Ukraine MoD and military use of the network for long range command and control over drones, saying it falls outside the pea

Also: 5G Retrofit Deadline, Skyborne Help Wanted, Coulson Returns, New NGPA Boss

After a number of recent high-profile accidents from the Chinese-owned GA builder, Cirrus Aircraft has yet another black eye to bemoan. Some of the SR-20 and SR-22 fleet have been grounded by Cirrus after another series of engine problems came to light... this time with undeniably serious consequences. According to industry sources, some 700 engines may ultimately be affected. Fearing the Russian Bear, SpaceX has taken some small steps to prevent Ukraine MoD and military use of the network for long range command and control over drones, saying it falls outside the pea

From 2009 (YouTube Version): Mathieu Heintz Details Structural Changes in the Zodiac CH 650

2009 proved to be something of a trying year for Zenair, Ltd. A series of tragic accidents involving the Zodiac CH601XL and CH650 aircraft prompted investigations by both the FAA and NTSB. The FAA's investigation, done in cooperation with the aircraft manufacturer, resulted in a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin. The agency urged owners and operators to suspend flight until wing maintenance properly complied with the FAA safety directives. In the

Engine “Let Out A Muffled, Sucking Backfire” And Experienced A Total Loss Of Power

On February 6, 2023, about 1432 central standard time, an experimental amateur-built RV-6, N330PC, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Milton, Florida. The airline transport pilot sustained serious injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. According to the pilot, he was picking up the airplane following completion of its annual condition inspection. He reported doing a through preflight inspection that included sampling the fuel, with no contaminants noted, checking the oil, which was full to 8 quarts, and checking the tires and brakes, which were new.

Aero Linx: Lake Amphibian Club

Come on in the water’s fine! This website is created and sponsored by the Lake Amphibian Club, to help spread the word about these wonderful, versatile amphibians that can land just about anywhere, making traveling in small aircraft adventurous, safe, and just plain fun. The public portion of the site includes a tremendous amount of information about Lakes, that should help anyone interested in the planes learn more about them.

Hazardous Weather Information Summary of significant meteorological information (SIGMET/WS), convective significant meteorological information (convective SIGMET/WST), urgent pilot weather  reports (urgent PIREP/UUA), center weather advisories (CWA), airmen's meteorological information (AIRMET/WA) and any other weather such as isolated thunderstorms that are rapidly developing and increasing in intensity, or low ceilings and visibilities that are becoming widespread which is considered significant and are not included in a current hazardous weather advisory.

"My name is Sarah Andrews, and I am the Executive Director for the Copperstate Fly-In. This delayed response is due to acquiring all the facts before I relayed information to each inquiry. It is with a heavy heart that the Copperstate Fly-In has been postponed to October. Airport Tower Manager Kent Hatcher claims he has let his staffing drop to unsafe levels and affirms he can’t handle the fly-in traffic for March. Airport Director Corrine Nystrom is accommodating Mr. Hatcher’s blunder; she also claims she let her staffing fall to critical levels as well. She decided to postpone the fly-in to October without specifying a date...." Source: From a letter sent to event stakeholders by Sarah Andrews, Executive Director for the Copp