Of Court Cases and Mayoral Races

In February 2022, Ogden, Utah city officials proposed a five-year program by which to pay for the demolition of aging aircraft hangars on the Ogden-Hinckley Airport (OGD). The measure was part of a larger plan to, ostensibly, make the airport more attractive to commercial airlines and air-travelers, thereby improving the Ogden’s financial status. The city’s program was challenged, however, by hangar lessees, who brought a federal lawsuit alleging improvements made to the hangars by leaseholders stood to be unconstitutionally appropriated by the city in the absence of compensation or equivalent recourse.

The Consequences of Fiscal Irresponsibility

According to media reports and sources within the U.S. federal government, Congress is not likely to approve a Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) spending bill prior to the Sunday, 01 October beginning of the new fiscal year. The International Council of Air-Shows (ICAS)—the Virginia-based organization dedicated to building and sustainment of a vibrant air show industry—has issued an advisory setting forth the imminent closing of the egregiously-abused federal cash-pipeline will likely impact U.S. air-shows slated to take place in October and November 2023.

Rekindling Old Hostilities

The military rulers of the Republic of the Niger—a landlocked West-African nation of some 25.4-million inhabitants—have banned "French aircraft" from over-flying the nation’s airspace. So states the Agency for the Safety of Air Navigation in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA). In a press statement, Air France disclosed only that its aircraft were "not flying over Niger airspace."

Record-Setting 371-Day Spaceflight Ends Safely

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio has returned safely to Earth after serving out a record-breaking 371-day mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin undocked their Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft from the ISS’s Prichal module at 03:54 EDT, thereby beginning a three-hour-twenty-minute trip back to a world from which they'd been absent for over one-year.

Also: ATI Strike Authorization, Seawind 3000 Accident, Lightspeed Anniversary, Lilium Jet Assembly

SpaceX is fighting a puzzling lawsuit filed by the U.S. DOJ, which alleges they mainntain discriminatory hiring practices. SpaceX asserts the DOJ’s lawsuit is unconstitutional and has countersued. The DOJ charged: “The lawsuit alleges that, from at least September 2018 to May 2022, SpaceX routinely discouraged asylees and refugees from applying and refused to hire or consider them, because of their citizenship status, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act.” Last week, an Airbus A320 then operating as Ural Airli

GallopAir Signs LOI for $2-Billion Deal

Brunei-based airline GallopAir intends to purchase thirty C919 narrow-body aircraft from Chinese plane-maker Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC). The inchoate sale occasions the first overseas purchase of the Chinese state-owned airframer’s controversial jet, which is broadly believed to instantiate myriad instances of industrial espionage perpetrated against Western aircraft OEMs the likes of Boeing and Airbus. GallopAir set forth in a September 2023 statement that it had signed a Letter Of Intent (LOI) with COMAC establishing the air-carrier’s intention to purchase 15 COMAC ARJ21 aircraft, to include freighter and business jet variants, and 15 C919 airliners, which compete, ostensi

Also: ATI Strike Authorization, Seawind 3000 Accident, Lightspeed Anniversary, Lilium Jet Assembly

SpaceX is fighting a puzzling lawsuit filed by the U.S. DOJ, which alleges they mainntain discriminatory hiring practices. SpaceX asserts the DOJ’s lawsuit is unconstitutional and has countersued. The DOJ charged: “The lawsuit alleges that, from at least September 2018 to May 2022, SpaceX routinely discouraged asylees and refugees from applying and refused to hire or consider them, because of their citizenship status, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act.” Last week, an Airbus A320 then operating as Ural Airli

Plane-Maker Cites 20-Year Demand for 8,560 Commercial Jets

Boeing posits China—driven by economic growth exceeding the global average and a population at once increasingly affluent and desirous of domestic air travel—will require some 8,560 new commercial airplanes through 2042—year of the water dog. Boeing’s Commercial Market Outlook (CMO), the plane-maker’s long-term forecast vis-à-vis demand for commercial airplanes and related services, sets forth China's commercial airliner fleet will more than double over the coming twenty-years, reaching a kingly total of nearly 9,600 jets.

Multi-Mission Platform to Serve as Austrian Military Transport Aircraft

The Austrian Ministry of Defense has selected Embraer’s C-390 Millennium aircraft as its new tactical transport solution. Austria joins Brazil, Portugal, Hungary, and the Netherlands as a future operator of Embraer’s increasingly popular multi-mission platform. Embraer’s C-390 Millennium is a mid-sized utility transport aircraft of a conventional high-wing, twin-jet-engine, T-tail empennage design. 

Deal Includes Options for 12 Additional 787 Family Aircraft

Air Canada and Boeing have entered into a firm agreement by which the Canadian flag-carrier will acquire 18 of the storied plane-maker’s 787-10 Dreamliner wide-body airliners. Deliveries of subject aircraft are slated to commence in 2025’s fourth-quarter and end in the first-quarter of 2027. The agreement includes, also, options for an additional 12 Boeing 787-10 jets. In addition to replacing older, less-efficient wide-body aircraft currently operating in Air Canada’s fleet, the newly-acquired 787-10s will provide flexibility at once conducive to the air-carrier’s growth and ability to meet anticipated long-term customer demand.

Flight Powered by Excellium Racing 100 SAF

VoltAero, the French aerospace company founded by former Airbus chief technical officer Didier Esteyne, has completed the first flight of an aircraft powered by the proprietary electric-hybrid powerplant by which the company’s inchoate Cassio 330 Short Take-off and Landing (STOL) aircraft will presently be motivated aloft. Subject flight was undertaken at VoltAero’s development facility at Royan, France, and conducted by VoltAero’s Cassio S testbed airplane. Moreover, the enterprise made use of Excellium Racing 100, a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) synthesized by global multi-energy concern TotalEnergies from biomass waste-products deriving of French vineyards

The Pilot Had Modified The Pull Starter Motor From Its Original Design

Analysis: The pilot was also the owner and builder of the experimental amateur-built airplane. While returning to the airport after a local flight, the engine lost oil pressure, so the pilot diverted toward the nearest airport. The engine then began to run roughly and lost partial power. The airplane was not able to glide to the runway and collided with a ditch in a field during the forced landing. The pilot described that his postaccident examination of the engine revealed that the pinion gear on the pull starter motor fractured into several pieces that entered the accessory gear case, likely seizing the oil pump.

From 2008 (YouTube Version): US Fish and Wildlife Service Chooses The Kodiak To Monitor Waterfowl Populations

Waterfowl all over North America may soon have to get used to a new abut increasingly familiar sight... that of a massive Quest Aircraft Kodiak Turbo-Prop... and airplane chosen by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct surveys and monitoring under the watchful of our department of the Interior, in cooperation with other affected nations.

Aero Linx: Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum (PWAM) Visit southern Colorado's biggest Air And Space Museum... Conveniently located at Pueblo Memorial Airport, Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum (PWAM) is a must-see attraction.  Visit one of Colorado's largest collections of military, space, and civilian aircraft, vehicles, and artifacts spanning over a hundred years of history. Our two hangars and outdoor exhibits comprise over 85,000 square feet. Exhibits include both civilian and military aircraft, ground vehicles, missiles, and the Southern Colorado Space Museum.

Decision Altitude (DA)

A specified altitude (mean sea level (MSL)) on an instrument approach procedure (ILS, GLS, vertically guided RNAV) at which the pilot must decide whether to continue the approach or initiate an immediate missed approach if the pilot does not see the required visual references.