Competition at the Confluence of Mind and Muscle

NASA has selected 72 student teams to undertake an engineering design challenge to build human-powered rovers that will compete and be judged, in April 2024, at Huntsville, Alabama’s U.S. Space & Rocket Center near the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2024, the Human Exploration Rover Challenge tasks high school, college, and university students to design and build lightweight, human-powered rovers, then test such on an obstacle course simulating lunar and Martian terrain—all the while completing mission-focused science tasks.

Teaching an Old War Dog New Tricks

The newest version of the AH-64E Apache has successfully flown with an upgraded capabilities suite as Boeing continues to modernize the platform. The upgraded E-model Apache, known as Version 6.5, or V6.5, is the most recent iteration of one of the world’s preeminent attack helicopters.

A Life Well-Lived

Bob Davis, EAA 33006 and IAC 103, died peacefully on Sunday, October 8, 2023. In addition to his decades of dedication to EAA, he was also a 2002 inductee into the International Aerobatic Club Hall of Fame and an air show performer at Oshkosh for many years.

PW127XT-L Engine Approved by Transport Canada

On the occasion of the European Regions Airline Association General Assembly, Pratt & Whitney Canada and ATR jointly announced the certification of the PW127XT-L engine by Transport Canada. This engine variant offers increased performance to match the requirements of ATR’s future Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) version, the ATR 42-600S. This certification is a key milestone in the program development, and an important step towards increasing regional connectivity and airport accessibility across the globe.

CAF Fetes 340th FTG, 39FTS, and 57th BW Vets

Air Force Heritage is often kept alive through the sharing of experiences handed down from one generation to another. Team members from the 340th Flying Training Group (FTG) and 39th Flying Training Squadron (FTS), along with the Commemorative Air Force and B-25 History Project, recently had the opportunity to honor their heritage by recognizing four of the remaining World War II veterans from the 57th Bomb Wing Association during their final reunion in Kansas City, Missouri, held 28 September through 02 October 2023.

Intermission or End?

Jet-sharing club Roam Maui has canceled all future flights—so the organization set forth in an email notice sent to the entirety of its members. A semi-private, exclusive air-service catering specifically to Maui homeowners in five exclusive island communities, Roam Maui facilitates direct flights connecting Maui to Seattle, San Jose, and Los Angeles. The organization’s fleet comprises 44 Boeing 737-700 aircraft, each appointed with all-first-class two-by-two seating.

System Approved for Textron King Air And Citation Models

Wichita, Kansas-based PWI, a leading supplier of aircraft interior and exterior lighting systems to OEM the likes of Textron Aviation and Dassault, has been granted FAA Parts Manufacturing Approval (PMA) for an LED logo-light for Beechcraft King Air 90, 200, 300, B300/350; and the Beech 1900 C/D aircraft. PWI’s new LED floodlight architecture illuminates the vertical empennage surfaces of Beechcraft’s perennially-popular King Air family of twin-engine turboprops, showcasing company logos, slogans, or registration numbers painted thereupon.

Connecting Connectivity

Duncan Aviation is pleased to announce that the company recently completed its 550th installation of Gogo Business Aviation’s (NASDAQ: GOGO) AVANCE L3 and L5 in-flight connectivity systems in a wide range of popular business aviation aircraft. In addition to the 550 installations completed by technicians at Duncan Aviation’s three full-service MROs and 26 Duncan Aviation Satellites, design data from the company’s 14 AVANCE Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) was used by other installers to provide another 250 operators with a Gogo AVANCE system.

Also: Vertical Aviation Technologies, Young Eagles Milestone, Axe eVTOL, LODA NPRM

A couple of years ago, new ownership bought the Rotorway helicopter kit operation and rebranded it as Rotor X. Over the course of many months, we received numerous complaints about Rotor X, with reports of dozens of customers who claim to have bought helicopter kits or sub kits not gotten what they paid for. Some have paid in full, with amounts exceeding well in excess of $100,000, and received little or nothing (so far) in return. As expected, the FAA has extended the comment period 90 days for its NPRM titled “Modernization of Special Airworthiness C

From, 2016 (YouTube Version): The Compact Robby Mover…

While at Sun ‘n Fun 2016, ANN News Editor, Tom Patton, checked in with a company that was showing an electric tug for the Robinson helicopter. Tom met up with Greg McMichael, the chief design engineer for Minimax Aircraft Tugs to get the details. The first thing you’ll probably notice in this video is that the tug is very compact, and McMichael says that’s the way they intended it. He describes it as being easy to move around and that it can be easily connected to

(Pilot) Heard A “Bang” And Felt A “Very Strong” Vibration In The Tail Rotor Pedals

On September 13, 2023, at 1255 eastern daylight time, a Eurocopter EC135T2, N273AM, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Fargo, Georgia. The airline transport pilot and a passenger were not injured. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 positioning flight. In a written statement, the pilot stated the helicopter had been in cruise flight approximately 1 hour about 1,500 ft mean sea level (msl) when the accident occurred.

Aero Linx: Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS) 

Since 1977, the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS) has represented more than 11,000 employees of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Department of Defense (DoD) who install, maintain, support and certify air traffic control and national defense equipment, inspect and oversee the commercial and general aviation industries, develop flight procedures, and perform quality analyses of complex aviation systems used in air traffic control and national defense in the United States and abroad.

“I first met Bob at EAA’s DC-3 ground school in the mid ‘90s. Bob was the consummate professional and an outstanding instructor and mentor. He wound up conducting my type rating in the DC-3 just a few years later. We continued to work side by side as the two examiners supporting EAA’s B-17 Aluminum Overcast. His knowledge and abilities in large radial-powered, multi-engine aircraft were unsurpassed and I learned so very much from him throughout the times that we flew together. A true gentleman, Bob was a true EAA ambassador as well as caretaker for all the rare vintage aircraft that he held in such high regard with his expertise. Bob will be missed by not just EAA, but all in the warbird and vintage aircraft communities that had the privilege to work with