Making Book

Informed by its Pilot and Technician Outlook (PTO)—an arcane work of divination that peers twenty-years into the future of the aerospace industry and portends what profits or perils lie therein—Boeing set forth the global commercial fleet will grow to north of 47,000 aircraft by 2042—nearly double its current size. To support such a multitude of machines, Boeing posits that air carriers will need hire upwards of 2.3-million new personnel, to include 649,000 pilots, 690,000 maintenance technicians, and 938,000 cabin crew members.

Wanna Carry 4 55-Gallon Drums? 6 Pax with Club Seating? The 6.2 Is There for You

The Comp Air team updated us on their latest and greatest, the 6.2 and its associated “CompWing”, an inter-float airfoil that boosts performance to amphibious aircraft. The 6.2 continues to shape up to be a competent, capable, even somewhat affordable utility bush plane. Granted, it’s $250,000 for the kit, (plus the engine and avionics), but a 3,000-hour build time puts a cap on a bird that might just be able to make some inroads into backcountry flying. Updates on the piston-engined variant, powered by a 350-hp  TIO-540, portray a competent option. 

Polaris, Raptor, and more Grace the Field with More Performance for Less Weight

Hartzell added a handful of propellers to its ever-expanding collection of STCs, offering improved performance for the Diamond DA-40 NG, the Daher Kodiak, and Top Prop customers. The Diamond DA-40 will see the addition of the Polaris prop, a 3-blade, carbon fiber, bantamweight prop that adds 3 knots to cruise speed. The Polaris sports a 6-year, 2,400-hour warranty, and will be offered as an option in early Fall 2023.

AAL Contract Offer Increased by $9-Billion

American Airlines (AAL) agreed to raise the contract offer tendered to its pilot cadre by upwards of one-billion-dollars for purpose of approximating a tentative agreement reached by rival air-carrier United Airlines and its pilots.

Despite the Kodiak’s Large Size, its New Owner Wants to Support the Backcountry Scene

Daher doubled down on its branding of the Kodiak 900 as the “Ultimate Getaway Vehicle” using a new partnership with the Recreational Aviation Foundation, bolstering the aircraft’s cachet as a go-anywhere, do-anything bird for those who ‘do’. The firm increased the level of its support to the US Forest Service, loaning out its prototype Kodiak 900 for use in an airlift for two remote grass airports. The mountainous, wooded areas often require pack animals for resupply, but the Kodiak 900 was able to rise to the occasion and operate with ease out of Moose Creed (1U1) and Shearer (2U5).

Increased Sales and Investment Enkindle Broadened Ambitions

Over the 12-months since EAA AirVenture 2022, Elixir Aircraft has established itself as a leading manufacturer of flight-training aircraft. Sales orders, investment in the company, and hiring are all on the rise as global awareness of Elixir’s efficient, safe, and technologically-advanced aircraft offerings increases.

FAA Airport Data Information Portal Explained

ADIP, the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) “Airport Data Information Portal” is a new database designed to increase the accountability and accuracy of private-us airport data in the United States. This includes heliports, seaplane bases, gliderports, ultralight airparks, balloon bases and soon vertiports. Within this database exists important information critical to pilot preflight actions and in-flight decision making. Things such as an airport’s latitude and longitude, field elevation, runway length or heliport size, known obstructions, lighting, hours of operation, fuel availability are just a few of the important things captured in this database. And, given that every

Newer Tire Designed for Dassault Falcon 10X Sees Broad Application for Industry Hungry for Efficiency

Michelin brought out it’s newest, lightest commercial aircraft tire yet with their Air X Sky Light, a new offering that allows operators a 10 to 20% reduction in weight over existing Michelin tires. The Air X Sky Light has its roots in the Dassault Falcon 10X, signaling its design philosophy as a nice little piece of kit that offers the necessary performance at a weight target that helps operators meet increasingly stringent efficiency goals. 

Network Includes ADS-B, Mode S and SDR Capabilities

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Reading, U.K., Altitude Angel is a developer of Unified Traffic Management (UTM) software tasked with developing and building 165-miles of Drone Superhighways connecting the airspaces overlying the British municipalities of Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Coventry, and Rugby. The company’s first-party solutions are utilized by leading Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP) and aviation authorities for purpose of managing the integration of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) traffic into extant national airspace systems.

Frankfurt-Bound Eurowings Discovery Flight Arrives Safely

On 19 July 2023, the Second In Command (SIC) of a Eurowings Discover Airbus A320 took control of and landed the aircraft after the flight’s Pilot In Command (PIC) was reportedly incapacitated. At the time of the incident, the aircraft—a seven-year-old Airbus A320-200 registration D-AIUT—was operating as Eurowings Discover Flight 4Y-1205, non-stop service from Greece’s Nikos Kazantzakis Heraklion International Airport (HER) to Germany’s Frankfurt Airport (FRA).

Aero Linx: Vintage Sailplane Association The purpose of the Vintage Sailplane Association (VSA) is to promote the acquisition, restoration and flying of vintage sailplanes by its members, and to assist the National Soaring Museum in the preservation of soaring history and the promotion of vintage sailplane activity.

Clearway An area beyond the takeoff runway under the control of airport authorities within which terrain or fixed obstacles may not extend above specified limits. These areas may be required for certain turbine-powered operations and the size and upward slope of the clearway will differ depending on when the aircraft was certificated. 

“The wages and retro-pay matched the best in the industry—which, at the time, was Delta, and the Tentative Agreement (TA) includes significant unique quality-of-life provisions critically important to American’s pilots.” Source: American Airlines CEO Robert Isom discussing how the Fort Worth, Texas-headquartered air-carrier’s total offer currently equals approximately $9-billion in incremental compensation and benefits and includes both a pay-raise for pilots and a significant ratification bonus.