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Even with parts of the federal government on pause, Yosemite National Park isn’t letting BASE jumpers off easy. Park officials announced that three people were recently convicted for illegal parachute jumps off Yosemite’s formations amid a legal push to lift the 40-year ban against them. BASE jumping has been prohibited in all national parks since the 1980s. One of the more intriguing features of the 2025 Affordable Flying Expo, scheduled for November 6-8 at the Sun n Fun Aerospace Expo campus is a Friday event we call the MOSAIC Town Hall. Scheduled for Friday, November 7th at 1800ET, the MOSAIC Town Hall will be presented in the nearby Prop 75 building and webcast LIVE via www.airborne-live.net and for the attending audience. Textron Aviation Defense announced production plans for the UJTS, or Undergraduate Jet Training System progra

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Anduril Industries’ YFQ-44A Collaborative Combat Aircraft was flown for the first time on October 31, 2025, as announced by the U.S. Air Force, who also confirmed that a decision about production of the CAA is still expected during FY2026 despite the ongoing government shutdown. The Air Force sent out a press release announcing the first flight but there were not many details about what the YFQ-44A actually did, how long it flew, or where it ended. Merlin, developer of autonomous flight technology for the defense sector, announced it has gained the Stage of Involvement 2 with the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand, an important step in the DO-178 certification audit cycle that enables regulators to have progressive visibility into the company’s software development program. The FAA finally has a decent excuse to put its

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Elon Musk is once again promising the impossible…this time, in the form of a Tesla that flies. Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience, Musk said the company is “getting close” to demonstrating a prototype of what he dubbed “crazy, crazy technology.” The comment came during a discussion about the long-delayed Tesla Roadster: a model first unveiled in 2017 and postponed every year since its planned 2020 debut. Boeing announced the completion of the $10.55 billion sale of assets from its Digital Aviation Solutions business unit to private equity firm Thoma Bravo. The divestiture includes Jeppesen, ForeFlight, AerData, and OzRunways, and those businesses will operate as the standalone company Jeppesen ForeFlight. The A220, once marketed for its profitability and efficiency, seems to be spending a lot more time parked than planned…

Central Asian Carriers Commit To Acquire Up To 37 Aircraft

President Donald Trump provided Boeing the opportunity to book orders from three Central Asian airlines at the C5+1 diplomatic summit in Washington, D.C., attended by leaders from Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

First A350-1000ULR Awaits Flight Tests Before Delivery to Qantas

A jet designed to top charts as the world’s longest-range passenger aircraft has entered its final assembly phase. Airbus confirmed that the first A350-1000ULR, built for Qantas under Project Sunrise, is now taking shape in Toulouse as engineers attach the wings, tail, and landing gear ahead of engine installation and test instrumentation.

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OK... this is an insane record... and one that is likely to stand for a while as we’re not sure there are many who would choose to challenge it. A next-gen CubCrafters Carbon Cub UL has climbed to a verified altitude of 37,609 feet above sea level over the California coast just a few days ago — setting what CubCrafters claims to be an unofficial new world altitude record for Cub-type aircraft (and let’s face it, it’s not likely that most Cub-types have seen anywhere near HALF that altitude. The Affordable Flying Expo is building up a healthy head of steam as additional exhibitors join the mix and the list of aircraft on display grows by the day. Recently, we received confirmation of the Deltahawk RV14 test vehicle, and added both Tecnam and JMB Aircraft added 5, possibly as many as 7 additional aircraft to the growing static disp

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Purdue University’s Research Foundation and the Archaeological Legacy Institute have confirmed that they will be putting their quest to find Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Electra aircraft on hold until next year. The announcement blamed seasonal weather that would jeopardize the expedition if it continued to wait for Kiribati’s green light. SpaceX is clipping the wings on its Starlink Mini users. The company announced that starting November 7, 2025, the maximum supported operating speed for its Roam, Local Priority, and Global Priority plans will drop from 550 mph (471 knots) to 450 mph (391 knots). The change comes as part of what SpaceX calls “ongoing efforts to optimize network performance.” Months after the Federal Aviation Administration pulled her medical on bogus mental health-related claims, Xyla Foxlin h

A "No Contrail Day..." Really, Klyde?

FMI: www.klydemorris.com

Dozens of Companies Unveiled Innovative Products Ahead of the 51st SnF Aerospace Expo

Kicking off the 51st SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo, we hosted the second annual SnF Innovation Preview to give more than 20 companies just enough time in the spotlight to debut their new planes, products, engines, accessories, and more… In other words… it was a LOT of news, and it’s all still up for your viewing pleasure.

Third-Edition Resource Guide is Getting Ready… But It’s Waiting on You

The third edition of the SportPlane Resource Guide—soon to launch as the expanded, fully digital eSPRG—is almost ready for release. The layout is there, dozens of instructional chapters are written, and hundreds of aircraft write-ups are complete. This edition will be bigger, more detailed, and easier to update than the previous 1,100-page print version (probably settling in at more than 2000 pages!), with the potential to far exceed even our own anticipations with S-LSA, E-LSA, ultralights, avionics, and accessories. The only major thing slowing it down is one simple piece: more data from manufacturers.