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August 15, 2023

Airborne-NextGen 08.15.23: Archer Update, Airshow UAS Incursions, VX4 eVTOL Crash

Also: NASA SpaceX Crew-7, USMC AAM Interest, India v Chinese UAVs, Parazero Scores Again

Archer Aviation has secured a $215-million equity investment from Stellantis—an American-Italian-French multinational automotive manufacturing corporation—Boeing, United Airlines, and a number of financial institutions including ARK Invest. The capital infusion boosts Archer’s total to-date funding to over $1.1-billion. The Coast Guard employed Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) capabilities in collaboration with the FAA, Seattle PD, and Mercer Island PD to enforce FAA-issued temporary flight restrictions over Lake Washington during 2023’s Seafair Weekend Festival in support of the event’s constituent airshow. S

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Vertical Aerospace VX4 eVTOL Suffers Flight-Testing Mishap

No Injuries Reported, Condition of Prototype Unknown

Vertical Aerospace, the Bristol, UK-based concern that designs and manufactures Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft, announced on 09 August that its VX4 eVTOL prototype had suffered a mishap during a test-flight at Gloucestershire, England’s Cotswold Airport (GBA). The company set forth in its SEC filing: “Our flight-test program is designed to establish the limits of the aircraft’s performance, and the incident occurred during an uncrewed test of the aircraft’s maneuverability during a motor failure test scenario, which is a key requirement to progress to crewed operations.”

25th Anniversary Thunder Over Michigan Event Ends Prematurely

For more than twenty-years, crowds have thrilled to Thunder Over Michigan, a gala event counted among the U.S.’s premier air-shows. Regrettably, the event’s 25th anniversary was marred by the loss of a Soviet-Era MiG-23 (NATO designation Flogger). The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration have undertaken investigations of the occurrence, the cause of which remains unknown.

Electrifying …

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has granted Hartzell Engine Tech, the Alabama-based powerplant/firewall-forward subsidiary of Hartzell Aviation, STC approval for Plane-Power ALT-FLX alternator upgrades across a wide range of piston-powered fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. The upgrades were previously approved in the United States by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Also: Wheels Up Criticized, Covington Aircraft, G550 Record, “Liberty Lifter”

What an astounding week... AirVenture 2023 drew a record attendance of some 677,000 visitors—surpassing the previous record-high mark of 650,000 set in 2022. Over AirVenture 2023’s duration, upwards of ten-thousand fixed and rotary wing contraptions of every conceivable design and derivation descended upon Oshkosh, Wisconsin’s Wittman Regional Airport (OSH)—which recorded 21,883 aircraft operations over the 11-day period spanning 20 through 30 July. The Airbus Perlan Mission II team, which comprises a company of the aviation industry’s

Loneliness of the Long Distance Flier

On Friday, 18 August 2023, crew-members slated to ascend spaceward aboard NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission will enter the requisite period of quarantine by which spaceflight is preceded—thereby attaining a pre-launch milestone. Upon completion of the ordeal—to which NASA has ascribed the pleasing euphemism health stabilization—the four crew-members will head to the Florida launch-site from which the mission will depart for the International Space Station (ISS).

North Carolina Super Petrel Accident Claims Two Lives

Deceased Pilot Reportedly “Very Safe and Conscientious”

The pilot and passenger of a Scoda Aeronautica Super Petrel LS, registration N239WD, lost their lives when the aircraft struck high-tension power-lines while reportedly practicing water landings on Hickory, North Carolina’s Lake Hickory. The mishap occurred at approximately 11:30 EDT on Sunday, 13 August 2023 and claimed the lives of pilot Jeffrey Jay Cooley, 63, of Granite Falls, North Carolina and passenger Brian Frank Miller, 49, of Hickory, North Carolina.

Evolving Brilliantly

PWI has earned FAA PMA approval for the production of cabin LED lighting solutions for all interior configurations of Textron/Cessna’s Citation II and CJ1 models. The company’s LED kits replace all fluorescent lighting in the aforementioned Citation models’ galleys, lavatories, and passenger cabins.

From 2016 (YouTube Version): Rebuilding “The World’s First Airliner”…

The RIMOWA Luggage slogan for their line of high-end luggage products is, “The Luggage with the Grooves.” At EAA AirVenture 2015, our ANN crew met up with Stefan Bitterle, a public relations spokesman for the aviation operation within their company, to learn about their very special airplane. RIMOWA has created the first-ever airworthy replica of a Junkers F13 airplane that could be called, “the airplane with the grooves.” Bitterle provides us with a detailed background of the Junkers F13 and of the re-creation of this aircraft by

A Crew Divided

The NTSB has released its final report on a 26 July 2021 accident in which a 16-year-old Bombardier CL-600-2B16, registration N605TR, was destroyed and the entirety of its occupants—six passengers and two pilots—lost their lives following an instance of loss of control in flight while attempting to land at California’s Truckee-Tahoe Airport (TRK). The accident aircraft was operated as a personal flight under Part 91 of the Federal Aviation Regulations.

Aero Linx: The Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI) The Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI) was created in 1988 at the initiative of 100 colleges and universities with aviation programs who recognized the need to establish standards and submit themselves to the review of their peers and the industry. Its purpose is to serve as the official accrediting body for all collegiate aviation.

North Atlantic High Level Airspace (NAT HLA) That volume of airspace (as defined in ICAO Document 7030) between FL 285 and FL 420 within the Oceanic Control Areas of Bodo Oceanic, Gander Oceanic, New York Oceanic East, Reykjavik, Santa Maria, and Shanwick, excluding the Shannon and Brest Ocean Transition Areas. ICAO Doc 007 North Atlantic Operations and Airspace Manual provides detailed information on related aircraft and operational requirements.

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (08.15.23)

“The aircraft lifted, hovered, flew, and landed all by the thrust of its electric propulsion system and powered only by Vertical’s proprietary battery packs...” Source: From a shareholder report by Vertical Aerospace, the Bristol, UK-based concern that designs and manufactures Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft, that subsequently admitted that its VX4 eVTOL prototype had suffered a mishap during a test-flight at Gloucestershire, England’s Cotswold Airport (GBA).