Thu, Mar 28, 2024
Recipients to Be Recognized at AirVenture 2024
For more than half a century the FAA and the General Aviation Awards program have recognized professionals for their contributions to the world of aviation safety, instruction, and maintenance. This year, the CFI of the year is Adam Magee of Swisher, Iowa, an instructor that has overseen the training of thousands of candidates on their way to the Lighter-Than-Air certification. Magee administers an eye-popping 10.5% of all LTA-Balloon practical exams as a Designated Pilot Examiner. He's taught more than 200 CFIs in his own aerial niche, too, further bolstering the numbers of balloon trainers around the country.
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Thu, Mar 28, 2024
Lost Engine Power And Settled With The Right Skid On The Platform And The Helicopter Rolled To The Left Resulting In The Rotor Blades Contacting The Ground
On March 16, 2024, about 1645 central daylight time, an Enstrom 280C Helicopter, N280WR, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Port Lavaca, Texas. The pilot was not injured. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot reported that he was repositioning the helicopter from his front yard to a moveable landing platform.
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Wed, Mar 27, 2024
DoorDash and Wing Join Hands for Drone Deliveries From One Wendy’s Location
Those displeased with the sometimes spotty outcomes of manual food delivery are in luck now that DoorDash is partnering with Wing to provide drone deliveries to customers in one select region in Virginia (as long as they want food from the Wendy's on Franklin Street). Of course, like every piece of news involving customer-facing drone delivery, the affected area remains tiny in the grand scheme of things. It's a natural outcome of the industry's position at the moment, which is still working out the kinks and taking baby steps before setting millions - or billions - of autonomous aircraft whizzing through the US airspace system with cheeseburgers in tow. Right now, those near Christiansburg, Virginia are the lucky drone delivery customers of the day.
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Wed, Mar 27, 2024
Growth Abounds for Inernational Sisterhood
Women in Aviation International capped off its 2024 Conference with a flurry of activity, completing its year get-together for the 35th year running - and things were busier than ever. The Conference saw some record attendance and exhibition numbers, with more than 5,200 attendees representing 35 countries. The WAI Chapter network has grown, too, reaching 180 chapters in 26 nations. There's more international growth to do, though, since the USA accounts for 140 chapters domestically, with only 40 outside the states. The scale is also apparent from the level of industry support at WAI2024, with more than 200 distinct companies, groups, and organizations making an appearance.
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Wed, Mar 27, 2024
Remote Learning Programs Available for Would-Be Engineers Breaking Into The Industry
Kansas University announced a new offering, a Master's of Science and Master's of Engineering in the field of Aerospace Engineering. The University of Kansas cites increasingly rosy job prospects for those going into the field, with a growth rate of 6% per year for the next 5 to 10 years. The school describes itself as a "world-class community of students, educators, and researchers shaping the next generation of aerospace systems," perfectly situating them to offer an engineering program with "research skills, technical knowledge, and problem-solving techniques".
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Wed, Mar 27, 2024
Bring Older Aircraft Up to Factory Spec With Ready-Made BasiX-Pro
Bell Textron has gotten FAA certification for its Basix-Pro Glass Retrofit Kit, creating a new flight deck upgrade compatible with all Bell 412EP models. The new glass cockpit retrofit suite offers all the usual benefits of a glass panel, with synth vision, reduced workload, greater screen space for mapping and charting, and better all-around situational awareness. The retrofit kit offers installers the same gear used in the production line at Textron, with the same Astronautics displays and Garmin avionics included with everything needed to hook them up. It's a great way to upgrade a faithful old aircraft, doing away with old, finicky vacuum gauges and replacing them with dependable digital gear.
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Wed, Mar 27, 2024
20 Small & Regional Airports tot See Improvements
The FAA is awarding $20 million to the creation or refurbishment of 20 airport-owned traffic control towers across 17 states under the 'Contract Tower Program'. The money comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, specifically earmarked to "smaller and regional airports to improve safety and support critical aviation operations such as commercial passenger flights, cargo flights, emergency services, agricultural aviation, and flight training." The airports range from Bullhead International in Arizona, where the tower will gain better fire protection, comms equipment, security, mechanical, and interior enhancements along with ADA-compliant layouts.
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Wed, Mar 27, 2024
Domestic Carrier Digs In Its Heels, Establishing Own Trading Facility After Leaseback Loggerheads
Rex, the “largest independent regional and domestic airline” in Australia, stood its ground in a beef with international but somehow surprisingly Australian Ansett Aviation Training, deciding to move their expensive, spiffy 737 sim to a new facility instead of selling it off. The tale is interesting - or as close to interesting as drama in the aviation training industry goes - as the Rex Level D FFS, a Boeing 737NG, UPRT-approved model, had spent its life at an Ansett facility in Brisbane, Australia. Its term of residence expired in 2023, and Ansett Aviation Training refused to extend its term with a new contract. Rex says that they were only given the option of selling the simulator to Ansett, or de-installing it and making the costly trek to facilities elsewhere at a not-inconsiderable cost.
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Tue, Mar 26, 2024
Electric, Hybrid Powerplants Proving Popular Among Caravan Operators
Auric Air of Tanzania signed on to operate some of Surf Air's electric Cessna Caravans, continuing the latter's spree of partnerships in Africa. Auric Air is a regional operator offering scheduled passenger and charter flights across East Africa. They plan to convert a dozen Cessna C-208 Caravans to Surff Air's alternative powerplants. It's fertile ground there, with a plethora of Caravan operators and small-time air taxi networks, perfect to find a series of new friends in electric flight.
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