Representatives Davids, Flood, Carter, and Mann Introduce SAF Act

Four US Representatives are taking another swing at getting Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) legislation into government… and hopefully this time, it’ll stick. The Securing America’s Fuels (confusingly, also referred to as SAF) Act was introduced in the House by Reps. Sharice Davids, Mike Flood, Troy Carter, and Tracey Mann on December 9.

Also: Trailblazing Aviator Betty Stewart, Wind Farm Scrutiny, Chatham Ban Overturned, Airbus Shares Dive

A Thunderbird pilot, ID'ed alternately as Thunderbird 5 or Thunderbird 6, (but not yet confirmed officially) ejected from his/her Lockheed Martin F-16CM-52-CF Fighting Falcon Wednesday (12-03-25) during a training mission in California. The accident occurred near Trona Airport on an unoccupied dry lake bed area south of the airport in San Bernardino County. The pilot ejected safely just before the airframe impacted the ground. Air India somehow misplaced a 43-year-old Boeing 737-200 and forgot about it for over a decade. The Kolkata airport didn’t forget about the airplane though, and continued to add parking fees. The airline was oblivious until recently, when it received a parking bill that, over a 13-year period, accumulated to a total of 10 million Indian Rupees, about USD$120,000. Dynon has released SkyView HDX software version

Board Approves Purchase Of Two Aircraft Through United Rotorcraft

The Kern County Board of Supervisors voted in March 2025 to approve the purchase of two Black Hawk helicopters from the U.S. Army’s surplus program that will be transformed into Firehawk firefighting helicopters. The county’s fire department is asking the board to approve an agreement with Seaview Helicopters to provide training to four pilots who will fly the Firehawks.

Bringing Commercial Flight School Perspective To Army Program

M1 Support Services announced that Quantum Helicopters, a leading provider of professional helicopter pilot training, joined Team M1 to bring the perspective of a commercial flight school as well as expertise to the U.S. Army’s Flight School Next (FSN) program.

Will Establish Regulatory Pathway For Introducing eVTOL Ops

The Saudi Arabian General Authority of Civil Aviation announced the signing of an agreement with Archer Aviation to collaborate in the development of a regulatory pathway for the introduction and scale-up of eVTOL air taxi operations in the Kingdom.

Indian Airline Failed to Plan Schedules Around New Regs, Canceled 4,500 Flights Last-Second

IndiGo’s holiday meltdown has officially turned into an incredibly expensive operational oopsie, with the Indian airline now expecting to pay more than $55 million in compensation after botched roster planning met newly tightened duty-and-rest regs. The result was more than 4,500 flight cancellations in just over a week and a logistical mess that stranded hundreds of thousands of passengers.

Also: IAE Acquires Diamond Trainers, Army Drones, FedEx Pilots Warning, DA62 MPP To Dresden Tech Uni

The danger to the flight training industry and our future pilots is clear. Donald Frano, a member of the Central Florida Pilots Association, posted a statement as an urgent warning about the increasing number of airports using or considering using a third-party vendor to send landing fees to pilots based on ADS-B data. This began in Florida and is a growing threat that the aviation community needs to stand up to and strongly oppose. Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), Chair of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation, has thrown his full support behind the bipartisan Mental Health in Aviation Act (MHAA) by joining as a co-sponsor of the bipartisan legislation. The bill intends to destigmatize mental health issues in aviation, train aviation medical examiners, and make it overall easier for aviation professionals to seek and

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.

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.

With The eSPRG Only Weeks Away From Its Start Date, A-AF Will Help To Support Sport Flyers, Worldwide

With the all-new and all-digital SportPlane Resource Guide getting ready for publication early next year, the Aero-News Network is pleased to announce yet another addition to the Airborne video news programming roster… Airborne-Affordable Flyers. Dedicated to keeping people up-to-date on the most affordable aspects of sport and general aviation, Airborne-Affordable Flyers is one of our most exciting offerings yet. A-AF will delve into more than just the current LSA community, but look at all aspects of aviation to examine and evaluate the most enjoyable, and most affordable, solutions to flying, operating, and owning aircraft in the 21st century.