EAA Provides Facts And Figures For A Record-Setting Year

If you were there, you knew it... massive traffic, LOTS of airplanes, VERY cool toys at every turn, and people everywhere... in other words, record territory for an AirVenture event. And yes, EAA says it was A RECORD. EAA CEO and Chairman Jack Pelton bragged (and remember its not exactly bragging when its true...), “We introduced a tagline of ‘Unlike Anything Else’ for this year’s AirVenture event and 2022’s fly-in proved to truly be unlike anything else. We had seven days of nearly perfect weather, along with this year’s programs and activities, which brought out people and airplanes in numbers that we haven’t seen before.”

07.27.22: HAI’s Jim Viola, AeroSys Speaks Up, Pedal Plane Parade, Pelton Int'vw-Pt 3

It’s time for WomenVenture 2022! While women make up a small percentage of the aviation population, EAA, WAI, the 99s, and others are looking to change all that for the better.  TL Aircraft is showing a widely varied line of sport aircraft, high-wing, low-wing, tandem, side-by-side, you name it... and there is even a small turboprop in the works! Enstrom Helicopter is back and with highly motivated new ownership. The venerable piston and turbine helicopter manufacturer is putting tough times behind them and looking forward to the future. ANN Rex Alexan

The Exercise of Restraint

Among the world’s very best safety-harnesses are those produced by Hooker Harness, the Illinois-based concern founded in the early 1970s. The last half-century has seen the company evolve into arguably the world’s most widely-known and respected producer of aerobatic seatbelts and shoulder-harnesses. From its inception, Hooker Harness has painstakingly turned-out custom-made harnesses of exceeding quality, consistency, and ruggedness. In light of all Hooker Harness’s excellent work and meaningful contributions to aviation safety, it is with great sadness that Aero News commeorates company founder Jack Hooker.

Hurry Boy, It’s Waiting There For You

Emirates, the world’s fourth-largest airline and one of the United Arab Emirates’ two flag-carriers, has announced the imminent cutting of over 44% of the airline’s flights to Nigeria—Africa’s most populous and second wealthiest nation. The service reduction is attributed to the Nigerian state’s withholding of over $85-million of the air-carrier’s profits. Emirates states the curtailment of flights to Lagos—Nigeria’s largest city and former capital—represents both the airline’s attempt to mitigate further revenue losses, and its inability to sufficiently fund large-scale operations to Lagos against

Chart It All’s Sectional Imprint Gear For Pilots & Enthusiasts

We stopped by ChartitAll’s booth in Trevor Simoneau during OSH22, and obswerved a sophomore at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University “ERAU birdie” that began a venture of making apparel and gear using imagery from sectional charts when he was 11 years old!  Apparently, at a young age, he saw an opportunity to “fund his flying habit” and earn his wings, and hence we have Chart It All, a company dedicated to creating aviation-centric clothing, linen, and gear for the pilot or enthusiast!

Acme Aero Struts Into The BackCountry With Tailwheel Airplanes

For some, seeing the word “Acme” conjures up images of “Wile E. Coyote and RoadRunner”, for others it’s a chain of supermarkets in the Northeastern USA. To thoae of us that covered AirVenture 2022, Acme Aero is anything but hurriedly put together with the sole effort of catching the RoadRunner! Acme Aero, based in the Charlotte, NC area is a veteran-owned business that specializes in Light Sport Aircraft suspension that takes the “bounce” out of a landing, within reason, and does away with the traditional bungees, while also offering a measure of redundancy not available with the former!

AIMS Community College: An Affordable Pathway To GA And Professional Aviation

AIMS Community College located in Northern Colorado offers non-aviation programs, but also lends focus to the ‘General Aviation Pilot’ program, which is structured to get you your Private, Commercial, instrument rating, and an associate degree. The option exists to become a flight instructor, and if desired, students may pursue a ‘Professional Pilot Associate degree, earning multiengine ratings in two years, and with additional hours transition to the commercial airline world. AIMS also offers an Air Traffic Controller track for those so inclined to pursue that line of work!

Low-Orbit Balloon Tourism Firm Shows Off Passenger Accommodations

Spacefaring (if only just barely, given the low-Earth orbit destination) balloon tourism outfit Space Perspective has unveiled its new passenger capsule ahead of production at its Florida facility. The company presented crowds with the teardrop-shaped travel pod at the Kennedy Space Center, taking the chance to brag about the “only carbon neutral way to space”. The capsule, dubbed “Spaceship Neptune”, is designed to be lofted into the upper atmosphere by the company’s proprietary SpaceBalloon over the course of a day, allowing the passengers aboard to observe the beauty of the globe from above.

When You Get Lost Between the Moon and New York City …

Bell-Textron—the Fort-Worth-based helicopter titan—has announced the signing of a purchase agreement that will see two Subaru-Bell 412EPX helicopters delivered to the New York City Police Department Aviation Unit. The Subaru-Bell 412EPX is an iteration of the Bell 412, a utility helicopter of the famed Huey family, built in Japan by the Subaru transportation conglomerate. The two aircraft will be the eighth and ninth Bell products to join the NYPD rotorcraft fleet and will be configured for Search and Rescue (SAR) missions.

Airworthiness Certification Replaces Weight Consideration to Better Address Growing Commercial UAVs

The NTSB has addressed shortcomings in the previous definition of “unmanned aircraft accident” in a recently published rule to go into effect August 15. The change is designed to help to address recent developments within the industry that have made the previous weight-based definition somewhat lacking when determining agency response to aircraft accidents. Under the older definition, an “unmanned aircraft accident” was an incident associated with the operation of an unmanned aircraft.

Breadth Management and Perfect Pitch

The Federal Aviation Administration, in hopes of finally acting on a 2018 Congressional mandate, has announced an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) inviting public comment on the minimum dimensions of commercial aircraft seats. The comment period, after the fashion of American societal memory, will endure for ninety-days.  During that time, members of the public may submit feedback, opinions, gripes, suggestions, etc. pertaining to the size of seats on commercial aircraft. The FAA will (ostensibly) factor public opinion gleaned during the comment period into the drafting of new regulations appurtenant to aircraft seat-size.

The Habiliments of Conservation

The National Air Transport Association (NATA) in partnership with 4Air, an aviation sustainability company that seeks to compel aircraft owners and operators to greener ideologies, has announced the advent of the first-ever Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) receipt for business aviation. The SAF Delivery Receipt allows fixed-base operators (FBOs) to provide industry-requested, standardized documentation to business aircraft operators about their uplift of SAF—uplift being a supercilious neologism for “took on a bag of gas.”  Aircraft operators can use the new receipt both for certification by 4AIR and others of their efforts to fight climate change, and f

Witness Observed The Tail Drop Down And The Left Wing Roll Hard Over

On July 18, 2022, at 1000 central daylight time, an experimental, amateur-built AA Nieuport 28, N6170, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Basehor, Kansas. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. According to a witness, the pilot built the kit biplane in 2016 and equipped it with a Volkswagen engine. He stated that since 2016, the pilot had operated the airplane about 30 hours. During that time there were several problems with the engine operating correctly and oil leaks. In 2020, the pilot experienced a hard landing and fractured the main landing gear.

Aero Linx: American Astronautical Society (AAS)   Formed in 1954, the American Astronautical Society (AAS) is the premier independent scientific and technical group in the United States exclusively dedicated to the advancement of space science and exploration. They strongly support NASA's Vision for Space Exploration, and are members of the Coalition for Space Exploration and the Space Exploration Alliance. They are also committed to strengthening the global space program through cooperation with international space organizations.

Radar Flight Following The observation of the progress of radar-identified aircraft, whose primary navigation is being provided by the pilot, wherein the controller retains and correlates the aircraft identity with the appropriate target or target symbol  displayed on the radar scope.

“Space travel presents a new realm of exciting challenges and creative thinking. As design specialists we have integrated the travel experience and aesthetic – from head room and groups of Explorers being able to move around comfortably within Spaceship Neptune from chair to restroom to bar – to, of course, maximizing the once-in-a-lifetime views. The pioneering 360-degree windows will be accompanied by satellite imagery and 360-degree cameras to zoom in and out on the incredible vista. We now also have an exterior aesthetic that is every bit as powerful as the interior revealed in April - the engineering team have delivered an unsurpassable outcome in relation to performance and safety." Source: Dand Window, design lead