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Like most of the industry, kit manufacturer Sonex has been hit by the ever-increasing costs of parts and materials, and is being forced to pass some of the burden off to customers beginning December 15. Still, Sonex’s prices remain well under par, with many of its complete airframe kits available for under $40,000. The company detailed the price shifts for Complete Airframe Kits, Quick Build Kits, and AeroVee engine packages. Produced jointly by the Aero-News Network and SUN ’n FUN—in addition to the pre-show SNF Innovation Preview, the all-week SUN ’n FUN Digital Daily, Saturday Flight Live coverage, and our extensive daily news and video output—we are introducing something significant. MOSAIC Day Debuts Thursday at SUN ’n FUN and will designate Thursday as MOSAIC Day, featuring a full day of focused

Stationed In Albuquerque For Bombardier Training

The Lobo Wing of the Commemorative Air Force, based in Moriarty, New Mexico, is in the process of rebuilding a World War II-era Beechcraft AT-11 Kansan that was used to train bombardier students, and after thousands of those students flew her, the aircraft is being restored to its former glory.

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Textron Aviation has confirmed it will be ending production of the Beechcraft Bonanza G36 and Baron G58, after nearly 80 years of continuous manufacturing. The company is moving toward  new products such as the Beechcraft Denali, but promises to support the thousands of Barons and Bonanzas currently flying worldwide. The announcement brings to an end one of the longest production runs in the history of aviation. The first flight of the Bonanza was in December 1945 and production began in 1947. Archer Aviation’s plan to turn Hawthorne Airport into the heart of its Los Angeles air-taxi network earned it a big “WELCOME” from the mayor… and exactly the opposite from local NIMBYs. Members of the community started the predictable “Hawthorne Quiet Skies” group to express both confusion and disappointment with the decisio

Military Heritage Foundation Housed, Maintained ‘Island Doll’ Since 1980s

The World War II-era Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon “Island Doll” was recently ferried to the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, Virginia, as a generous donation from the American Military Heritage Foundation. The Foundation had acquired the aircraft in the mid-1980s and housed and maintained it at the Indianapolis Regional Airport (KMQJ) in Greenfield, Indiana.

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EHang has logged a major milestone in the development of its pilotless air taxi, logging its first human-carrying flight in the urban Middle East. Working alongside Qatar’s Ministry of Transport, the company flew its EH216-S autonomously between the Port of Doha and Katara Cultural Village in a series of trials designed to validate real-world air taxi operations. The Army’s 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade is running with the service’s push to boost drone integration by pairing Apaches, Black Hawks, and Chinooks with small unmanned aircraft to handle reconnaissance, route surveillance, and other jobs that used to rely on pilots squinting out the window. One of the bigger shifts is happening in the field workshops. The debut of SpaceX’s Starship Version 3 booster didn’t exactly go as planned, with its test campaign starting and endin

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An inflight incident that took place on a JetBlue flight from Cancun, MX, to Newark, NJ, on October 30 has resulted in serious cautions for the 11,300 aircraft in the Airbus A320 series. The scheduled flight, Flight 1230, required an emergency landing at Tampa, FL, with several people requiring hospitalization after a flight control issue and a sudden uncommanded pitch change. Cleveland officials are again attempting to close a beloved community airport, this time by exploiting a federal loophole. Mayor Justin Bibb and Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne have asked Congress to help them bypass years of FAA red tape (that they agreed to in order to get OUR tax dollars) and waive more than $9 million in federal grant obligations that legally bind the city to operate the airport until 2036. The successful launch of three crew members to the In

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The NTSB's preliminary report on the UPS Flight 2976 crash has focused on the left engine pylon's separation and a subsequent fire that started even before impact. Imagery released by NTSB shows a clear left engine and pylon failure as the aircraft rotated for departure. The report indicates that the left engine and pylon separated from the wing shortly after takeoff, leading to a fire that ignited near the pylon's attachment point. NBAA, along with its fellow 60-plus aviation stakeholders in the Modern Skies Coalition issued the following statement supporting legislation that would prevent the FAA from being affected by future government shutdowns to ensure the continuation of normal FAA and aviation operations: “As members of the Modern Skies Coalition, we urge Congress to ensure that our nation’s aviation system and those who rely upon it are never subject

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The NTSB's preliminary report on the UPS Flight 2976 crash has focused on the left engine pylon's separation and a subsequent fire that started even before impact. Imagery released by NTSB shows a clear left engine and pylon failure as the aircraft rotated for departure. The report indicates that the left engine and pylon separated from the wing shortly after takeoff, leading to a fire that ignited near the pylon's attachment point. NBAA, along with its fellow 60-plus aviation stakeholders in the Modern Skies Coalition issued the following statement supporting legislation that would prevent the FAA from being affected by future government shutdowns to ensure the continuation of normal FAA and aviation operations: “As members of the Modern Skies Coalition, we urge Congress to ensure that our nation’s aviation system and those who rely upon it are never

Lithium-Ion Batteries Targeting Gulfstream for the First Round of STC Approvals

True Blue Power and 101 Aviation are moving toward a series of STCs that would bring lithium-ion batteries to some of the most widely operated Part 25 business jets, starting with the Gulfstream GIV, G450, GV, and G550. The program centers on the 50-amp-hour True Blue Power TB50: a lightweight lithium-ion unit that cuts weight by roughly half compared to the nickel-cadmium and lead-acid batteries still common in long-range aircraft. Gulfstream approvals, expected by the first quarter of 2026, will be trailed by a Challenger lineup that spans the 601 through 650, plus several CRJ variants, with additional aircraft types queued through 2027.

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The work of Elfin.aero founder Dr. Reiner Stemme, who passed on October 31, 2025, is already being reignited to honor the designer’s years of dedication to the still-unfinished elfin20: a high-performance, two-seat, self-launching electric glider. Development of the prototype is well underway. Gulfstream Aerospace announced that its newly certified ultralong-range G800 achieved its eight city-pair speed record on its flight from Phuket, Thailand to the Dubai Airshow 2025 in the United Arab Emirates. The feat was accomplished in 5 hours 38 minutes. This latest record brings the city-pair speed record total for the Gulfstream fleet to over 760... SpaceX checked off another benchmark this week by completing the 500th orbital launch mission using a reusable rocket booster. Falcon 9 lifted off at 12:21 am on November 17, sending Europe’s Se