South Korea’s MinChan Kim Prevails

Korean pilot MinChan Kim, 19, emerged as the overall winner of the 2023 FAI World Drone Racing Championship. His exceptional flying abilities and strategic maneuvers earned him the top spot on the podium. Coming in a close second was Japanese pilot Yuki Hashimoto, 16, who displayed remarkable speed and agility throughout the championship. Completing the top three was Victor Jonsson, 31, from Denmark, whose consistent and calculated flying secured him a spot on the podium.

One Day’s Grace

The USAF’s 56th Fighter Wing welcomed Isaac Axe-Man Salinas who, by virtue of the efforts put forth by Make-A-Wish Arizona, became pilot-for-a-day on 13 October 2023 at the Grand Canyon State’s Luke Air Force Base. The Pilot-for-a-Day program is a Make-A-Wish initiative by which children are afforded an experience that might be referred to half-punningly as uplifting, yet very genuinely as a break from oftentimes excruciating daily challenges.

Up and At ‘Em

After a protracted gestation and four-years of flight-testing, a nonconforming prototype of Midnight, the electrically-powered air-taxi being developed by California-based eVTOL-maker Archer Aviation, has flown. Archer founder and CEO Adam Goldstein stated: “This next phase of Archer’s flight test program is only possible because of the four years of flight testing we’ve done. Midnight is building on the successes of its predecessor aircraft and represents another significant step forward in Archer’s path to commercialization. The next year-and-a-half will be focused on continuing to rapidly advance our flight test program and Archer’s electric air taxi operations as we prepare to bring Mi

Textron Subsidiary Readies Submission for DOT’s FARA Program

The U.S. Army has officially delivered a specimen of GE Aerospace’s T901 Improved Turbine Engine to Bell Textron Inc—the Fort Worth-based, rotorcraft manufacturing subsidiary of American industrial conglomerate Textron Inc. The engine will power Bell’s submission for the service’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program. By virtue of the powerplant’s arrival, the helicopter-maker stands ready to complete construction of its Bell 360 Invictus competitive prototype and move forward to subsequent stages of the FARA competition.

Also: RA-4500 MKII Radar Altimeter, ALPA Wants Whitaker, USMC Red Devils, Mid-America Aerotech-Moog

Textron Aviation has delivered the one-hundredth Beechcraft King Air 360 twin-turboprop to longtime Textron Aviation customer Comprehensive Blood and Cancer Center (CBCC). The delivery evinces the hegemony with which the King Air name has been synonymous since the 1960s. Over the 59-years since the King Air family’s 1964 introduction, nearly 7,800 specimens of the twin-turboprop have been produced. Honeywell's 32nd annual Global Business Aviation Outlook forecasts up to 8,500 new business jet deliveries worth $278-billion from 2024 to 2033, in

Full Circle, Via 80 Years and a World War

In mid-October 2023, Grace (Janota) Brown—a woman whose work during the Second World War earned her the distinction of being known thereafter as one of the Rosie the Riveters so utterly indispensable to the Allied war effort—visited the Henry B. Tippie National Aviation Education Center (NAEC) for purpose of being interviewed by a Dallas news outlet. During the war, Brown worked as a machinist in a Fort Worth, Texas plant operated by the Consolidated Aircraft factory. Her efforts contributed to the completion and fielding of the storied marque’s legendary B-24 Liberator heavy bomber—of which an astonishing total of 18,188 specimens were built between 1940 and 1945.

A New Cure for an Old Woe

Developed by Alberta, Canada-based Airworthiness Resources Corporation (arc), the arc Quikex (Quick Exit) is a Transport Canada-Approved Cessna 206 forward cargo door modification. Certified under Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) SA20-34 and marketed formally as the Split Forward Cargo Door Window, arc’s Quikex modification allows Cessna 206 passengers to quickly and safely disembark the aircraft in emergency situations by opening the airplane’s forward cargo door—regardless of flap position. The STC eliminates the need to install Cessna’s SK206-40 Service Kit, which was introduced in 1991 fo

Canadian Plane-Maker Broadens MRO Operations

De Havilland Aircraft of Canada has selected Universal Avionics—the Tucson, Arizona-based technology concern specializing in flight management systems (FMS) and cockpit instrument displays for private, business, and commercial aircraft—as its lead supplier of integrated flight decks for the Canadian marque’s CL-215T and CL-415 firefighting aircraft. In addition to broadening its affiliation with Universal Avionics, De Havilland has acquired Mid-Canada Mod Centre (MC2) and Avionics Design Services (ADS)—an entity expert in Universal Avionics products and the installation, upgrading, and modification thereof.

Broadband Solution to Provide Aeromedical Connectivity

SKYTRAC Systems Ltd., a Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada-based maker of aerospace intelligent connectivity and satellite communications solutions has announced its Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband Iridium Certus communications system, the SDL-350, has been selected by Carson Air, a provider of fixed-wing air ambulance services in British Columbia. The latter concern will retrofit its fleet of King Air 360 twin-turboprops with subject system.

CFI and Student Seriously Injured in Engine Out Mishap

The NTSB has released its final report on a 25 March 2022 accident in which a Diamond Aircraft DA-40NG, registration N471BL, was substantially damaged and its two occupants—a flight instructor and a student receiving flight training—suffered serious injuries shortly after departing Smithfield, North Carolina’s Johnston Regional Airport (JNX). The accident-aircraft was operated as an instructional flight under Part 91 of the Federal Aviation Regulations.

Aero Linx: Youth Aviation Adventure In 1997, Steve Wathen and Dan Kiser founded the Youth Aviation Adventure Program (YAA) in Columbus, Ohio as a way to help Steve’s son and other scouts from their troop earn their Boy Scout Aviation Merit Badges. The two men enjoyed sharing their love of aviation with the boys so much they began recruiting scouts from other nearby troops and offering their Aviation Merit Badge program twice a year. As the program became more popular, Dan and Steve enlisted other pilots and aviation enthusiasts as volunteers to expand and upgrade the content of the program, and it has since expanded to include Girl Scouts, youth from other organizations, and anyone from the age

Fuel Remaining A phrase used by either pilots or controllers when relating to the fuel remaining on board until actual fuel exhaustion. When transmitting such information in response to either a controller question or pilot initiated cautionary advisory to air traffic control, pilots will state the APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF MINUTES the flight can continue with the fuel remaining. All reserve fuel SHOULD BE INCLUDED in the time stated, as should an allowance for established fuel gauge system error.

“Our team has been hard at work to drive down risk in preparation for ground and flight tests. We are excited to receive the T901 engine and look forward to demonstrating the transformative capabilities of the Bell 360 Invictus. As well, we continue to advance and meet Army requirements for an open weapons system design that provides the next level of lethality and survivability into our warfighters’ arsenal.”   Source: Chris Gehler, senior vice president and program director, FARA, concerning the delivery of a specimen of GE Aerospace’s T901 Improved Turbine Engine to Bell Textron.