The Privateer Amphibian, a clean-sheet design made to improve amphibious aircraft for enhanced safety on and off the water, has seen delays in its flight testing program owing to a number of bureaucratic requirements and agency decisions that have led to an exasperated crew and increasing costs of compliance for the fledgling company. The Amphibian came into being by entrepreneur and inventor John Meekins' quest to purchase a modern seaplane for his waterfront property. After test flying several aircraft, he found each to have some measure of compromise in safety or performance unsuited to the modern era.
AFWERX Selects Developers for Hi-Speed VTOL Drone Project
AFWERX, the Air Force research laboratory's innovation arm, has selected the companies to move forward with its HSVTOL Concept Challenge. Since April 2021, the program has sought to deliver design ideas for high-speed VTOL aircraft capable of agile performance in multiple roles, from Infil/Exfiltration of Special Forces Personnel, aeromedical evacuation, and tactical mobility. The concept would be a new UAV system outside the current roster that could offer a quantitative leap in SOCOM capabilities.
AD 2021-26-02 Prompted By The Omission Of A Life Limit In The Airworthiness Limitations Section
The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (Gulfstream) Model GV and GV-SP airplanes. This AD was prompted by the omission of a life limit in the airworthiness limitations section (ALS) of the maintenance manual for a certain main landing gear (MLG) trunnion pin. This AD requires revising the ALS of your existing instructions for continued airworthiness (ICA) or inspection program for the airplane to establish a life limit of 20,000 flight cycles for the affected MLG trunnion pin. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products. This AD is effective January 14, 2022.
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