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April 04, 2021

Vertical Flight Society Announces 2021 Award Recipients

The VFS Awards Program Was Established In 1944

The Vertical Flight Society has announced the 2021 group recipients of its prestigious awards program. Since the establishment of the VFS awards program in 1944, they have paid tribute to outstanding teams in industry, government and academia working on vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, serving as a catalyst for stimulating technological advances. This year’s winners will be recognized virtually during the 77th Annual VFS Awards Ceremony, premiering on Wednesday, May 5, 2021 at 2:00 pm EDT at www.youtube.com/VTOLsociety. The ceremony is open to the public.

AD 2021-05-21 Requires Replacing Each Affected Bearing With A Certain Part-Numbered Bearing

The FAA is superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2017-23-08 for Agusta S.p.A. (now Leonardo S.p.a.) Model AB139 and AW139 helicopters. AD 2017-23-08 required repetitively inspecting the main rotor (M/R) rotating scissors, removing certain lower half scissor spherical bearings (bearings) from service, replacing the removed bearings with a new bearing, and installing a special nut. This new AD retains the requirements of AD 2017-23-08 and requires replacing each affected bearing with a certain part-numbered bearing. This AD was prompted by investigation results determining that a quality control issue may have affected the production of the affected b

AD 2021-06-05 Requires Replacing Each Affected Engine Mount Bushing With An Improved Engine Mount Bushing

The FAA is superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2017-07-08 for Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH (Airbus Helicopters) Model MBB-BK 117 D-2 helicopters. AD 2017-07-08 required repetitively inspecting each engine mount elastomeric bushing (elastomeric bushing). Since the FAA issued AD 2017-07-08, Airbus Helicopters has designed an improved engine mount metal bushing (metal bushing). This new AD retains the inspection requirements of AD 2017-07-08 and requires replacing each affected engine mount bushing with an improved engine mount bushing, while also requiring repetitive inspections of the improved engine mount bushing. This AD als