Signs Deal With Dynamic Aviation, Owner Of Large Private Fleet Of King Airs

Merlin Labs has raised $25 million in funding from GV (formerly Google Ventures) and First Round Capital in order to pursue a 55-aircraft partnership with Dynamic Aviation, and their King Air fleet. Merlin is reportedly building a certifiable autonomy system for complex fixed-wing aircraft. The company claims to have demonstrated hundreds of autonomous missions on multiple aircraft types, including complex twin turboprop aircraft. Its autonomy platform is aircraft-agnostic, focuses on on-board autonomy rather than remote piloting, and is destined for a wide variety of public- and private-sector aircraft.

AD 2021-10-16 Requires Tracking Hours Time-In-Service (TIS)

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Carson Helicopters, Inc., Model S-61L and SH-3H helicopters; Croman Corporation Model SH-3H helicopters; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Model S-61A, S-61D, S-61E, and S-61V helicopters; and Siller Helicopters Model CH-3E and SH-3A helicopters. This AD was prompted by an accident. This AD requires tracking hours time-in-service (TIS) and external lift cycles (lift cycles) for certain main gearbox left and right input freewheel unit (IFWU) assemblies. This AD also requires determining the type of IFWU assembly installed and depending on the results, calculating the moving average, repetitive inspections, recording certain informa