NASA has pushed its intended moon landing date further out, now targeting a manned mission for 2025 at the earliest. Even the new date sounds optimistic, given recent realities in NASA Programs. Previously, in 2019, the Trump administration set what they believed was an attainable goal for the Artemis Program to establish human presence on the moon by 2024. Vice President Pence referred to it then as another space race, invoking memories of the original 1963 Apollo program that successfully landed on the moon in 1969. While the new target of a 2025 landing still falls into the rough time frame of the original Apollo project, there is a sense that America is not just racing against China to get ba
Classic Non-GPS Independent Navigation Gets a Fresh Update
Honeywell has launched a fresh update to an older navigational standby, the Inertial Navigation System, as a resilient, robust, GPS-independent system for aircraft in areas bereft of satellite nav service. In the last few years of uncertainty and confidence-shaking events in traditionally always-on systems, operators may find comfort knowing their navigation remains even when flying through areas of GNSS-challenged or denied environments. The Honeywell Compact Inertial Navigation System and Radar Velocity System were released to function with partner company InfiniDome's Anti-Jamming system, GPDdome, for commercial and military customers needing reliable navigation solutions that are small
De Havilland Canada has resumed production of their outstanding aircraft, following the ratification of collective agreement extensions by members of Unifor Locals 673 and 112 who work at their Downsview Site in Toronto. The decommissioning of the recently sold location will continue, with equipment decommissioned and stored while De Havilland reviews future production opportunities. Aside from remaining aircraft already partially completed, De Havilland appears to plan on keeping their manufacturing hiatus until sufficient demand arises.
Continuing Sustainable Fuel Work at Marignane Shows Progress
Airbus completed the first ever helicopter flight using 100% sustainable aviation fuel as part of its SAF development. As the aviation industry around the world looks to upcoming emissions, sustainability, and environmental targets, manufacturers are preparing for alternative fuels to take the stage from traditional petrochemical fuels. Airbus has launched a user group dedicated to the evaluation and integration of SAF into the rotary-wing community. It has been a banner year for sustainable fuel, with rotorcraft competitor Bell Canada announcing the use of blended SAF in its training, transit, and customer delivery operations, with efforts to move to 100% SAF in the near future.
From 2017: Immersive Experience Makes Simulated Flying Feel Real
Virtual Reality, or VR, is one of the latest innovations in flight simulation. Rather than a full mockup cockpit, the pilot wears VR goggles to give him or her an immersive experience for flight training. One of the companies developing VR flight simulators is Talon Simulations. At the Interservice Industry Training Simulation & Education Conference in Orlando, FL late last year, Brandon Naids, CEO of Talon Simulations told ANN CEO and editor in chief Jim Campbell that the Talon system reduces the cost and the footprint needed for an immersive flight simulation experience. Along with
Gulfstream has announced its intention to become the newest tenant at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, with a 70 million dollar investment into a new maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility. Expected to open in 2023, the station will be built with an eye towards sustainability, expected to achieve LEED Silver certification. The Arizona service center will further expand Gulstream’s Customer Support’s growing network, adding to recent expansions in Savannah, Georgia; Van Nuys, California; Fort Worth, Texas; Palm Beach, Florida; Appleton, Wisconsin; and Farnborough, England.
Coast Guard Coordinates Rescue Of 7 People After Fishing Boat Caught Fire
The Coast Guard coordinated the rescue of seven people after their 85-foot commercial fishing boat caught fire Wednesday morning, approximately 350 miles west of Monterey. Eleventh Coast Guard District command center watchstanders received multiple emergency position-indicating radio beacon and personal location beacon alerts belonging to the fishing boat Blue Dragon around 12:20 a.m. Watchstanders coordinated the launch of a Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento C-27 Spartan aircrew at 1:30 a.m.
Department of Labor Grants 2021's Hire Vets Medallion
Aviation Safety Resources is one of the most recent recipients of the Department of Labor's Hire Vets Medallion Award, which was bestowed in a virtual ceremony by U.S. Secretary of Labor Martin J. Walsh. Among 849 recipients, ASR earned the Gold award for their successful track record in recruitment, hiring, and retention of military veterans. The Nicholasville, Kentucky company applied for the award as a small business after fulfilling the necessary requirements. Recipients of the Medallion must meet rigorous employment and veteran integration assistance criteria, including hiring and retention percentages, availability or vet-specific resources, human resource assistance, tuition assistance,
Also: Alaska Air Group and ZeroAvia, Ageagle Acquires Sensefly, Progress To ISS, AirHub Update From XPO21
Next year's CES, the Consumer Technology Association’s banner event for all things technology, has a new opening act to kick off the show. The Drone Racing League (DRL), will close out their 2021 Algorand World Championship Season on the infamous Vegas Strip itself, in Las Vegas Nevada. The DRL is a proper companion piece for the event, as the world watches the newest advances in consumer technology, the core of the racing series. A Chinese student team broke another world record in UAV development again, when their custom built carbon fiber
Also: 5G Rollout Paused, Bell 505 Med-Kits, Gulfstream Records, Airbus A319neo SAF
We all knew this was coming, Blue Origin has lost an appeal of its lawsuit with NASA over their contract to build a human lunar lander for the Artemis program. The project to once again land humans on the moon had included the commercial space operation among top competitors in the field, each trying to vie for the largest slice of contract work. Blue Origin filed suit against NASA when they were not named as tenders for the manned lunar lander project, despite being one of 3 major competitors with competitors SpaceX and Dynetics. The EAA is among other industry parties
As The Tailwheel Touched Down, The Airplane Veered To The Right
On October 4, 2021, about 1200 Pacific daylight time, a Piper J3C-65, N3453K, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Garberville, California. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot of the tailwheel equipped airplane reported that, as the tailwheel touched down, the airplane veered to the right. He applied power to abort the landing; however, the airplane did not have enough airspeed, exited the right side of the runway and impacted an unoccupied parked airplane.
Aero Linx: The International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Association
The International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Association was constituted in Amsterdam on 19th and 20th October 1961, as a result of the efforts of a group of air traffic controllers to federate and further the interests of the air traffic control profession at the international level. The UK Guild of ATCOs joined IFATCA at the first annual conference in 1962 and immediately assumed responsibility for Standing Committee I (SCI) – Technical Matters in ATC. Arnold Field was the first Chairman and remained so until 1970 when he was elected third President of the Federation. It was largely through the work of
Monitor Alert (MA)
A function of the TFMS that provides traffic management personnel with a tool for predicting potential capacity problems in individual operational sectors. The MA is an indication that traffic management personnel need to analyze a particular sector for actual activity and to determine the required action(s), if any, needed to control the demand.
"We believe that our upcoming pause in production is a responsible and prudent measure that reflects current industry conditions and will limit strain on the market and De Havilland Canada's supply base as the pandemic recovery occurs."
Source: From a statement by De Havilland Canada -- who has resumed production of their outstanding aircraft, following the ratification of collective agreement extensions by members of Unifor Locals 673 and 112 who work at their Downsview Site in Toronto.
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