Is Washington Prejudiced Against Experienced Aviators?

DOT Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg has been selected to serve as acting FAA administrator, replacing the eminently qualified Billy Nolen, who announced his intention to step down from the position earlier this year. What’s more, Kathryn “Katie” Thomson will serve as the FAA’s deputy administrator, replacing Brad Mims, who is assuming a new, senior role at the DOT as head of the agency’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization.

Public Comment Period Imminent

On 08 June 2023, the FAA published a preview of its long-awaited Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) addressing operational and airman qualification requirements for powered-lift aircraft. Subject rulemaking, which the FAA called “a key step toward safely enabling Advanced Air Mobility (AAM),” is salient to the industry-wide launch of electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

Family-Owned Aerospace Concern Alleges I.P. Theft

Wilson Aerospace LLC—a Boulder, Colorado-based, family-owned, machine-tool and metal-cutting concern—has brought a trade secret and copyright infringement lawsuit against aerospace industry titan Boeing. The suit, filed in Washington State’s Western District Court and brought by Friedman Rubin and additional firms on behalf of Wilson Aerospace, accuses Boeing of breaching its nondisclosure and proprietary information agreements with the Colorado company. The suit further contends Boeing attempted to utilize Wilson’s Intellectual Property (IP) to create counterfeit tools used on NASA projects the likes of the International Space Station (ISS). Wilson states Boeing mi

The Vicissitudes of Air Commerce

The notion of retiring the A380 is not unique to Qantas. Notwithstanding the fanfare with which the four-engine behemoth came to market in 2007, numerous air-carriers have commenced shelving their A380s in favor of newer, more efficient and economically-attractive aircraft.

McFarlane Acquires Airforms

On 07 June 2023, McFarlane subsidiary Airforms introduced a new series of FAA-PMA engine baffles compatible with all Cessna-152 OEM configurations. Designed as replacements for aging factory installations, Airforms’s new baffles have undergone individual PMA approval and may be purchased as standalone units or as a complete set.

Company Seeks to Go Public Sans Underwriter

On 05 June 2023, Surf Air Mobility Inc. filed plans to list its stock for trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SRFM and make an initial public offering thereof. The company aspires to specialize in proprietary hybrid-electric and fully electric propulsion technology for extant and as-of-yet undeveloped aircraft.

Fast Times in Lafayette

On 06 June 2023, the Purdue Applied Research Institute (PARI)—the applied research division of Lafayette, Indiana’s Purdue University—opened a new facility dedicated to enhancing the renowned engineering institution’s world-leading capabilities in the evaluation and testing of hypersonic platforms. Representatives of Purdue University, the U.S. federal government, and the global aerospace industry joined PARI leadership and staff in celebrating the opening of the Hypersonics and Applied Research Facility (HARF), a $41-million, 65,000-square-foot building housing cutting-edge gadgets the likes of the world’s only Mach 8 quiet wind tunnel and a hypersonic pulse (HYPULSE) reflect

From 2014 YouTube Version): Communications, Even in The Midst Of Transportation, Remains A CRITICAL Biz-Tool

An important issue in business aviation is called connectivity. Business flyers need to stay connected for business and Bendix King is offering some solutions. While at the 2014 NBAA Business Aviation Convention, ANN CEO and Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell, met with Jim Zanino, the BendixKing vice president of sales, to talk about AeroWave. Simply put, AeroWave is the Bendix King system that allows business travelers to stay in contact while in flight.

Also: China’s C919, Sierra Space, Ameriflight Drones, Bizarre Utah A/C Mishap

The National Park Service (NPS) and the FAA are rewriting the regulations by which air tours over U.S. national parks are conducted. Extant drafts of the agencies’ Air Tour Management Plans (ATMPs) call for radical and reactionary measures the likes of eliminating air tours in their entirety in some U.S. parks and, in others, cutting such undertakings by as much as 86-percent. Founded in 1992 under the guiding premise “You don't quit skydiving because you get old; you get old because you quit skydiving,” Skydivers Over Sixty (SOS) has evolved into an internat

Breaking the Yaw

The NTSB has released its final report on a 12 April 2021 accident in which a Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee, registration N7242F, was substantially damaged when the aircraft impacted ground during an attempted go-around at Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport (SHD). The Cherokee’s pilot and single passenger suffered serious and minor injuries respectively.

Aero Linx: Arab Civil Aviation Organization (ACAO)

Vision: Ensure safe and secure Arab civil aviation that achieves sustainable development, protects the environment and is accessible to different segments of the Arab societies.

Altitude Restriction

An altitude or altitudes, stated in the order flown, which are to be maintained until reaching a specific point or time. Altitude restrictions may be issued by ATC due to traffic, terrain, or other airspace considerations. 

“Boeing has not only stolen our intellectual property and damaged our company’s reputation but has used the technology incorrectly and at the expense of astronauts’ safety, which is beyond despicable.”

Source: Wilson Aerospace founder and president David Wilson Jr., in a David v Goliath lawsuit against Boeing...