Also: Pilot Shortage, 777X Hopefuls, Volcano Warning, F/A-18 Anniversary, Pearl Harbor Vet Mistreated by Airline

It flies... and apparently does so fairly well. The joint venture between Textron AirLand and AirLand Enterprises  has produced a flying prototype of the Scorpion Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR)/Strike aircraft. The bird completed its first flight at 10:30 AM Central Time. The aircraft took off from McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas and conducted a range of handling maneuvers for approximately 1.4 hours of flight. Today’s flight marks one of the fastest developments of a US-built tactical jet, progressing from initial design to first flight in less than 24 months. A group of lawmakers has decided to try and force the FAA to do what it clearly did not want to do... namely, free many (but not all) Private Pilots of being required to hold a Third Class medical certificate. The International Council

It's For Real! ANN REALTIME NewsBug Released To ANN Readers, Worldwide 

For those of you using a windows PC (MAC version in the works... we promise), a new REALTIME News Service from the Aviation World’s DAILY News Service, the Aero-News Network (ANN), will let you know when our REALTIME, award-winning NewsFeed has been updated.

"We found that a misunderstanding between Ames and DLA-Energy personnel rather than intentional misconduct led to H211 enjoying the discounted fuel rate for flights that had no NASA-related mission." Source: NASA Inspector General's Report.

The function performed by the FMS/ RNAV to alert the pilot at some time or distance prior to, or when reaching, the active waypoint.

The Boultbee Academy

This site came to our attention from a story about actor Brad Pitt purchasing a Spitfire airplane. This is where he will learn to fly his new acquisition.

Choose How YOU Want To View Your Aero News: Headlines And Teasers

We're all pretty excited about the new website design here at ANN, but we HAVE heard from some of you that you liked the way that content was displayed on the old site.  We hear you, and before you chuck your bitgrinder out a 5th story window, you should know that there are several ways that you can view your Aero-Content.

"Today's announcement signals that Louisiana is ready to further expand its presence and leadership in the aerospace industry, creating quality career opportunities for our people for generations to come." Source: Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, on the announcement that Bell will manufacture its new SLS helicopter in the state.

A horizontal, tail-shaped cloud (not a funnel cloud) at low levels extending from the precipitation cascade region of a supercell toward the wall cloud (i.e., it usually is observed extending from the wall cloud toward the north or northeast).

Curtiss Jenny Restoration

A blog following the restoration of a 1918 Curtiss JN4D Jenny. Once completed, the airplane will be flown and displayed at the Candler Field Museum in Williamson GA (30 miles south of Atlanta).

Fanned Out 'Stormtroopers' Across Washington, D.C. As Part Of The Effort

A group hoping to establish a "Museum of Science Fiction" in Washington, D.C. is near the end of a crowdfunding effort that it hopes will result in a storefront preview location somewhere in or near the Nation’s Capital. And as part of the effort the group on December 1 sent stormtroopers to the U.S. Capitol Building and other locations to raise awareness for the campaign.