Tue, Mar 19, 2024
15 New Cessna Skyhawk Aircraft On The Order Book
California Aeronautical University has signed on the dotted line for the purchase of 15 Cessna Skyhawk aircraft with deliveries beginning in 2027. The new aircraft will be added to their current fleet and will be used at the various Western United States locations including Bakersfield, CA, San Diego, CA, Ventura, CA and Mesa, AZ. “For more than six decades, the Skyhawk has been at the forefront of innovation, empowering aspiring pilots and setting new standards in flight training,” said Chris Crow, vice president, Piston Sales.
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Mon, Mar 18, 2024
FAA Ends 'Discretionary Enforcement Policy' Regarding Broadcast Identification
The FAA is now playing for keeps against those who operate UAVs without proper, compliant broadcasting equipment as outlined under the Remote ID rule. That was put on the books in the fall of 2023, soft shoed to an extent by a regulator that could see just how unprepared the industry stood at the time. Despite their efforts, the drone industry at large sat unprepared, with an under-educated pilot base in regards to exactly what was needed to 'fly legal'. They granted some wiggle room, establishing a final date of March 16th of 2024 as a suitable endpoint to their magnamity. After the 16th, the FAA feels there really isn't much excuse to remain out of compliance.
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Mon, Mar 18, 2024
"Nonstop to Net Zero" Strategy Finds New Project
Southwest Airlines is joining an initiative to bring the Regent Seaglider to the Hawai'ian travel market. The novel hybrid aircraft/watercraft isn't exactly a totally brand-new idea in theory, but making one a profitable passenger carrier is. Southwest, reeling from a lack of Boeing deliveries, an expensive new contract with pilots, and a downsized flight schedule may be looking to garner some good press at a nice low cost. As such, they hopped along with the Hawai'i Seaglider Initiative, a consortium of local, government, and private sector folks in the island state that believe the Seaglider is key to rejuvenating point-to-point transport.
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Mon, Mar 18, 2024
Everyone's Remote Instructors John and Martha Look Back on a Lifetime of Teaching
To commemorate a full five decades since starting off their remote learning aviation empire, John and Martha King were commemorated with some special events by the King Schools family. A "year of celebration" will be the order of the day throughout 2024, with events, appearances, and speeches accompanied by special deals and updates. Today's CEO assures followers and friends that the Kings aren't retiring any time soon, with plenty more to do. “2024 marks 50 years since John and Martha began what has turned into a lifelong passion and an exceedingly successful business,” Barry Knuttila, King Schools CEO, said.
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Mon, Mar 18, 2024
Clubs Will Hold a Show & Tell to Boost Funds for Future Activities, Competition
A handful of student clubs and teams will hold a little shindig of their own during their school's open campus day at Kansas State University Salina, next April 6th. The "Flight Fest" will be put on by the Flight Team and Women's Air Race Team, featuring a WINGS seminar about Controlled Flight into Terrain, on the K-State Ramp of Salina Regional Airport. After the course, the event will take everyone along on a tour of the schools aeronautics program, followed by children's activities and a pancake breakfast. That last part is where they'll angle for donations to support the clubs, which are undoubtedly an expensive affair like all aviation seems to be.
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Mon, Mar 18, 2024
Bruce Grammon and Mid-Continent Avionics Snag Popular Vote
The annual Aircraft Electronics Association International Convention & Trade Show will open with recognition for its member of the year, commemorating Bruce Grammon. In conjunction with Grammon's snag of the lion's share of the votes, corporate member Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics got its own recognition as the AEA Associate Member of the Year. Bruce Grammon joined the same in 1990, working his way up as an avionics lab technician, lab manager, right on up to his current post as senior field service engineer. He first came through the AEA's doors 3 years after joining the industry, and now stands as one of the old salts with experience at events around the world.
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Mon, Mar 18, 2024
Engine Sustained A Total Loss Of Power And The Propeller Continued To Windmill
Analysis: The pilot reported that he intended to complete a cross-country flight and the airplane had about 65 gallons of fuel onboard. After takeoff, he entered the left traffic pattern to overfly the runway before departing the area. While on the downwind leg, the engine sustained a total loss of power and the propeller continued to windmill. As he turned toward the airport, he extended the airplane’s landing gear because he believed the airplane would reach the runway.
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Sun, Mar 17, 2024
V1.0 Manufacturer Takes On Textron with Italian Style
Vulcanair North America has announced a home base at the Elizabethtown Corporate Airpark, based at Curtis L. Brown, Jr. Airfield of North Carolina. Vulcanair North America's parent company, Ameravia Inc, believes they can take on the C-172 in sales, seeing plenty of growth in the cards for the North American market. Ameravia CEO Chris Benaiges feels like they'll be sitting pretty to address such demand, since the industry as a whole can barely produce half of the aircraft required to replenish the training market. This year, the production backlog sits at about 3 years for the average GA manufacturer, leaving lots of room for Vulcanair to meet immediate demand.
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Sun, Mar 17, 2024
Californian Bee Colony Hangs Out in Highway Patrol Aircraft
The California Highway Patrol recently had to pause operations using their Airbus AS350 helicopter when they found a live beehive colonizing the nose section. Being good environmental stewards, or simply recognizing the vital use for bees in the local agricultural economy. Local almond farms rely heavily on the proliferation of the tiny pollinators, so the CHP Coastal Division's Air Operations Team from Paso Robles called in some outside expertise to give the bees a free move. Suzi Hulsmann met the team at the local airport with all her kit in tow. She vacuumed out the majority of the worker drones, hoovering up 3 pounds of bees with a specialized system. That enabled her to keep most of them penned up for transit. He said the bees were "totally agreeable", easily allowing her to scoop up and cage the queen bee.
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Sun, Mar 17, 2024
High Demand for DPEs to Continue Into Forseeable Future
The FAA's 2023 stats regarding the pass rate of knowledge and practical tests have been published, granting a nice little window into the state of the industry at the ground level. Takeaways this year: The industry is smaller than one would expect, with less than 807,000 pilots of all stripes. Flight instructors come in at a fraction of that, with 131,577 of them active. Instrument-rated pilots only amount to 332,313 instrument ratings in total, just a little bit less than the total number of remote pilots in the country. Those who crunch the numbers see some highs and lows in terms of pass rates, but the overall takeaway: DPE's will have to take on about twice the workload they did a decade prior.
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