Also: CubCrafters Gets NightLights, Exp 34 Crew Returns, Collier Trophy, Control Towers, 100th A380, Icy Pipistrels!

A comprehensive set of improvements that will add several layers of additional safety features to the lithium-ion batteries on 787 commercial jetliners are in production and could be ready for initial installation within the next few weeks, Boeing said in a webcast late Thursday.

There’s flying around the world and there’s flying around the world --- and as we’ve reported earlier here on ANN, Bill Harrelson is doing just that – the hard way, in a circum-polar flight. Most recently globe-girdling Lancair IV pilot, Bill Harrelson, made the LONG over-water trip from Recife, Brazil, to Punta Arenas, Chile... where he prepares for one of the most challenging and potentially hazardous legs of the journey. The Pentagon has put an end to the challenge by Beechcraft for the award of the long-disputed LAS contract to Embraer and its U.S. partner Sierra Nevada Corp. All this... and MORE in today's episode of Airborne!!!
 
Airborne 03.19.13 is chock full of info about the half-week period ending Tuesday, March 19th, 2013... Presented by Aero-TV veteran videographer and Airborne Host Ashley Hale, and supported by ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell, Chief Videographer Nathan Cremisino, and Aero-Journalists Tom Patton, and Glen Moyer, this episode covers:

• Boeing Provides Details On 787 Battery Improvements
• The Journey Continues: Bill Harrelson/N6ZQ Are STILL Circling the Globe
• NASA/JPL MARS Curiosity Project Team To Receive 2012 Robert J. Collier Trophy
• Pentagon Overrides Beechcraft Challenge On LAS Contract
• Expedition 34 Crew Lands Safely 
• NBAA Supports Sen. Moran's Amendment To Preserve Control Towers Under Sequester
• CubCrafters Receives Night VFR Certification For Top Cub
• Airbus Delivers 100th A380
• AVW: Pipistrels On Ice!
• ISS Has Its First Canadian Commander
• Twin Brothers Earn Pilot’s Licenses After Only Celebrating Four Birthdays

Get Comprehensive, Real-Time, 24/7 coverage of the latest aviation and aerospace stories anytime, at aero-news.net. And be sure to join us again next week for the next edition of "Airborne" here on Aero-TV. Thanks for watching. See you, again, in just a few days!

© 2013, Aero-News Network, Inc., ALL Rights Reserved.

FMI: www.aero-news.net, www.aero-tv.net, www.youtube.com/aerotvnetwork, http://twitter.com/AeroNews, The Full ANN/YouTube AIRBORNE Roster -- www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL42E90078D99B1053&feature=view_all