Gogo 5G Will Cover 100% of CONUS and Can Reportedly Transfer ~25 MBPS On Average

Aviation's own inflight 5G communication network is nearing completion. We've been watching the folks at Gogo, avidly, as they seek to build a nation-wide highs-speed data network that beats everything else previously built or proposed. And now, our friend Dave Salvador, tells us that Gogo is rounding third base and heading for home. Gogo is building the world’s first 5G network exclusively for business aviation and as of today, 121 of 150 planned towers are LIVE. Completion is expected before the end of the year.

New Owner Ferries the Aircraft on Transatlantic Flight Home

Daher's newest version of the TBM family, the TBM 960, has been a popular addition to the fold with 17 delivered following its June FAA certification. The TBM has proven a fast seller at home and abroad, with 20 brand new TBM 960s being ordered since the model's introduction. The lucky recipient of aircraft number 20 was Johnie Weems, a South Florida businessman. This plane will be his fourth TBM, no small feat for any model in the competitive business turboprop market.

Bird Bests Hawk: Uninjured Pilot Lands Safely

The British Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows aerobatic team was forced to cut short its performance at the Rhyl Air Show on 28 August 2022 when squadron leader Gregor Ogston was forced to break away from a formation after a bird impacted and shattered the canopy of his BAE Hawk T1A aircraft. Witnesses on the ground reported hearing a “loud pop” as bird and plane collided.

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The bankruptcy of Aha! airlines and its parent company, Georgia-based ExpresJet, has grounded a fleet of five Embraer ERJ145 regional jets and the crews who flew them. Piedmont Airlines has announced that it will provide employment-relief to the newly displaced ExpressJet airmen under the distressed carrier provision of its ALPA-negotiated pilot contract. DJI has unveiled their newest drone, breaking the mold with a compact, sharp little unit geared towards agile, quick recording wherever necessary. The Avata breaks from the usual convention among drones, opting to enclose all 4 electric rotors within an arrangement of rings directly underneath the fuselage. That small size makes it a perfect fit for cramped, high speed flights. Hold your nose... another smug poltician knows what's good for the rest of us, though his errant assumptions seem pretty questionable.

Also: Scandinavian Airlines Cancellations, Aleutian Airways, Org. of Black Aerospace Professionals, FAA DRS

Canada, New Zealand, and Australia have no age limits for pilots. Japan has increased its mandatory pilot retirement age to 68. The United States and most European countries have maintained a pilot age limit of 60-years—though some E.U. member states have filed for exemption requests. In 1963, ICAO raised the mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots from 45-years—as laid down in 1919, when people died in droves of maladies and injuries now considered minor—to 60-years. In 2006, the age limit was raised to 65-years—albeit conditionally. Skyborne Airline Academy, the Part 141 flight school with campuses in Vero Beach, Florida and Gloucestershire, U.K., is partnering with Purdue University Global to offer its students online learning and flight training options by which to earn bachelor’s degrees in professi

Also: ASTM Vertiport/Vertistop Standards, MQ-8 Fire Scout, SpaceX Dragon, New Shepard’s 23rd Flt

Airbus’s Zephyr 8 UAV, a high-flying critter borne aloft for months on end by vast wings and solar-powered batteries, has a wingspan of 82-feet, weighs a scant 165-pounds, and spent the summer of 2022—most of it, anyway—soaring over the American Southwest. Regrettably, the Zephyr 8’s summertime sojourn came to an unexpected and tragic end on 19 August, when, for reasons passing understanding, it fell from the Arizona sky just hours short of breaking the 64-day, 22-hour, 19-minute, 05-second continuous flight record set in 1959 by two lunatics in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk. The Bristow Group has gone in on BETA Technologies’ ALIA-250 electronic VTOL aircraft with an order covering up to 55 of the aircraft. The vertical flight specialist seems confident in the new technology, placing an order for 5 initial aircraft with the

Also: ACE's 150th PPL!, New Shepard’s 23rd Flight, Astronauts and Cosmonauts, Aha! Airlines

The 2022 Midwest LSA Expo will take place Thursday, September 8, through Saturday, September 10th at Mt. Vernon Outland Airport (KMVN), Mt. Vernon, Illinois. This is the 14th year for the event! The free event features many Light Sport Aircraft, including Part 103, STOL and Gyroplanes on one accessible and demo-flight friendly flightline. Craftsmanship and innovation will be on display at the KR National Gathering – running concurrently on Friday and Saturday. Airbus’s Zephyr 8 UAV, a high-flying critter borne aloft for months on end by vast wings and solar-powered batteries, has a wingspan of 82-feet, weighs a scant 165-pounds, and spent the summer of 2022—most of it, anyway—soaring over the American Southwest. Regrettably, the Zephyr 8’s summertime sojourn came to an unexpected and tragic end on 19 August, when, f

Space-Age Traffic Jams Cause A Few Days Additional Wait Time

NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 12:45 p.m. EDT Monday, Oct. 3, for the launch of the agency’s Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station. The date adjustment allows for extra separation with spacecraft traffic coming to and from the space station. Crew-5 will carry two NASA astronauts Mission Commander Nicole Mann and Pilot Josh Cassada, along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina, who will serve as mission specialists.

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The FAA has awarded $2.7-million to further research pertaining to the means and methods by which Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV)s may be applied to disaster preparedness and emergency relief efforts. Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen states: “Every second counts in an emergency, and this funding will allow drones to safely and more quickly deploy in moments when minutes matter:” In 2016, Snapchat—the American multimedia instant messaging app and service—rebranded itself Snap Inc. In addition to the name change, Snap announced its aspiration to become a camera maker. In the wake of bad reviews, poor sales, and the weakest quarterly sales growth in company history, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel announced to employees that the company is reprioritizing its resources, resulting in the shut-down of Pixy. General Atomics Aero

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The Red Arrows, officially, the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is to Great Britain what the Blue Angels, Thunderbirds, and Las Vegas are to Americans. Regrettably, the Red Arrows’ characteristic brilliance has been sullied of late by a series of scandals and internal imbroglios. Reportedly; the group has fallen into a state of mutual loathing, forced expulsions, and bitter resignations. The cockpit-crew of an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sudan to the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Ababa fell asleep at the controls of their Boeing 737-800. Air traffic controllers tried repeatedly to contact the aircraft as it continued past its filed destination of Bole International Airport, and proceeded leisurely westbound for the duration of the pilots’ naps. In August 2022, Rotax was pleased to welcome over one-hundred gue