All Segments Show An Increase In Shipping Numbers, But Billings Remain Soft

GAMA has published its 2018 third quarter aircraft shipments and billings report. The overall delivery of airplanes and rotorcraft increased in the first nine months compared to the same time period in 2017, but with some mixed performance within the types. Total billings compared to the same period in 2017 decreased.

Also: SimCom TBM910 FTD, JAL Pilot Arrested, New Contract For 15 E175s, Aero-TV: DeltaHawk Diesel

The other shoe has dropped... Kirk Hawkins, the driving force behind the Icon Aircraft program and a massive litany of mis-steps, is no longer the CEO of the foundering aircraft concern. Icon is wrapping up the matter with as much positive spin as they can, though the company admits that Hawkins has resigned as CEO, and will reportedly stay on in "an undefined role" while President and COO Thomas Wiener will lead the company in the interim. Hawkins has been leading the company since its inception, and guided it through a series of blunders and broken promises that gave way to several minor and major accidents that tarred the image of an aircraft once touted for its safety features. The FAA has made a determination that the Hoversurf Hoverbike S3 meets the applicability requirements of § 103.1(a),

Also: Mavic 2 Pro Eval Starts, DJI Expands, FlightSafety Test Prep, What’s A ‘Hover 2?’

Imagine being a 15-year-old drone racer from Australia... and now imagine that you’re in China to win a $24K check. The new World Drone Racing Champion was announced after four days of competition at an event organized by the FAI’s World Air Sports Federation, running from 1-4 November 2018. Finishing at the top in a field of 127 drone racers from 34 countries, Rudi Browning, walked away from the experience clutching a $24,000 cash prize. Drone pilots, from commercial experts to novices, may now increase their flight precision and improve their image/video quality with a first-of-its-kind single-handed controller from Fluidity Technologies. The FT Aviator drone controller was designed by former NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski. Unlike traditional controllers, which most closely rese

One Of The True Success Stories In The Industry

Those of us who have been around General Aviation for decades have always know the name Sporty's Pilot Shop. Earlier this year, Aero-News Editor in Chief Jim Campbell sat down with John Zimmerman, the VP of Sporty's Catalog Division, to talk about the company's roots and future plans.

Also: ERAU Certified, AeroVironment Award, International Brain-Drone Race, Relmatech's Direct Broadcast Platform

European drone group Parrot has introduced Bluegrass Fields, an end-to-end agriculture drone solution, which provides farmers, agronomists and researchers with the insights they need to boost the quality of their crops and maximize yields. Parrot Bluegrass Fields brings together the Parrot Bluegrass drone with the all-new ParrotFields mobile mapping app and Pix4Dfields desktop and cloud-based drone mapping software. The Parrot Bluegrass agriculture drone features a robust carbon-fiber structure, a flight time of up to 25 minutes (three batteries are included), flight coverage of up to 160 acres per flight at 400 ft, and a backpack for easy transportation. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. recently cut the ribbon on its new 100,000 square foot UAS production facility, in Oklah

Developing A Competitiveness Toolkit To Provide Analysis Of Air Connectivity

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called for a spirit of change from governments to capture the social and economic benefits of air connectivity, by enabling a more competitive air transport sector.

New Stall Prevention Feature Was Not Adequately Publicized, Regulators Say

An automated stall-prevention system on Boeing's new 737 MAX airplanes was not properly publicized, and is being looked at as a possible contributing factor in an accident in Indonesia that fatally injured 189 people when one of the planes went down October 29.

Finds Opportunities Exist For FAA To Strengthen Its Review And Oversight Processes For Unmanned Aircraft System Waivers

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) represent a substantial economic and technological opportunity for the United States. To advance the safe integration of commercial UAS into the National Airspace System (NAS), the FAA published a rule for small UAS in June 2016. However, the rule does not permit several operations that are highly valued by industry but considered to be higher risk, such as operating beyond line of sight or over people.

Technology Has Been Developed Which Exhibits Twice The Energy Density That Of Conventional Lithium-Ion Battery

The Korean Ministry of Science and ICT have announced that a new Lithium Metal Ion battery has been developed by the KIST researchers lead by Dr. Won Il Cho. The developed battery possesses twice the energy density that of conventional Lithium Ion batteries, which are commonly used in smartphones and portable computers. The developed Lithium Metal Ion batteries are capable of maintaining 80% of the initial performance after going through more than 1,200 charge/discharge cycles.

Has Been Narrating Airshows For More Than 40 Years

Veteran airshow announces Hugh Oldham has announced he is hanging up his microphone, at least mostly.