History’s Second Moonwalker Gets a Boost in Rank

Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Buzz Aldrin—Apollo 11 lunar module pilot and the second man, after Apollo 11 mission commander Neil Armstrong, to walk on Earth’s moon—will receive an honorary appointment to the rank of brigadier general during a ceremony on 05 May at Los Angeles Air Force Base.

www.airborne-live.net Is Your Passport to AMAZING News From The Avionics World!

Shortly after the ANN and Airborne-LIVE crews flooded the aviation world with over two dozen major news announcements at the Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo, with the Sun ‘n Fun Innovation Preview, we’re getting ready to shake up the avionics world, for the fifteenth year in a row, with over 30 New Product Introductions as part of our valued partnership with the Aircraft Electronics Association. From April 24th to the 26th, ANN will be livecasting at least a dozen hours of LIVE Avionics news and information from the floors of the AEA Convention and Tra

Hero Aviator to be Interred in New York

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced on 19 April 2023 that U.S. Army Air Forces First Lieutenant John B. Thomas of Rochester, New York, who lost his life at age 23 fighting in the Second World War’s European Theater, had been accounted for on 30 September 2022.

DJI to Pay Bell-Textron $279-Million

On 21 April 2023—following U.S. District Judge Alan Albright’s refusal to allow jurors to examine drone models salient to a patent infringement trial pertaining to a particular aerial remote control technology—a Texas federal jury determined Chinese drone powerhouse DJI should pay nearly $279-million to Bell Textron for infringing upon a pair of the latter company’s patents.

Keep On Rockin’ on the Red World

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter is a small robotic rotorcraft currently operating on Mars. On 13 April 2023, Ingenuity made its fiftieth flight, thereby marking 728 days of flightworthiness on barren, inhospitable Mars—all the while without maintenance or even so much as a cleaning.

Also: VFS Enjoys Growth, Airlines V Rockets, MQ-20 UAS, New Bell Prez

The FAA has granted SpaceX final regulatory approval to carry out the first orbital flight test of the company’s Starship super-heavy-lift launch vehicle. The inaugural space-flight MAY see the Starship SN24 prototype blasted spaceward atop SpaceX’s Super Heavy Booster-7 later this week after a halted attempt on Monday. The mission will launch from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. SkyDrop, neé Flirtey, has obtained its Part 102 approval from the New Zealand CAA to launch the firm's first drone hub in Huntly, New Zealand. The new location will allow t

Meet the Next-Gen, Same as the Old-Gen

The Department of the Air Force has selected the next bases to obtain the latest and greatest in America’s fighter lineup, with bases in Massachusetts, Louisiana, and California on tap to receive F-35As and F-15EXs. The Barnes Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, was selected as the ‘preferred location’ to host the next F-35A Lightning II squadron. It will be given 18 F-35As to complete their mission going forward. Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans and Fresno Air National Guard Base, California, will both replace their aging and likely somewhat ragged F-15C and -D model Eagles with brand-new, next-gen F-15EX Strike Eagles - or at least as ‘next-gen’ as a 50-ye

Sweet Sounds and Innovation

On 24 April 2023, Alto Aviation introduced its new and proprietary series of base receptacles developed specifically for the company’s articulating tablet holders. The new product was launched at the New Products Introduction Session at the 66th Annual Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) Convention & Trade Show currently underway at Orlando, Florida’s Convention Center.    

From 2014 (YouTube Version): Innovative Aerodynamic Technologies Produce Game-Changing Results

At the NBAA 2013 convention, ANN CEO and Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell had a chance to talk with Tamarack Aerospace Group about their partnership with the Cessna to provide winglet modifications for certain Cessna jet models. Nick Guida, founder and president of Tamarack Aerospace Group explained to Jim the uniqueness of their product. Adding winglets to an airplane aerodynamically increases the aspect ratio of the wing creating less drag and more efficiency. However, they also create greater wing bending moments which leads to a requirement to either st

ATD Flight Systems Loses Entire Training Fleet

On Thursday, 20 April 2023, high, gusty winds resultant of a passing storm destroyed eight airplanes and damaged three others at Kansas City, Missouri’s Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport (MKC). The entirety of the destroyed and damaged aircraft belong to ATD Flight Systems, a flight school and 27-year MKC institution.

Despite Logbook Showing a Replacement, Incident Aircraft Flew with Non-Functional ELT

The NTSB has reported an uncomfortable possibility in a crash that occurred in Alaska’s Eagle River Valley in July of 2021: The ELT may not have activated after the aircraft impacted a mountainside. The crash Killed a 23-year-old CFI and a 27–year-old pilot while out on a discovery flight for a local flight school, heading out in the direction of the Chugach mountains.

Aero Linx: International Flying Farmers Of all private pilots, Flying Farmers are perhaps the only ones who will tell you their Cessnas and Beechcrafts and Pipers are no different from their combines, tractors, and pickup trucks. After all, airplanes are workhorses too, for hauling supplies, for checking irrigation systems, for compressing the time between the farm and parts store. Currently based in Mansfield, Illinois, the IFF got its start in 1944 in Stillwater, Oklahoma, when two men decided to visit some flying farmers...

Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics and True Blue Power AEA2023 Booth #202

Lock in the Fastest, Most Efficient USB Charging with New, 100-Watt Chargers

True Blue Power 100-watt MAX USB Chargers will be on display in the True Blue Power and Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics booth, #202, throughout AEA, April 24 – 27 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

Clearance Void If Not Off By (Time) Used by ATC to advise an aircraft that the departure release is automatically canceled if takeoff is not made prior to a specified time. The expiration of a clearance void time does not cancel the departure clearance or IFR flight plan. It withdraws the pilot's authority to depart IFR until a new departure release/release time has been issued by ATC. Pilots who choose to depart VFR after their clearance void time has expired should not depart using the previously assigned IFR transponder code.