Also: Tiny Helicopter UAV, Aero-Calendar, 'Henry O' Scholarship, USMC CH-53E, Pilot FUI,  Military Helo Engines, Bell Commits

The Aircraft Electronics Association has released its second-quarter 2016 Avionics Market Report and, unfortunately, it seems to be in line with other aviation Business Association reports that have recently come out.

The bottom line is, sales are down. In the first six months of the year, total worldwide business and general aviation avionics sales amounted to about $1.1 billion. This number indicates a 6.5 percent decrease when compared to the first six months of 2015. On Sunday, August 14, SpaceX launched their Falcon 9 booster with a JCSAT-16 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, into a geostationary transfer orbit. While this appears to be a pretty common thing nowadays, leave it to SpaceX to put their own brand of ‘icing on top of the cake.” Bringing the booster back for a safe landing on their floating platform is particularly tricky because of the height of this orbit. It requires a lot of fuel to get the satellite where it needs to be and still leave enough to maneuver the booster back to Earth for a safe landing. The U.S. Air Force would like to keep the fighter and UAV pilots it has trained - and they are looking to one of the best motivators to do so. According to a report in the Air Force Times, the answer is - Cash. It’s reported the Air Force is looking to nearly double retention bonuses for pilots to nearly $48,000 per year. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne!!!

Airborne 08.16.16 is chock full of info in this Daily News Episode, Tuesday, August 16th, 2016... Presented by Aero-TV veteran videographer and Airborne Hosts Brianne Cross and Christopher Odom, and supported by ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell, Chief Videographer Nathan Cremisino, and Aero-Journalists Tom Patton, and Earl Downs, this episode covers:

• AEA Unveils Second-Quarter 2016 Avionics Market Report
• SpaceX Has Pulled Off Another Falcon9 Launch & Landing
• USAF Looks To Boost Pilot Retention Pay
• Marine Corps Tests Tiny Helicopter UAV
• Aero-Calendar 08.16.16
• NASAO Awards First 'Henry O' Scholarship
• Three-Year Effort Will Repair All 147 Aging USMC CH-53E Helicopters
• Pilot Charged With Operating An Aircraft Under The Influence Sentenced
• Future Military Helicopter Engine Program Moves Forward
• Bell Helicopter Commits To Lafayette, LA

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 Unlimited" here on Aero-TV. Thanks for watching. See you, again, tomorrow!

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