Air Shows Run The Whole Week With Warbirds, Demonstrators, and Rarities Galore

This year's schedule for AirVenture has been unveiled, with every day of the expo filled with a variety of performances, aircraft, and demonstrations unseen anywhere else. AirVenture will enter its 71st year from July 22nd to the 28th, at its longtime home at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Old warbirds and high-strung racers can be finicky little monsters, and it's not all too rare for surprise maintenance to crop up the day before a demo. But for most planning purposes, the schedule below is what you'll get.

Handful of Conditions to See Different Treatment Going Forward

The Federal Aviation Administration released a substantial update to their Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners, shaking things up with a whole host of new industry consensus and refreshed policy regarding some common health conditions. Things aren't exactly easy street across the board, since AME's will still have to follow some very specific criteria for congestive heart failure and a handful of mental health issues, but it's a great improvement to the previous system.

Charter Operator Promises to Convert 4 of its Grand Caravans to Surf's Electric Propulsion

Surf Air Mobility inked a memorandum of understanding with a Brazilian Caravan operator to convert 4 of their aircraft into electric aircraft. Surf Air has been pretty busy finding business south of the equator, where the Cessna Caravan and Grand Caravan often form the backbone of outlying settlements' air transit. Asta Linhas Aéreas plies the usual Caravan trade in Brazil, focusing on tourism, corporate, cargo, and charter services with the robustly capable aircraft. They intend to send 4 of their Grand Caravans up to Surf Air Mobility for the modification once it's certified.  

Wildfires, Beetles Endanger Oldest Growth in the Country, Requiring Attentive Care

The US National Park Service isn't very accepting of drone operations throughout its purview, but once in a while even they see some use in the little tools, particularly where they can be used to assess the health of old growth forests without the hubbub of a crewed aircraft. Doodle Labs highlighted its work in networking a recent effort to scan, document, and assess the health of 'General Sherman', the world's largest living tree. A crew brought out a Firefly Astro Prime and one of the Labs' mesh networks to provide a C2 uplink as the drone checked the tree for beetle damage. 

First Non-Conforming Aircraft Coming Along Nicely Down in Brazil

Eve Air Mobility showed off the process of building its first full-size eVTOL prototype, getting a little attention boost while giving out some visual proof of their advancement. “From the beginning, we’ve made strategic choices in the design and configuration of our eVTOL to be able to accomplish a variety of urban mobility missions in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible, with a high safety level and reduced impact in the communities where it will be operated. Higher dispatch reliability equals more flights per day, an important factor for our customers and their business model.” said Luiz Valentini, chief technology officer at Eve Air Mobility.

Florida Air Museum Has New Attractions for Children Looking to Learn

Sheltair Aviation and the Aerospace Center for Excellence continued their ever-expanding portfolio of activities with the opening of the Jerry Holland Destination: Aviation Playground, offering a fun, engaging play environment for kids in Lakeland, Florida. The playground was opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by ACE president and CEO Gene Conrad, with remarks from Lisa Holland, President and CEO of Sheltair and daughter of Jerry Holland.

Expanded Services Address Customer Service Shortcomings Down Under

A 2020 purchase of Premiair Aviation Maintenance is now bearing fruit, with Textron Aviation announcing a name change to embody its primary Australian presence. After 4 years of digestion, the firm has finished integrating the Premiair brand into their company, and will now emblazon their Australian assets as Textron Aviation Australia Pty Limited. Now, Premiair's facilities in Perth, Gold Coast, and Melbourne will be prominent nodes in Textron Aviation's comprehensive global service network. 

Advisory Circular Aims to Reduce the Amount of Paperwork Needed for eVTOL Certification

The FAA is looking for public commentary on a draft Advisory Circular regarding the type, production, and airworthiness certification of powered-lift. The FAA says recent applications for the type certification of powered-lift have proposed passenger seating configurations of six or fewer, weighing 12,500 pounds or less, and utilizing battery-powered electric propulsion. For such projects, the FAA published the proposed airworthiness criteria for public consideration and comment, and has drawn on that body of work to draft an advisory circular called “Type Certification—Powered-lift.”

Middle East and South Africa VFR Charts Added to A La Carte Offerings

ForeFlight announced a modest update to their flagship EFB product, with ForeFlight 16.5 adding one moderately useful feature and a pair of pretty niche ones. Top of mind for the update is an alert for wake turbulence events, a slick little system that draws data from FLARM and ADS-B systems to calculate the prospective wake turbulence caused by traffic ahead of the user. When flying at or above 500 feet AGL, ForeFlight continuously calculates wake effects from nearby aircraft using their position, altitude, speed, weight category, and winds aloft information, then compares these with its current flight path. If the course is set to intersect with the expected pocket of turbulence, ForeFlight can issue a prominent audiovisual alert to notify the pilot. 

Revised Runway Revitalizes Airport with Smooth Pavement, Extra Capacity

Renovations to Pueblo Memorial Airport’s (KPUB) runway 8R/26L have been completed after a closure of 21 days, granting locals and transients 10,500 feet of runway. The local Pueblo, Colorado FBO, Freeman Jet Center, is happy to announce that things are up and running there, with amenities sufficient to accommodate aircraft up to a C5 in size. To celebrate the change and entice visitors to try out the new tarmac, Freeman Jet Center is giving double AVTRIP Points through the end of July, which. The renovation project, which began earlier this year and closed the runway for 21 days, includes 10,500 square feet of brand-new runway surface, ready to accommodate aircraft up to a C5.