More Stupid Aero-Trix: Lamborghini Doing Donuts In A Dry Lake Bed Was The Target

Suk Min Choi, known to his million-plus YouTube subscribers as Alex Choi, has been arrested and faces federal charges for “causing the placement of an explosive or incendiary device on an aircraft.” The charges result from Choi’s allegedly being the mastermind behind a scheme to create a video showing a Lamborghini speeding and doing donuts on a dry lake bed as passengers in a low-flying helicopter shoot fireworks aimed at the car. The video is titled “Destroying a Lamborghini with Fireworks” and was captured in June 2023.

Small Minority of Reporters Accounts for Majority of Complaints

It's not news to those who've spent their time instructing, but sometimes a perfect confluence of obsession, zoning, and property ownership result in an obsessive, all-consuming need to tattle on the aircraft above. Airservices Australia logged a single resident's noise complaints in Perth more than 20,700 times throughout 2023, accounting for more than half of the entire country's noise reports in all. She wasn't the only reporter in the country with such an outsized effect, with the runner-up accounting for 4,071 complaints throughout the year. The data was gleaned from an Australian senate inquiry surrounding the effects of aircraft noise on city life.

"Sorry Kid, You're Last in Line for a Refund"

Students of Atlantis Aviation Flight school are apparently either out the total sum of their prepaid flight training, or waiting on probate to get on with their careers, after the owners of the school died in a plane crash last March. The owners' lawyer, Samantha Fitzgerald, had no good news for the students, noting that they fall a lot further back in the queue of payments to be made. "It's an extremely tragic and unfortunate situation. Since the flight school owners are all dead, the estate has to go through the legal process, and creditors are paid in a certain order. In this case, there are bank loans that are secured creditors and unfortunately, they are in a priority position over the studen

West 30th Street Heliport Saved by VAI Advocacy

Vertical Aviation International successfully used its call to action to ensure the salvation of the West 30th Street Heliport in New York City. The issue resulted in more than 96,000 emails sent to the New York State Legislature, a mountain of support in pushing government stakeholders to reconsider their previous course of action. “The legislation now includes a task force with industry representation ensuring that we have a seat at the table and our voice will be heard as conversations about the future of the heliport continue in the months and years to come,” said Josh Rousseau, VAI’s Northeast US regional representative. 

Poplar, Wisconsin and Madang, Papua New Guinea Become Sister Cities

The effort to recover the remains of Richard Bong's old P-38 Lightning have already fostered some changes between Pacific Wrecks, the team searching for it, and its resting place of Papua New Guinea. Bong earned himself the Medal of Honor while flying 'Marge', his P-38, but the aircraft was lost when it was loaned out to another pilot in his unit, never to be seen again. Now, with the industry hungry for warbirds to resurrect, Pacific Wrecks has undergone the exhaustive process of cross referencing records and searching the jungles for P-38 wreckage, and they've been fortunate enough to find it.

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Archer has been given some very good news as of late, now having been granted their operator certificate from the FAA. Even better for them, they've been given the Part 135 cert too, empowering their plans for air taxi operations in the future once the Midnight aircraft is ready to go. Once in full swing, Archer will offer short-hop rides aboard their 4-passenger eVTOL aircraft. Harbour Air, an all-seaplane operator in Vancouver, announced that they would be offering a conversion program using some of their single-engine turboprops and magniX's Magni650 electric s

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The Rotax folks have published a Service Bulletin after issues were noted that may affect all R915i and R916i series engines. Rotax operators have reported occasional, isolated, cases a momentary slipping of the overload clutch -- which may lead to a slight exceedance of the maximum rpm limit, followed by the engine rpm quickly normalizing. As previously noted, the next Starship launch seems to be pending... soon. According to Elon's troops, the fourth flight test of Starship could launch as soon as June 6 (pending regulatory approval). The launch window will open as early as 0700

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The Drone industry has raised its hackles regarding the Drones for First Responders Act introduced by Congressional rep Elise Stefanik, describing it as a boon to the EMS/Fire/Police crowd at the expense of the recreational and commercial drone industries. Pivotal signed an 'Other Transaction Authority' contract with the US Air Force and its AFWERX Agility Prime program, providing them with access to testing facilities, segregated airspace, and "expert resources" for a 2-year term. The firm sees the contract as a very solid step in the right direction, where they'll be able to make the bes

A Rotax Clone Arrives State-Side

Richard Kaczmarek brought out their fresh import of Zonsen aircraft engines to Sun 'n Fun 2024, showing off the potential of an affordable Rotax clone for the US market. Zonsen's Chinese origins may be polarizing to some, but Kaczmarek says the consumer wins in the end. More competition, more parts support, more engines, and lower prices are always good to hear for the average aircraft builder, and the Zonsen's warranty could help assuage any lingering doubts. It's new, of course, but for those willing to give it a try, it might prove itself worthy of attention in time. CKD Aero Already has a handful of options for builders, fro

Function-First EFB Enjoins iFly Software with Robust, but Average Hardware

Adventure Pilot has released their own hardware to match their iFly EFB software, unveiling a robust Android tablet well-paired to the rigors of cockpit operations. The tablet goes against the grain of most tablet releases in 2024, sporting a chunky, padded figure and a thickly framed 7-inch, 800-nit screen. The iFly EFB Aviation Tablet meant to perform as either a backup EFB computer or an on-panel device, particularly when paired with Adventure Pilot's dock. The Docking Station allows it to send NMEA data to the autopilot, fuel computer, or compatible EFIS, and connects directly to the Tablet by way of a 24-pin contact point. 

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The Drone industry has raised its hackles regarding the Drones for First Responders Act introduced by Congressional rep Elise Stefanik, describing it as a boon to the EMS/Fire/Police crowd at the expense of the recreational and commercial drone industries. Pivotal signed an 'Other Transaction Authority' contract with the US Air Force and its AFWERX Agility Prime program, providing them with access to testing facilities, segregated airspace, and "expert resources" for a 2-year term. The firm sees the contract as a very solid step in the right direction, where they'll be able to make

(Witnesses) Reported The Helicopter Flew Past Their Location Westbound, Then Rapidly Descended Without Making Any Turns

On July 16, 2022, about 1920 mountain daylight time, a Bell UH-1H, N911SZ, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Chapelle, New Mexico. The pilot, two tactical flight observers, and the rescue specialist sustained fatal injuries. The helicopter was operated as a Title 41 United States Code public aircraft flight. After several firefighting missions were flown in support of the New Mexico Forestry Division, the helicopter was fueled at Las Vegas Municipal Airport (LVS), Las Vegas, New Mexico.

From 2017 (YouTube Version): Avilution 'Unpanel' Represents A Major Change In VFR Avionics…

One of the most innovative things on display at AirVenture this summer was the Avilution Unpanel, which represents a major change in avionics for VFR airplanes. Mark Spencer, Founder of Avilution, told Aero-News editor Tom Patton that the company designed the Unpanel by approaching avionics as a software "problem", making it possible to bring a product to the market much faster. The Unpanel was developed in conjunction with Zenith Aircraft

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Aero Linx: Waco Museum The WACO Historical Society, in addition to preserving aviation's past, is also dedicated and actively works to nurture aviation's future through its Learning Center programs. The goal of the Learning Center is to use aviation-related hands-on teaching projects to inspire and educate. We want to reach students, assist and train teachers, and inspire adults to support lifelong learning.

Adcock Range National low-frequency radio navigation system (c.1930-c.1950) replaced by an omnirange (VOR) system. It consisted of four segmented quadrants broadcasting Morse Code "A" (dot-dash) and "N" (dash-dot) signals in opposing quadrants so that pilots could orient their position relative to a "beam" broadcasting a steady tone, and a Morse Code station identifier. Using a "build-and-fade" technique, a pilot could (ideally) pinpoint his location by the strength or weakness of a signal. 

“The legislation now includes a task force with industry representation ensuring that we have a seat at the table and our voice will be heard as conversations about the future of the heliport continue in the months and years to come...”  Source: Josh Rousseau, VAI’s Northeast US regional representative, commenting as Vertical Aviation International  claims that it successfully used its call to action to ensure the salvation of the West 30th Street Heliport in New York City.