Italian Government Approves Sale, Keeping Company Alive

The government of Italy approved the sale of longtime manufacturing and aerospace company Piaggio Aerospace to the Turkish firm Baykar, who said the acquisition will expand its reach in the European Union. It may also give Baykar access to the U.S. F-35 program through Piaggio, who supplies some components of the F-135 engine.

National Monument Becomes Latest NPS Unit To End Overflights

Commercial overflights at Canyon de Chelly National Monument in northeastern Arizona will be prohibited under at Air Tour Management Plan (ATMP) put together by the FAA and the National Park Service (NPS). Canyon de Chelly joins about two dozen other national park units that have or are in the process of curtailing commercial overflights.

Deployment Of sUAS Units In Multiple Theaters Worldwide

Performance Drone Works (PDW) announced it has secured more than $15.3 million in sales and contracts from the U.S. Army to provide its C100 Group 2 Small Uncrewed Aircraft System (sUAS) to support the Army’s “Transformation in Contact” initiative. The Army recently selected the C100 for its Directed Requirement for Company-Level sUAS.

First Slovenian-Made Very Light Turboprop Aircraft

The first very light turboprop aircraft built in Slovenia successfully completed its maiden flight at Maribor Edvard Rusjan Airport (LJMB) in Maribor, Slovenia, with test pilot Nejc Faganelj at the controls and test pilot Mirko Anželj overseeing the flight from the ground.

Undisclosed Customer Is Sixth Operator Of Aircraft In Africa

Embraer announced a contract to sell four of its advanced trainer and light attack A-29 Super Tucanos to an undisclosed customer in Africa, who becomes the sixth operator of the aircraft on the continent.

Be VERY Careful With What You Wish For, Klyde

FMI: www.klydemorris.com

Also: FAA OKs Starship 7, Drone TFRs, Commercial Drone Restrictions, USCG Fleet Upgrades

No surprise here, as the inevitable takeover of Icon becomes an International Game. ICON Aircraft will be moving “a portion” (with likely more to come) of its manufacturing to a new state-of-the-art facility in China but will (for now...) maintain its headquarters in Vacaville, California. Jason Huang will be stepping down as President and will transition into an advisory role with SG Investment America, the company that now owns ICON. Boom’s XB-1 took another step to achieving its goal of getting to airspeed Mach 1.0 in its latest Flight 10 on Dece

Also: Velocity Display, Starlink Mini For GA?, 2025 FSA FlightSimExpo, Drone Sightings

The surprise announcement of FAA Boss, Michael Whitaker’’s impending resignation caught much of the industry off guard. While initial concerns surround the state of various Boeing machinations/investigations, those of us in the sport and general aviation community have concerns on the much-delayed, oft-promised final publication of MOSAIC. Flight Design general aviation GmbH has filed for bankruptcy. The company is based at Eisenach-Kindel airfield in Germany. This development follows a string of financial troubles in the aviation industry, including bankru

Filling Air Defense Gaps As Saab 105s Retire

Austria will replace its fleet of retired Saab 105 training aircraft with the Leonardo M-346FA advanced trainer and light fighter-attack multi-role jets, as confirmed by Austrian Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner on December 28, 2024.

Also: FAA OKs Starship 7, Drone TFRs, Commercial Drone Restrictions, USCG Fleet Upgrades

No surprise here, as the inevitable takeover of Icon becomes an International Game. ICON Aircraft will be moving “a portion” (with likely more to come) of its manufacturing to a new state-of-the-art facility in China but will (for now...) maintain its headquarters in Vacaville, California. Jason Huang will be stepping down as President and will transition into an advisory role with SG Investment America, the company that now owns ICON. Boom’s XB-1 took another step to achieving its goal of getting to airspeed Mach 1.0 in its latest Flight 10

Also: Velocity Display, Starlink Mini For GA?, 2025 FSA FlightSimExpo, Drone Sightings

The surprise announcement of FAA Boss, Michael Whitaker’’s impending resignation caught much of the industry off guard. While initial concerns surround the state of various Boeing machinations/investigations, those of us in the sport and general aviation community have concerns on the much-delayed, oft-promised final publication of MOSAIC. Flight Design general aviation GmbH has filed for bankruptcy. The company is based at Eisenach-Kindel airfield in Germany. This development follows a string of financial troubles in the aviation industry, including

Also: M700 UK Cert, Symphony Engine $$$, SkyCourier CA TC, Space License Application

SmartSky Networks has filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Gogo Inc., and Gogo Business Aviation, LLC, in U.S. District Court, alleging that Gogo engaged in monopolistic actions in the air-to-ground (ATG) broadband inflight connectivity market for business aviation.  Fourteen aviation associations and unions have sent a letter to Federal Air Surgeon Susan A. Northrup, MD, MPH, requesting a stay in implementation and to consider withdrawing a change in policy the FAA recently announced that affects the handling of medical certificate applications. The significa

A Roughly 1.5-Inch Diameter Mud Dauber Nest Was Found In The Airbox Between The Air Filter And The Throat Of The Carburetor

On December 1, 2024, about 1438 central daylight time, an American Aviation AA-1B airplane, N6242L, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident near Brenham, Texas. The pilot had his passenger were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight. The pilot reported that there was a partial loss of engine power shortly after takeoff from runway 34 at Brenham Municipal Airport (11R), Brenham, Texas. The partial loss of engine power occurred about 500 ft above the ground as the airplane crossed over the departure end of the runway.

From 2011 (YouTube Edition): Is This The First Of A New Generation Of Airplanes???

If you wanted to see aviation history in the making this week, you needed to join ANN's Nathan Cremisino at the CAFE Green Flight Challenge, where the fine folks of NASA awarded the largest prize in aviation history, created to inspire the development of more fuel-efficient aircraft and spark the start of a new electric airplane industry. The technologies demonstrated by the CAFE Green Flight Challenge, sponsored by Google, competitors may end up in general aviation aircraft, spawning new jobs and new industries for the 21st century.

Aero Linx: Tour Operators Program of Safety TOPS works as a collaborative team to develop air tour safety standards and recommended practices that are progressive, best-in-class and exceed regulatory standards. The TOPS Program of Safety continues the tradition of innovation in the area of continuous improvement of air tour safety by incorporating a requirement for Safety Management System (SMS) programs for all member operators. The organization has a robust safety culture that includes sharing of lessons learned for continuous safety improvement and by providing recommended practices that are best-in-class and exceed regulatory requirements.

Charted VFR Flyways Charted VFR Flyways are flight paths recommended for use to bypass areas heavily traversed by large turbine-powered aircraft. Pilot compliance with recommended flyways and associated altitudes is strictly voluntary. VFR Flyway Planning charts are published on the back of existing VFR Terminal Area charts. 

“It makes sense for Baykar to buy an Italian company. This will provide access to European markets, but also access to EU funded projects. I also think that this would protect Baykar’s business with European countries if there are any crises between Turkey and European countries (or EU).” Source: Caglar Kurc, a defense analyst and Assistant Professor at Abdullah Gül University, after the government of Italy approved the sale of longtime manufacturing and aerospace company Piaggio Aerospace to the Turkish firm Baykar, who said the acquisition will expand its reach in the European Union.