Blue Origin Rider, Shatner Co-Astronaut, Fatality in NJ Cessna Crash

Glen de Vries, a passenger on the same Blue Origin flight that took screen legend William Shatner into low orbit, has tragically passed in an apparent accident that took place in a possible training flight in Hampton New Jersey. De Vries was accompanied by Tom Fischer, a certified flight instructor and owner of Fischer Aviation, a flight school in Essex County in a Cessna 172 that was declared missing around 15:00 on November 11. The aircraft was found about an hour later in a densely-wooded area in Bear Swamp Wildlife Management Area. Current cause is unknown. 

Retractable Gear, Adjustable Prop, Lightweight Sporter

It's no secret that the market for sport aircraft is competitive, even busy, when the full spectrum of aircraft is considered throughout the world. The sum of hundreds of manufacturers worldwide, vying for the most diverse pilot groups in all of aerospace, trying to one-up each other while meeting varied worldwide requirements for size and weight. The cap on certain dimensions for ultralights, light sports, or similar classifications have resulted in a developmental arms race, with each brand striving to improve their products while maximizing market compatibility of their aircraft. Sport aircraft have become the one of the last bastions of enthusiasts, an endangered species of affordable, enj

Some Good News, Some Bad News

NASA has released their first major timeline update for the upcoming Artemis program, the first attempt to land astronauts on the moon. After announcing another setback in the targeted date, pushing the expected landing from the initially established 2024 to at optimistic 2025 if all goes well. Recent delays were blamed on legal wrangling with commercial industry partner Blue Origin, when they exhausted every legal avenue to thwart the Artemis program's manned lander project unless they were given a prime share of the project. After a judge recently decided to uphold NASA's stance in relation to the lawsuit- that they have full discretion to select whomever they choose for a contract, regardless of previous non-b

World Record Made to Promote French Muscular Dystrophy Telethon

French balloonist Remi Ouvrard made his mark on hot air balloon history, when he rode standing atop a balloon envelope to a new record altitude. Launched from Chatellerault, France, Ouvrard made the feat to promote the 35th AFM Téléthon for the French Muscular Dystrophy Association. The target altitude, 3,637 meters, coincided with the Telethon campaign number, but the lift reached a maximum of 4,016 meters (13,176 feet) at its height. Dressed in a spacesuit costume, tethered to a small platform where he was equipped with a small, folding camp chair, he held up the telethon phone number for the photo op.

$20.3 Million Deal for Loitering Tactical Missile System

For years, “smart” missiles, the hypothetical autonomous munitions have remained a futuristic element relegated to media and gaming. Finally, it seems, reality is catching up to fiction. Referred to as a “Loitering Missile”, the Switchblade 600 represents a new generation of semi-autonomous, ranged munitions that have come of age in recent years to face rapid integration into armed forces looking for enhanced lethality with minimal operations footprints. Consisting of a man-portable, 33 pound, drone-like warhead and 50 pound launch and communications system, the weapon system offers considerable flexibility in munitions delivery with very small changes to existing inf

Deja Vú as Jammed Elevators Found Again

The NTSB issued an update into the October 19 incident at Houston Executive Airport involving an MD-87 that overran the runway following a rejected takeoff. New information may have confirmed some concerns about the elevator linkage, with reports that the actuating cranks for the elevator's geared tabs were bent outboard, with their links bent. Both the actuating cranks and links were found locked in an overcenter position beyond their normal range of travel. The similarity in the tail jamming phenomenon has been noted to a similar MD-83 rejected takeoff and elevator jam that occurred in 2017. 

Adds Apple Watch Flight Logging And Pilotbase Resumé Support

In a move to ease record keeping for professional pilots, Coradine and Pilotbase announce the integration of their products. Coaradine's LogTen pilot Logbook will now integrate with the Pilotbase job platform, enabling pilots to automatically update and populate their profile's information with up to date, detailed logbook information. The pilot profiles will easily keep track of total flight time, PIC time, and sim time by aircraft type, a boon to pilots tired of constant updates to keep their competitive edge in the job market. Recruiters interested in a candidate can see that their information is up to date and current, as well as infer activity of a pilot for those they h

From 2016: The RANS S-21 Kit-Built Airplane Encompasses a Unique Building Concept…

While ANN CEO and Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell, was stomping around EAA AirVenture 2016 on his “What’s New” rounds, he stopped to talk with Randy Schlitter, the founder and owner of RANS Designs, which is the company that produces the RANS line of kit-built airplanes. While RANS has been around for a long time, they still managed to come up with something new in the RANS S-21. For those of you who are familiar with the RANS airplanes this truly is “Breaking News.” RANS has been noted for building tube-and-rag airplane designs, but th

Airplane Continued In A Descending Left Turn Until ADS-B Contact Was Lost At 1402

On October 17, 2021, about 1402 mountain standard time, a Rockwell International, 112B airplane, N112LS, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Three Points, Arizona. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated by the pilot as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Recorded Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) showed that the airplane departed from runway 24L at Ryan Field (RYN), Tucson, Arizona, about 1339, ascended to 4,500 ft mean sea level (msl) and traveled southwest for about 5 minutes before conducting multiple 180 degree turns over a

AD 2021-21-06 Requires Removing Certain Part-Numbered Cooling Fans From Service

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Hélicoptères Guimbal (HG) Model Cabri G2 helicopters with certain part-numbered aluminum cooling fans (cooling fan) installed. This AD was prompted by a report of an occurrence of an in-flight shutdown due to a crack and subsequent failure of the cooling fan. This AD requires removing certain part-numbered cooling fans from service, or modifying certain part-numbered cooling fans before exceeding a certain total hours time-in-service (TIS), and installing newly designed cooling fans. This AD also prohibits installing any affected cooling fan on any helicopter. The FAA is issuing this AD to address

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North Atlantic High Level Airspace (NAT HLA) That volume of airspace (as defined in ICAO Document 7030) between FL 285 and FL 420 within the Oceanic Control Areas of Bodo Oceanic, Gander Oceanic, New York Oceanic East, Reykjavik, Santa Maria, and Shanwick, excluding the Shannon and Brest Ocean Transition Areas. ICAO Doc 007 North Atlantic Operations and Airspace Manual provides detailed information on related aircraft and operational requirements.

Navigation Reference System (NRS) The NRS is a system of waypoints developed for use within the United States for flight planning and navigation without reference to ground based navigational aids. The NRS waypoints are located in a grid pattern along defined latitude and longitude lines. The initial use of the NRS will be in the high altitude environment in conjunction with the High Altitude Redesign initiative. The NRS waypoints are intended for use by aircraft capable of point-to-point navigation.

"We are devastated to hear of the sudden passing of Glen de Vries. He brought so much life and energy to the entire Blue Origin team and to his fellow crewmates. His passion for aviation, his charitable work, and his dedication to his craft will long be revered and admired." Source: A statement by Blue Origin, upon noting the passing of one of their first space tourists, a part of the mission that also carried William Shatner to a point past the Karman Line.