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March 03, 2023

Airborne 03.03.23: Lear 23 Restoration, DarkAero Update, KBOS 'Close Call'

Also: DOT Investigates SecTrans, Cirrus Engineer Killed in SR22, Delta Contract, WWII Target Drone

The first Learjet to be delivered by Bill Lear’s upstart company to a paying customer has returned to its Wichita birthplace where a group of aviation enthusiasts have set forth their commitment to return the jet to airworthiness. The aircraft, a Lear-23, serial-number 23-003, registration N200Y, was manufactured in 1964 and is the third specimen of the sleek LR-23 to grace this world. DarkAero-1, a single-reciprocating-engine, low-wing, retractable-tricycle-undercarriage, normal category airplane finished F

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Delta Pilots Approve New Contract

…and It Shows

The Delta Air Lines Master Executive Council (MEC), represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), reported that 78- percent of Delta pilots had voted in favor of a new comprehensive working agreement (read labor contract). Subject agreement includes over $7-billion in cumulative increases over the coming four years. Additionally, Delta pilots—by a margin of ninety-percent—voted, in favor of a Letter of Agreement that safeguards Delta pilots’ jobs against international flying by Delta’s partner airlines.

Chief Judge Woody Ascends the Bench

On 02 March 2023, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced Judge Stephen Woody had been appointed the agency’s chief administrative law judge. Judge Woody, who’s been in the NTSB’s retinue for over a decade, has served in an acting capacity since Alfonso Montaño retired from the office of Chief Judge in December 2022.

Versatile Kodiak 100's Use as Aerial Wildfire Spotter Builds the Daher Resumé

Daher has joined the United Aerial Firefighters Association (UAFA) in a move to raise the profile of its Kodiak 100 in fire service. The freshly-formed advocacy group serves as a focused channel to bring attention to widespread issues affecting the aerial firefighting and wildfire management industry - missions closely intertwined with the utilitarian Kodiak. So far, more than 320 have been delivered to customers around the world, taking on all the roles expected of a high-wing turboprop, including cargo, transportation, ISR, survey, airmed, parachute support, poaching surveillance, and training.

A Bone to Chew

Envisioned in the 1960s as a platform that would combine the Mach 2 speed of Convair’s sexy but temperamental B-58 Hustler with the range and payload of Boeing’s rock-steady B-52 Stratofortress, Rockwell’s B-1 Lancer was meant to ultimately replace both aircraft. Following a long series of studies, Rockwell International (now part of Boeing) prevailed—besting Boeing, General Dynamics, and North American—in the U.S. Air Force’s Advanced Manned Strategic Aircraft (AMSA) design contest, submitting a concept that would, years later, emerge into the Cold War world as the B-1A.

Expects 100+ New Jets, 760 Pilots by 2024

NetJets updated its members on plans for the company, forecasting a year of continued growth for the private jet operator. The company noted that many competitors were caught almost flat footed during the surge in private jet demand throughout the pandemic era, when inventories of used jets reached their nadir in combination with high prices.

USAF Relieves 6 Minot AFB Command Officers

Tarnished Brass

Citing loss of confidence, the U.S. Air Force has relieved two high-ranking commanders and four additional officers formerly tasked with oversight of nuclear missiles and strategic bombers housed at North Dakota’s Minot Air Force Base (MIB).

A Series Of Tight Turns Were Entered Before The Airplane Subsequently Entered A Rapidly Descending Spiral Turn

On January 12, 2023, about 2017 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-28-180, N4254T, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Dawsonville, Georgia. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. According to the pilot’s family and flight track records, on January 6, 2023, the pilot departed his home airport of Stafford Regional Airport (RMN), Stafford, Virginia, and arrived at the Concord-Padgett Regional Airport (JQF), Concord, North Carolina.

Aero Linx: National Association of Flight Instructors NAFI provides valuable resources to all flight educators to further its 50+ year commitment to raise and maintain the professional standing of flight instructors in the aviation community. NAFI members follow a Code of Ethics in their flight instruction practices that provides a standard of character and professionalism, setting them apart in the flight training community. Be a part and JOIN!

Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) A radio transmitter attached to the aircraft structure which operates from its own power source on 121.5 MHz and 243.0 MHz. It aids in locating downed aircraft by radiating a downward sweeping audio tone, 2-4 times per second. It is designed to function without human action after an accident.

“This industry-leading contract is the direct result of the Delta pilots’ unity and resolve. Despite a two-year delay in negotiations due to COVID, we never lost sight of our goal to obtain significant across-the-board enhancements to our pilot working agreement.” Source: Delta MEC chair Captain Darren Hartmann, via comments made as Delta's pilots finally got a contract that they can live with...