Nine New Pilots Earned Private Pilot Certificates

Able Flight has announced its Class of 2024 will receive their wings in a ceremony at the upcoming EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. This will be Able Flight’s first year partnering with Southern Illinois University at Carbondale for flight training of its scholarship recipients. The pilots receiving their wings pins will be: Andrew Daigneau, Jake Simmons, Natallia Mirashnichenka, Ian Azeredo, Tyler Pugeda, Omar Duran, Jake Robinson, Jordan Sprague and Tim Riney, Jr. Each pilot will be honored individually for scholarships they received from ForeFlight, Muncie Aviation, and Tempest Aero Group. Scholarships honoring Zack Reising (Blue 7 Scholarship), volunteer charity pilot Mark Hogan, and Ada

Raffle Gives a Chance at Owning a Piece of Aviation History

To commemorate the start of the Jim Richmond Backcountry Aviation Foundation, CubCrafters has announced a raffle to give away the very first Carbon Cub in order to fund ongoing operations. The Jim Richmond Backcountry Aviation Foundation is the perfect entity to remember Richmond's work in revitalizing the world of off-airport bush flying. The Foundation will "expand, preserve, and protect public backcountry aviation access for current and future generations of aviators." The Richmond Foundation will acquire property in remote areas and develop them for recreational use in aviation. 

Takes Barge Ride From Michoud Assembly Facility

Boeing and NASA moved the core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for the Artemis II test flight from inside the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, to the Pegasus barge for its ferry trip to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The move took place on July 16, the 55th Anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11, the mission that landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. The barge trip to Kennedy is about 900 miles, and when it arrives, the rocket core will be moved into the Vehicle Assembly Building where engineers will prep it and attach the other rocket components of the spacecraft and the Orion crew module.

Full Lineup of Airplanes, Propellers, Engine Tech, Education Sessions

Hartzell Propeller is putting together a display for AirVenture this year that will have attractions for just about every segment of aviation. The venerable company in Piqua, Ohio will have propellers (of course!), aircraft, engine accessories, and daily educational sessions with Hartzell experts presenting information about proper care and feeding of your propeller and discussions of composite technology. A variety of aircraft will progress through the display during the week including Van’s RVs, an Aviat Husky, aerobatic planes, and others, all sporting Hartzell propellers.

DARPA Grants X-Plane Designation as XRQ-73

Northrop Grumman has announced the design and construction of the SHEPARD UAS in the works with Scaled Composites for DARPA's X-Prime program. Like any DARPA project worth its salt, they got a nice acronym out of the original project, contracting "Series Hybrid Electric Propulsion AiRcraft Demonstration" to the catchier 'SHEPARD'. But that's not all, since the uncrewed aircraft system got the blessing of DARPA to receive an official X-plane designation as the XRQ-73. That cements the program a small place in the annals of aviation history, right next to record breaking futuristic aircraft and aborted 'what if's alike. 

Joby Demo VTOL Craft Completes 500+ Mile Flight Emitting Only Water

Joby Aviation, Inc., the commercial eVTOL aircraft maker headquartered in Santa Cruz, California, announced that its hydrogen-electric VTOL demo aircraft successfully conducted a flight of 523 miles in a first-of-its-kind trip with its only emission being water. The aircraft used was a pre-production battery-electric prototype modified with a liquid hydrogen (H2) tank and fuel cell system. The flight consumed all but 10% of the H2 in the tank.

From 2010 (YouTube Version): As Amazing As The ABQ Balloon Fiesta Is... The Pilots Are Even More So!

In a few recent Aero-TV programs, we've had the great good fortune to relate some of the amazing sights, sounds and sensations we encountered at the 2010 ABQ Balloon Fiesta... and the word 'amazing' barely does this event justice. Really... it's THAT great an event. But... one particular element stands out as the key ingredient in what makes ABQ a world-renowned event... the people... especially the balloon pilots that flock to this annual gathering of all things that float, fly and levitate amongst the backdrop of New Mexico's stunning Sandia Peak

OIN Airport Manager Informed The Pilot That The Weather Was Low Ceilings And Visibility

On June 30, 2024, about 1752 central daylight time (CDT), a Waco YKC airplane, NS14137, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Selden, Kansas. The pilot and pilot-rated passenger sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code ofFederal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The airplane departed about 0640 eastern daylight time from Knox County Airport (4I3) in Mount Vernon, Ohio, and two fuel stops were conducted en route; one at the Shelby County Airport in Shelbyville, Illinois, about 0840 central daylight time, and another stop at the Chillicothe Municipal Airport (CHT) in Chillicothe, Missouri, about 1135 CDT.&nbs

Daher, TotalEnergies, and Groupe ADP Reducing Carbon Emissions

A collaboration consisting of Daher, TotalEnergies, and Groupe ADP has come together to distribute a blended sustainable aviation fuel at the Paris-Saclay-Versailles Airport (ICAO: LFPN, IATA: TNF), formerly known as Aerodrome de Toussus-le-Noble. TotalEnergies has distributed fuel on the general aviation airport near Versailles and 20 km southwest of Paris for more than 50 years. In addition to the SAF and standard aviation fuel, it also offers electric charging stations for both light aircraft and its ground vehicles. The airport supports decarbonization efforts for general aviation and is part of a group of airports under the ownership and management of Aeroports de Paris (ADP)

Aero Linx: Bücker Club Bücker formed his own company in Sweden on September 10. 1921 and named it Svenska Aero AB. His ?rst task was to erect and test a Caspar S I ordered by the Swedish Navy. When the Hansa und Brandenburgische Hugzeugwerke AG went into liquidation in 1919 its chief designer Ernst Heinkel joined Caspar-Werke taking with him the design for the Hansa-Br andenbur g W37. This was a monoplane seaplane powered by a 260 hp Maybach engine and a development of Heinkel's highly successful Hansa-Brandenburg W29. This was then built by Caspar as the S I.

Breakout A technique to direct aircraft out of the approach stream. In the context of simultaneous (independent) parallel operations, a breakout is used to direct threatened aircraft away from a deviating aircraft.

“Before he passed away in 2021, Dad had planned to dedicate a significant amount of his personal time and energy to expanding public backcountry aviation access for all pilots... He was looking at sites that could be opened for backcountry recreational access even just weeks before his death. His idea was that a community of like-minded pilots could work together to acquire, develop, and open new high-quality destination airstrips in remote areas for everyone to enjoy.” Source: Piper Richmond, a board member of The Jim Richmond Backcountry Aviation Foundation, discussing Jim Richmond's work in revitalizing the world of of