Thu, Dec 11, 2025
Options For P550 UAS Could Extend Deal To $42M
AeroVironment and its partner Parry Labs have been awarded a 3-year contract with a base value of $13.2 million plus options that could grow to $42 million to provide the U.S. Army with its newly developed P550 UAS for its Long Range Reconnaissance program.
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Thu, Dec 11, 2025
Also: SpaceX Starship Carries on, Hartzell Adds Lamar, Mar-a-Lago TFR Ooopppss, CAF Lobo Wing
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association issued the Third Quarter 2025 General Aviation Aircraft Shipping and Billing Report, covering results worldwide, and the result for the first nine months of 2025, when compared to the same period last year, show increased shipments in the business jet sector as well as an increase in the overall value of aircraft shipments. Airbus released an update on the deployment of precautionary fleet measures on its approximately 6,000 A320 family of aircraft. The actions were required after several aircraft experienced an unexpected loss of altitude and Airbus issued an Alert Operators Transmission (AOT). Upon inspection, Airbus engineers traced the anomalies to corrupted altitude data believed to be caused by intense solar radiation that affected software vulnerabilities feeding the altitude data to aircraft sys
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Thu, Dec 11, 2025
Boeing-Spirit Merger May Take Some Time
A New York Stock Exchange Notice says trading of Spirit AeroSystems will be suspended on December 8th, adding a little angst to the market. Boeing needs to fulfill certain closing conditions before they can roll Spirit back into the fold, but some are saying the acquisition could be completed early this week.
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Thu, Dec 11, 2025
Also: Trailblazing Aviator Betty Stewart, Wind Farm Scrutiny, Chatham Ban Overturned, Airbus Shares Dive
A Thunderbird pilot, ID'ed alternately as Thunderbird 5 or Thunderbird 6, (but not yet confirmed officially) ejected from his/her Lockheed Martin F-16CM-52-CF Fighting Falcon Wednesday (12-03-25) during a training mission in California. The accident occurred near Trona Airport on an unoccupied dry lake bed area south of the airport in San Bernardino County. The pilot ejected safely just before the airframe impacted the ground. Air India somehow misplaced a 43-year-old Boeing 737-200 and forgot about it for over a decade. The Kolkata airport didn’t forget about the airplane though, and continued to add parking fees. The airline was oblivious until recently, when it received a parking bill that, over a 13-year period, accumulated to a total of 10 million Indian Rupees, about USD$120,000. Dynon has released SkyView HDX software version
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Thu, Dec 11, 2025
Third-Edition Resource Guide is Getting Ready… But It’s Waiting on You
The third edition of the SportPlane Resource Guide—soon to launch as the expanded, fully digital eSPRG—is almost ready for release. The layout is there, dozens of instructional chapters are written, and hundreds of aircraft write-ups are complete. This edition will be bigger, more detailed, and easier to update than the previous 1,100-page print version (probably settling in at more than 2000 pages!), with the potential to far exceed even our own anticipations with S-LSA, E-LSA, ultralights, avionics, and accessories. The only major thing slowing it down is one simple piece: more data from manufacturers.
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Thu, Dec 11, 2025
Dozens of Companies Unveiled Innovative Products Ahead of the 51st SnF Aerospace Expo
Kicking off the 51st SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo, we hosted the second annual SnF Innovation Preview to give more than 20 companies just enough time in the spotlight to debut their new planes, products, engines, accessories, and more… In other words… it was a LOT of news, and it’s all still up for your viewing pleasure.
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Thu, Dec 11, 2025
With The eSPRG Only Weeks Away From Its Start Date, A-AF Will Help To Support Sport Flyers, Worldwide
With the all-new and all-digital SportPlane Resource Guide getting ready for publication early next year, the Aero-News Network is pleased to announce yet another addition to the Airborne video news programming roster… Airborne-Affordable Flyers. Dedicated to keeping people up-to-date on the most affordable aspects of sport and general aviation, Airborne-Affordable Flyers is one of our most exciting offerings yet. A-AF will delve into more than just the current LSA community, but look at all aspects of aviation to examine and evaluate the most enjoyable, and most affordable, solutions to flying, operating, and owning aircraft in the 21st century.
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Thu, Dec 11, 2025
Several Seconds After He Initiated The Takeoff Roll, The Canopy Opened And Then Separated From The Airplane
On October 14, 2025, at about 1030 Pacific daylight time, an EXTRA FLUGZEUGBAU GMBH 300L, N300EX, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Arlington, Washington. The flight instructor and private pilot receiving instruction were uninjured. The aircraft operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. The instructor pilot stated that prior to departure, he verified the canopy was closed and latched on three separate occasions. Several seconds after he initiated the takeoff roll, the canopy opened and then separated from the airplane. During the separation, the canopy struck and substantially damaged the rudder, right horizontal stabilizer, and right elevator trim tab.
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Thu, Dec 11, 2025
From 2022 (YouTube Edition): Still Life with Verve
David Uhl was born into a family of engineers and artists—a backdrop conducive to his gleaning a keen appreciation for the form, function, and beauty of machines, and an intuitive understanding of the passions they inspire. Mr. Uhl purchased his first motorcycle in 1988, and his pencils, brushes, and artistic sensibilities hastened to document the arcane syncretisms of line, curve, and color by which the brute concomitantly aroused the intellectual and visceral ecstasies.
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