Also: Retirement Age?, Jazz Aviation, Merger Woes, ITPS Selection
ALPA is touting updated data from the FAA showing the agency issued 11,225 airline pilot certificates (ATP-MELs) during the 2023 calendar year, exceeding analyst forecasts and airline demand for new aviators. This is the second year in a row that pilot production numbers are breaking records. In addition to the impressive pilot production numbers, the number of certified flight instructors totaled 93,567, a nearly 20 percent increase over 2019. Loft Dynamics (formerly VRM Switzerland) has opened its first Virtual Reality Flight Simulation Hub at its North American headquarters, located at the Santa Monica Municipal Airport (SMO). The hub features the company's Airbus H
Factory Option Enhances NVG Ops for Helo Operators
Avidyne Corporation has announced the addition of Night Vision Goggle (NVG) compatibility as a factory option for their IFD550, IFD545, IFD540, and IFD510 (IFD5-Series) integrated avionics suites. The change is a nice addition to the lineup for the small but vital niche of all-weather, day/night operators in public safety, military, and security services, allowing them to avail themselves of familiar Avidyne systems while enjoying its somewhat more accessible price point. NVG mode is more than just a brightness shift, they note - the system requires an entirely different color spectrum for acceptable contrast through the tubes. Reds and yellows have to be dimmed without affecting their green
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Agency Moves to Refine UAV Regulations in Bid to Future-Proof Industry
The FAA has published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding maintenance inspections for crewed and uncrewed aircraft flying under Part 91 rules. The changes don't affect drones under 55 pounds, public aircraft, or those operating under Part 107. The aim seems to be the imposition of more rigorous, standardized maintenance for this new market of commercial operations - while a small niche right now, the future is shaping up to be pretty drone-heavy across the board, and slipshod maintenance always manages to creep into cost-focused operations wherever legal. An organized, defined maintenance and inspection program helps to keep things in line, however, adding much-neede
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French Firm Finds 35% of Revenue in the US Market
Daher announced its 2023 financial results for the year, showing overall revenue of €1.65 billion as it embarked on its first of a five-year plan called “Take Off 2027”. All in all, the French company continues to rely heavily on the US market, seeing more than 35% of its revenue generated here. The firm was decisive in getting everything in order, kick-starting an Industrial Services division, reinforcing its acquisition of the Assistance Aéronautique et Aérospatiale (AAA) company, and continuing its development of the hybrid electric EcoPulse demonstrator. Daher managed to "transform" its managerial culture by deploying the "Daher Leadership Model" to 1,500 exe
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Pilot Said He Was Unaware Of The Airplane Blocking The Runway Until He Heard A “Thump” During Landing
On January 7, 2024, at 2019 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 421C, N421TP, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident near Carson City, Nevada. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) data showed that a Piper PA-46, N819RL, landed at Carson City Airport (CXP), Nevada at 1826. The airplane subsequently departed the runway due to icy runway conditions, spun 180° and came to rest adjacent to the active runway with the left wing partially blocking the runway. Th
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Offer Cuts $1,000 off the Purchase of Backcountry Line of Props
Hartzell Propeller is looking to bolster support for the RAF - the Recreational Aviation Foundation, not the Royal Air Force - and is extending a $1,000 discount to those who support it. The discount will take a grand off purchases of Hartzell's biggest and best sellers in the backcountry bushplane lineup like the Voyager, the Pathfinder, and the Trailblazer. The Voyager's 3-bladed scimitar design is well suited for bush Cessnas like the 180, 182, 185, and 206, with new engines like the Conti 520 and 550 recently added to the line via STC.
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Aero Linx: Mercy Flight Southeast
Mercy Flight Southeast’s mission is to arrange free flights so children and adults can have access to the far-from-home doctors that can save their lives. Mercy Flight Southeast coordinates missions to fly organ transplant candidates, people involved in clinical trials, chemotherapy or other repetitive treatment, victims of abuse seeking relocation, families receiving help from Ronald McDonald Houses, Shriners Hospitals and many other charities, disabled or sick children to special summer camp programs, disaster relief and for many other humanitarian reasons.
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