Check out https://affordableflying.net/attend/ Right Away and Get YOUR Tickets To the Affordable Flying Expo!

OK.... with a little over a month to go, it’s time to get serious! Thanks to the folks at Sun n Fun, we have a highly professional online ticketing apparatus at our disposal for next month’s Affordable Flying Expo. And we have other good news... use the code “AFE2025” and you can get $5 OFF the adult ticket price of $15 or even more for a three day pass. After an insane amount of work on the part of the ANN crew and more than a little hand holding by the event experts at Sun n Fun, the Expo is shaping up. We have an amazing series of seminars and forums in the works as well as a LIVE Friday Night Town Hall in which we will be dissecting MOSAIC in as great a detail as we can muster. 

Scalable, Long-Endurance, VTOLs For Variety Of Sea And Land Missions

Lockheed Martin Sikorsky announced the introduction of the Nomad family of various sized twin proprotor VTOL UASs that combine the runway independence of helicopters with speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft that can cruise on the wing for extended periods, and be scaled in size to meet the needs of a variety of land or sea-based missions.

VAI Pushes the FAA to Ditch Unsafe Low-Altitude Assumptions in Part 108

The vertical aviation community is urging the Federal Aviation Administration to revise its proposed Part 108 rule, claiming several aspects of it are based on harmful assumptions about low-altitude operations. Unveiled August 6 by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the new proposed rule would (finally) allow unmanned aircraft to fly beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) without case-by-case exemptions.

Insmed CEO Will Lewis Was One of Six ‘Space Nomads’ on the Rocket’s 15th Human Flight

Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket completed its 15th crewed and 36th ever mission on October 8, turning six more paying customers into ‘astronauts’. Among this group was Insmed CEO Will Lewis, who chose to remain anonymous until after the flight for unknown reasons.

Inaugurates ‘Maintenance Track’ In Lineup Of Education Programs

The National Business Aviation Association announced that it is rolling out a brand new ‘Maintenance Track’ as part of the education program at this year’s Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition. Business aircraft maintenance specialists who participate in the program will be eligible to receive credit toward the renewal of their inspection authorization, or IA.

MOSAIC-Centric Event Set For November 6-8, 2025... DON'T Miss It!

After a master strategy meeting this last week on the grounds of the Sun n Fun Aerospace Expo campus, details have been completed for the first MOSAIC-dedicated, MOSAIC-centric Affordable Flying Expo (AFE25). With the rule officially announced, AFE25 stands to be the best opportunity for MOSAIC-interested folks to get their questions answered and for the industry to show the aviation community that they are ready to serve this expanding niche. 

Also: Pilot Age Cap, Skylar AI Flight Assistant, NS-36 Mission, ALPA v Shutdown

The federal government has officially gone into lockdown mode. The FAA will be laying off around a fourth of its staff, leaving 11,000 employees in limbo as another 13,000 air traffic controllers are forced to work on their own dime. Air traffic controllers are considered critical roles, meaning they are required to remain on the job but won’t receive pay until the shutdown ends. Side effects of the recent US government shutdown have made their way into the airshow side of things, with Pacific Airshow organizers confirming that some of its most iconic acts are no longer on the itinerary. The Canadian Forces Snowbirds and Royal Air Force Falcons will instead headline the event, standing in for the traditional USAF Thunderbirds performance. 55-year-old content creator Tang Feiji was killed on September 27, 2025, after losing control of his twin-rotor ultralig

Justin “Spidey” Fuller Became Detached from His Student, Who Survived

A beloved Nashville skydiving instructor, 35-year-old Justin “Spidey” Fuller, died on October 4 after reportedly getting stuck to the side of the airplane and detaching from his rig. The student’s reserve parachute luckily deployed, dropping him into a tree to be rescued by fire department personnel. Police say that the fatal incident occurred at around 1:00 pm local time on October 4 near John C. Tune Airport (JWN) in Nashville, Tennessee. Fuller and his student, a 46-year-old first-time jumper, became stuck on the side of the aircraft while attempting to jump. It is unclear exactly how Fuller became separated from the rig, though some claim that he cut himself off from the equipment to save the student’s life, leaving him to fall without a parachute.

Also: New NOTAM Service, 737 Production Cap, RNZAF NH90 Helis, ATC Sick Days Trend Up

Just over three months after hitting the market, Piper Aircraft’s diesel-powered multi-engine trainer has logged its first domestic order. The deal will deliver five of the Seminole DX aircraft to Florida-based Skyborne Airline Academy. The Seminole DX was unveiled at this year’s EAA Oshkosh AirVenture. Designed to run on JET A and JET A-1 (with SAF approval in progress), the trainer’s twin DeltaHawk DHK4A180 engines offer about 40% better fuel efficiency than typical avgas piston engines. The FAA is looking to begin the first phase of what is shaping up to be a very expensive move, aiming to get part of its workforce situated in the DoT headquarters by early December. The agency confirmed the relocation in August as a means to improve collaboration and address safety concerns with its aging facilities. France’s largest air traffic c

Also: USAF Reactivates Squadron For Drone Ops, Beyond Aero, Vertical Aerospace, Archer Midnight

Amazon Prime Air has halted its unmanned delivery operations after two of its MK30 drones ran into the boom of a crane in Tolleson, Arizona. No injuries were reported. The crash happened early on October 1, leaving both aircraft destroyed. Police in Tolleson quickly secured the site and confirmed that an investigation was underway. Federal officials also stepped in, with both the FAA and the NTSB doing their parts. Skydweller Aero announced the recent completion of a 74-hour flight of its unmanned, solar-powered aircraft in conjunction with the Navy. The flight was conducted over the Gulf of America and represents a major advancement in unmanned aircraft technology. Austrian air taxi startup FlyNow Aviation is celebrating the first untethered test flights of its eVTOL vehicle, the eCopter. The helicopter-like prototype first took to the skies with