Also: Medicals 4 Comm. Balloon Pilots, AAL Pilot Recruitment, Boeing KC-46, Airshow Pilot Elgin Wells Lost

New Shepard flew again for the eighth time on April 29, 2018, from Blue Origin’s West Texas Launch Site. Known as Mission 8 (M8), the mission featured a reflight of the vehicle flown on Mission 7.

The Crew Capsule reached an apogee of 351,000 feet (66 miles) – which Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos said in a tweet is "the altitude we’ve been targeting for operations." AEA released its first-quarter 2018 Avionics Market Report. Total worldwide business and GA avionics sales amounted to $639,796,979. The figure represented a 13 percent increase in total sales compared to the first-quarter 2017 amount of $566,179,780.61. Of the more than $639 million in 1Q/2018 sales, 56.8 percent came from the retrofit market (avionics equipment installed after original production), while forward-fit sales (avionics equipment installed by airframe manufacturers during original production) amounted to 43.2 percent of first-quarter sales. Richard L. "Dick" Collins, who many know from his decades-long career as an aviation journalist, died at his home in Maryland on April 29. He was 85. His writing career spanned 60 years and he produced more than 1,000 magazine articles and more than a dozen books about single-pilot flying technique, weather avoidance and instrument flying. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne!!!

Airborne 05.02.18 is chock full of info in this Daily News Episode, Wednesday, May 2nd, 2018... Presented by Aero-TV veteran videographer and Airborne Hosts Brianne Cross, Christopher Odom, and Laura Hutson, and is supported by ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell, Chief Videographer Nathan Cremisino, and Aero-Journalist Tom Patton, this episode covers:

• New Shepard Flies For The Eighth Time 
• AEA Releases First Quarter GA Avionics Report
• Gone West: Aviation Safety Advocate, Journalist Richard Collins 
• FAA Bill Would Require Medical Certificates For Commercial Balloon Pilots 
• American Airlines Announces New Pilot Recruitment Program 
• Boeing KC-46 Tanker Program Completes FAA Certification Flight Testing
• Airshow Pilot Elgin Wells Fatally Injured In Practice Accident 

Get Comprehensive, Real-Time, 24/7 coverage of the latest aviation and aerospace stories anytime, at aero-news.net. And be sure to join us again for the next edition of "Airborne Unlimited" here on Aero-TV. Thanks for watching. See you, again, tomorrow!

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