Also: Bell 505, TRUE Innovators, UAL/Flight Attendants, 737 Fuel Tank STC, F-35 Airshows, B-52s Join French, Bombardier/Hawker Pacific

Blue Origin founder, Jeff Bezos, says he expects to conduct his first manned test flights as early as next year, and carrying passengers as early as 2018.

He says thousands of people have said they are interested in eventually flying with the company. Bezos made the comments during a rare media tour of the Blue Origin facility in Kent, Washington. One of the few remaining members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) has Gone West at the age of 96. Elizabeth Strohfus passed away March 6th at an assisted living facility in Faribault, Minnesota. Mrs. Strohfus had ferried military planes across the United States in 1943 and 1944. She also helped train air and infantry gunners at the Las Vegas Army Airfield. According to her bio from the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame, she taught instrument flying to male cadets and later ferried B-17s and AT-6s around the country. The issue of continuing airshows in the UK is in serious question. In a piece for the Royal Aeronautical Society, commentator Tim Robinson says that the accident last year at Shoreham, and the resulting rift between the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority and the airshow industry, may be a turning point for airshows in that country. Robinson says the Shoreham accident, "Involved people outside the air display minding their own business. There is thus a legal difference between the informed and accepted risks of the pilot, air show spectators who pay to get in to see the display and nearby passers-by who might be injured or killed in an accident." All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne!!!

Airborne 03.11.16 is chock full of info in this Daily News Episode, Friday, March 11th, 2016... Presented by Aero-TV veteran videographer and Airborne Host Brianne Cross, and supported by ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell, Chief Videographer Nathan Cremisino, and Aero-Journalists Tom Patton, and Earl Downs, this episode covers:

• Blue Origin May Conduct First Manned Test Flights In 2017
• Gone West: WASP Elizabeth Strohfus
• Royal Aeronautical Society Weighs In On U.K. Airshow 'Dogfight'
• Bell 505 Jet Ranger X Moves Forward 'With Velocity'
• Barnstorming: Thank the TRUE Innovators
• UAL, Thirteen Flight Attendants Reach Settlement In Job Action
• FAA Approves STC For 737 Fuel Tank Safety Solution
• F-35 To Touch Down At Airshows Around The World
• B-52s Join French Forces For Close Air Support Exercise
• Bombardier, Hawker Pacific Extend Authorized Service Facility Agreement

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 next week for the next edition of "Airborne Unlimited" here on Aero-TV. Thanks for watching. See you, again, tomorrow!

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