Lt. Col. Prevendar Tags in as Thunderbird 1 for 2026-2027 Show Seasons

The US Air Force’s Thunderbirds demonstration team closed out the 2025 show season with an abrupt shift in plans, announcing a last-second change to their 2026-2027 Commander and Thunderbird 1 pilot. As expected, no drama was acknowledged…just “unique team requirements” that led them to reverse the earlier selection and install Lt. Col. Alexander “Knight” Prevendar as the next Commander/Leader.

Deadheading Crews Now Bypass Top-Tier Customers for First Class

A change to American Airlines’ upgrade policy for deadheading pilots has drawn quick controversy, with frequent flyers and airline employees split on whether the move is safety-enhancing or tone-deaf. Deadheading pilots now receive automatic priority over even the airline’s highest-status customers when first-class seats are available.

The Upgraded Vehicle Didn’t Even Make It to Sunrise

The debut of SpaceX’s Starship Version 3 booster didn’t exactly go as planned, with its test campaign starting and ending before the sun even rose. Booster 18 suffered a major structural failure partway into what was supposed to be a long list of cryogenic checks and pressure trials at Massey’s.

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EHang has logged a major milestone in the development of its pilotless air taxi, logging its first human-carrying flight in the urban Middle East. Working alongside Qatar’s Ministry of Transport, the company flew its EH216-S autonomously between the Port of Doha and Katara Cultural Village in a series of trials designed to validate real-world air taxi operations. The Army’s 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade is running with the service’s push to boost drone integration by pairing Apaches, Black Hawks, and Chinooks with small unmanned aircraft to handle

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Like most of the industry, kit manufacturer Sonex has been hit by the ever-increasing costs of parts and materials, and is being forced to pass some of the burden off to customers beginning December 15. Still, Sonex’s prices remain well under par, with many of its complete airframe kits available for under $40,000. The company detailed the price shifts for Complete Airframe Kits, Quick Build Kits, and AeroVee engine packages. Produced jointly by the Aero-News Network and SUN ’n FUN—in addition to the pre-show SNF Innovation P

Special Mission Aircraft Enhance Country’s Surveillance And Emergency Response

Diamond Aircraft announced it has delivered three of its DA62 MPP multi-purpose platform, special mission aircraft to the Greek Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection. These aircraft will significantly enhance Greece’s capabilities for aerial surveillance and emergency response.

Fatality is the Seventh Tied to Longmont’s Mile-Hi Skydiving Since 2018

A 60-year-old skydiver passed away on November 16 after his parachute did not fully open during a solo jump with Mile-Hi Skydiving in Longmont. Since 2018, at least seven fatalities have been tied to this popular site, representing more than 7 percent of US skydiving deaths in the last 7 years.

ODAA, FAA Provided Funding Support For Major Improvement

Hooker Municipal Airport (O45) in Hooker, Oklahoma, celebrated the completion of a major infrastructure upgrade with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its shiny new self-serve fuel system on November 17, 2025. The new system provides both 100LL and Jet A.

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An interesting moment came about this past Sunday as ANN CEO, Jim Campbell, noted that the Aero-News Network came into being 30 years ago. ANN was the first actual aviation online news service, and in the ensuing 30 years, has amassed an extraordinary record... over 600,000 stories, a total of videos, podcasts, Airborne and Aero-TV features surpassing 10,000 programs... The debut of SpaceX’s Starship Version 3 booster didn’t exactly go as planned, with its test campaign starting and ending before the sun even rose. Booster 18 suffered a major struct

Anduril, EDGE Group Utilize the Proprietary Electric Powertrain for Their New AAV

Archer Aviation apparently decided that next-generation aircraft manufacturing wasn’t enough of a business model for it and is expanding its offerings to powertrain sales. The company recently inked its first deal on this side of the industry, supplying its proprietary electric powertrain to Anduril Industries and the UAE-based EDGE Group for the Omen autonomous air vehicle.

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The NTSB's preliminary report on the UPS Flight 2976 crash has focused on the left engine pylon's separation and a subsequent fire that started even before impact. Imagery released by NTSB shows a clear left engine and pylon failure as the aircraft rotated for departure. The report indicates that the left engine and pylon separated from the wing shortly after takeoff, leading to a fire that ignited near the pylon's attachment point. NBAA, along with its fellow 60-plus aviation stakeholders in the Modern Skies Coalition issued the following statement supporting legislation that

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Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane has cleared another round of pre-flight milestones at Kennedy Space Center. The company has been running the spacecraft through a long list of test campaigns ahead of its debut under NASA’s CRS-2 cargo contract. The Dream Chaser’s most recent accomplishments include electromagnetic interference and compatibility testing inside the Space Systems Processing Facility, demonstrating that its avionics and subsystems behave properly in the kinds of charged environments it will encounter from launch to landing.

Carrier Becomes New Customer, Reinforces Confidence In Dubai Growth Plan

Airbus announced at the Dubai Airshow 2025 that flydubai signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Airbus for the purchase of 150 A321neo airliners, making the carrier a new Airbus customer. The deal underlines flydubai’s confidence in Dubai’s growth plans.

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Blue Origin finally logged a clean booster recovery with New Glenn, giving Jeff Bezos’ company proof that its heavy-lift rocket can reuse components the same way SpaceX has since October 2024. The flight also shipped two NASA satellites towards Mars as New Glenn’s first paying-customer science payload. The launch marked an impressive step forward in the long catch-up effort for New Glenn. Just over a month ahead of its potential ban in the US, DJI has launched its lightest and most compact drone to date… and for obvious reasons, it won’t b

Also: Pipistrel Makes Waves, ‘Dream Chaser’, EAA Hall of Fame, BizAv SOP Manual

Blue Origin finally logged a clean booster recovery with New Glenn, giving Jeff Bezos’ company proof that its heavy-lift rocket can reuse components the same way SpaceX has since October 2024. The flight also shipped two NASA satellites towards Mars as New Glenn’s first paying-customer science payload. The launch marked an impressive step forward in the long catch-up effort for New Glenn. Just over a month ahead of its potential ban in the US, DJI has launched its lightest and most compact drone to date… and for obvious reasons, it won&rs

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The work of Elfin.aero founder Dr. Reiner Stemme, who passed on October 31, 2025, is already being reignited to honor the designer’s years of dedication to the still-unfinished elfin20: a high-performance, two-seat, self-launching electric glider. Development of the prototype is well underway. Gulfstream Aerospace announced that its newly certified ultralong-range G800 achieved its eight city-pair speed record on its flight from Phuket, Thailand to the Dubai Airshow 2025 in the United Arab Emirates. The feat was accomplished in 5 hours 38 minutes. This l

Smoke Began Entering The Cockpit During The Landing Flare, And Then The Pilot Noticed Flames...

Analysis: The pilot reported that about 30 minutes into the local flight, he heard some crackling in the radio reception and then the cockpit flight displays went blank. The engine stumbled and lost power completely. The pilot was operating the airplane in the airport traffic pattern at that time and decided to secure the engine to set up for a forced landing to the runway. Smoke began entering the cockpit during the landing flare, and then the pilot noticed flames on the right side of the airplane.

From 2010 (YouTube Edition): The Red Tail Project Continues Effort Towards ‘Rise Above Program’

The Red Tail Project is a true example of this unbreakable spirit. In 2004, the project experienced a tragic setback when leader Don Hinz lost his life after the organizations P-51C Mustang suffered a catastrophic engine failure. The Red Tail Project quickly set forth an ambitious mission to restore the airplane and continue Don Hinz’s remarkable vision, to inspire youth and tell the story of the Tuskegee Airmen across the country. The Red Tails, nicknamed for the red-painted tails that Tuskegee Airmen used to identify themselves, deploy

Make Sure You NEVER Miss A New Story From Aero-News Network

Do you ever feel like you never see posts from a certain person or page on Facebook or Instagram? Here’s how you can turn on “post notifications” that will send you an update when new stories are posted on the Aero-News Network Facebook or Instagram pages.

Aero Linx: Vintage Sailplane Association The purpose of the Vintage Sailplane Association (VSA) is to promote the acquisition, restoration and flying of vintage sailplanes by its members, and to assist the National Soaring Museum in the preservation of soaring history and the promotion of vintage sailplane activity. A Vintage Sailplane is any glider of a type first flown prior to 1958, or a more recently built glider with appearance, performance and construction characteristics similar to gliders built before 1958. 

Takeoff Hold Lights (THL)  The THL system is composed of in-pavement lighting in a double, longitudinal row of lights aligned either side of the runway centerline. The lights are focused toward the arrival end of the runway at the “line up and wait” point, and they extend for 1,500 feet in front of the holding aircraft. Illuminated red lights indicate to an aircraft in position for takeoff or rolling that it is unsafe to takeoff because the runway is occupied or about to be occupied by an aircraft or vehicle.

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