After weeks of wrangling, Textron finds itself at the helm of a company at a standstill. And they're not happy about it. Textron Aviation's Stephanie Harder, VP of Communications and Public Affairs, opines, "Textron Aviation is disappointed that IAM District 70, Local Lodge 774 members did not vote to accept the proposed four-year contract with Textron Aviation and have chosen to strike. Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office reported a ten-year-old girl, Peyton Saintignan, missing late on September 22. After a several-hour search including hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement agencies, a thermal sensing-equipped drone was able to save the day. Amazingly... there is a 35% scale homebuilt B-29 plying the skies these days... the extraordinary result of builder Tom Hodgson’s long-running development of the third scale replica, powered by 4 Honda Fit engines with a number of specially designed accessories to deliver enough power to get this 50 foot wingspan monster off in just 300 feet... on grass. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-Unlimited!!!
Airborne 09.25.24 is chock full of info in this Daily News Episode, Wednesday, September 25th, 2024... Presented by Aero-TV veteran videographer and Airborne Host Holland Lee. Holland is supported by ANN Chief Videographer Nathan Cremisino, as well as ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell. This episode covers:
Textron Expresses Disappointment Over Strike
Thermal Drone Locates Missing 10-Year-Old
Homebuilt Scale B-29 Flies Again!
NASA Astronaut Returns From Roscosmos ISS Mission
F-16 Dumps Fuel Tanks During In-Flight Emergency
ForeFlight Updates Wind Layers, Civil Twilight
Military Scouts Electra Ultra Short Flight Demos
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 tomorrow, for the next edition of "Airborne Unlimited" here on Aero-TV. Thanks for watching. See you, again, tomorrow!
Airborne-NextGen 09.30.25: Portable eConspicuity, Dream Chaser, Anduril CCA
Also: Drone Pilot Sentenced, Satellite Tsunami Tracking, Army Cuts Aviators 4 Drones, Peraton Pitches
The FAA has proposed the Part 108 UAS Rule for BVLOS or beyond visual line of sight drone operations under 400’ AGL that requires drones to be equipped with ADS-B In and to yield the right-of-way to crewed aircraft transmitting on ADS-B Out. However, many aircraft fly below 400’ AGL such as ag aircraft, seaplanes, vintage planes, ultralights, powered parachutes, gliders, and balloons. Most of those types of aircraft are unable to accommodate a permanent ADS-B Out installation. Sierra Space announced it has made a strategic adjustment for its Dream Chaser spaceplane, saying its first flight will be a free-flyer, demo mission to validate technology and deliver crucial data to NASA. The approach gives the company flexibility to address national security challenges while also advancing the vehicle’s capabilities for NASA and commercial customers. According to U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Meinck, the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) made by Anduril Industries “should fly [in the] middle of October,” but provided no other details about ongoing testing of the drone. Anduril’s YFQ-44A is waiting on final refinements of its software before first flight. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-NextGen!!!
US President Donald Trump recently vowed to declassify all files related to legendary aviator Amelia Earhart, who disappeared in 1937 during her attempt to circumnavigate the globe. This development was requested by Kimberlyn King-Hinds, Representative for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, in July. Avionics provider uAvionix recently debuted a major software update to its AV-30-C multi-function panel display, designed as a drop-in digital replacement for legacy instruments. By popular demand, the instrument will now feature wind speed and direction capabilities, enhanced angle of attack indications, aural altitude alerts, and many other safety and usability improvements. Aviation consultant Kit Darby recently published his pilot demand forecast for the ‘big four’ airlines in the US. The “conservative” analysis expects American, Delta, Southwest, and United to take in 27,485 new pilots in the next five years. The breakdown gives United the gold medal for most aggressive hiring, with more than 8,300 pilots needed by 2030. Delta and American trail behind with about 6,100 and 6,500 hires, while Southwest comes in with more than 6,400. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-Unlimited!!!
Airborne 09.26.25: Army Cuts AV-Ranks, 2025 ATC Hiring, AF Next-Gen Fighter
Also: Purdue In Space?, 4 SpecOps Lost In Helo Crash, Solid-Fuel Ramjet, Ultra-High Airspace Over FL
The US Army recently confirmed its plans to thin out its active duty aviation ranks, cutting 6,500 positions as it phases in unmanned systems. The changes are slated to begin in the coming months and continue through fiscal year 2027. Currently, about 30,000 soldiers serve in aviation roles ranging from pilots to support crews. By the time the cuts are finished, roughly one in five of those positions will be gone. Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy announced that the FAA met and exceeded its goal for hiring air traffic controllers for Fiscal Year 2025 by bringing on 2,026 new controllers. The goal was 2,000 controllers, and the number of new hires is 20 percent more than the previous administration hired from January to September 2024. The US Air Force is well on its way to flying its next-generation fighter, with the first of many F-47 jets reportedly in the early stages of manufacturing. The service is hoping to get the stealth fighter airborne sometime in 2028… a relatively ambitious target for a plane lacking a suitable engine. The USAF was vague on what “beginning to manufacture” actually means and, while the F-47 only exists in prototype form from a shadowy testing campaign, he stressed that the service is “ready to go fast.” All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-Unlimited!!!
Also: NATO Jets Intercept, Check-In System Failure, Embraer E195-E2 Sale, Laser Felony
Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works revealed its new autonomous drone it calls “Vectis,” which it says is the right size and is adaptable enough to partner with both Air Force and Navy crewed combat aircraft. While the aircraft is not necessarily aimed at Increment 2 of the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, it will be flying within two years and it could fit into the Increment 1 criteria as well. Drone parachute manufacturer Aerial Vehicle Safety Solutions (AVSS) has voluntarily allowed the FAA to revoke its certification for operation-over-people with the Skydio X10 system. The permission was granted in August 2024, but after spending months on the market without a single sale, it appears the parachute-equipped drone has been abandoned altogether. uAvionix is calling on Pilots to support Portable EC under the FAA’s Part 108 Rule.
The FAA’s proposed Part 108 rule for BVLOS drone operations under 400’ AGL requires drones to carry ADS-B In and to yield to crewed aircraft that are transmitting an ADS-B Out signal. But many aircraft fly below 400’ AGL including balloons, gliders, vintage aircraft, powered parachutes, ultralights, seaplanes, and ag aircraft. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-Unlimited!!!
Airborne 09.24.25: Scaled Model 437, Sergei Sikorsky, Base Jumpers Sue
Also: British Airways Has Limits, Drone Pilot Sentenced, USAF Warrant Officers, Dallas ATC Outage
After more than a year being grounded for modifications, the Scaled Composites Model 437 “Vanguard” has returned to flight testing. The aircraft first flew in 2024, quickly taking a break from the skies as it prepared to serve as the airframe for Northrop Grumman’s Beacon autonomy test program. Sergei Sikorsky, whose father, Igor, founded Sikorsky Aircraft decades ago, passed on September 18 at 100 years old. He spent 41 years building his father’s legacy in the industry, taking Sikorsky’s groundbreaking developments and shaping them into some of the most renowned military helicopters in history. Yosemite National Park has been off limits to BASE jumpers for nearly 50 years. Now, a nonprofit called BASE Access is suing in federal court, arguing the ban is unconstitutional and that Yosemite should reopen to legal jumps. BASE jumping was born in Yosemite in the late 1970s, when skydivers Mike Pelkey and Brian Schubert jumped from the 3,000-foot El Capitan cliff. However, the National Park Service quickly moved to shut it down... All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-Unlimited!!!
NASA announced it has awarded Blue Origin a Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) task order with an option to deliver its VIPER exploration rover to the South Pole region of the Moon, where it will search for volatile resources such as ice and collect scientific data to support future exploration at the Moon and Mars. This award calls for Blue Origin to deliver the VIPER, or Volatile Investigating Polar Exploration Rover to the lunar surface in late 2027 as part of NASA’s Artemis campaign. DJI has brought the first-ever compact drone to feature a 1-inch sensor, its Mini 5 Pro, to the market… the European and Canadian market, that is. Government suspicion and tariff policies are preventing the drone maker from bringing its one-of-a-kind creation to the US, cutting one of the company’s biggest spenders from the launch. Uber Technologies and Flytrex announced their entry into a strategic partnership and the first investment in drone delivery made by Uber to signify a major step forward for autonomous logistics. The new service will begin with pilot markets for Uber Eats in the U.S. by the end of 2025. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-NextGen!!!
Airborne 09.22.25: Young Eagle Target, Tragic Cirrus Crash, Boeing Suit
Also: Medical Helo Shooting, Citation Latitude Starlink Upgrade, RCAF 15 Wing Upgrades, Helo Rescue
The EAA has its sights set on a monumental goal: To reach the 2.5 million mark for Young Eagles flown by next summer’s AirVenture fly-in and air show at Oshkosh. During this year’s AirVenture in July, the tally stood at a little more than 60,000 flights short. That’s when the discussion about reaching 2.5 million began in earnest. EAA took note that Young Eagles pilots recorded almost 63,000 flights during the 30th anniversary of the program in 2022-23. A Cirrus SR22T crashed in a field near Macon County Airport (1A5) in Franklin, North Carolina, on September 18, missing an elementary school by just a couple hundred feet. All three occupants, songwriter Brett James, wife Melody Carole, and step-daughter Meryl Maxwell Wilson, tragically lost their lives in the incident. Three months after 260 people were killed in an Air India 787-8 crash, families of four victims have filed what will likely be the first of many lawsuits against both Boeing and Honeywell. They accuse the manufacturers of product defects and negligence, referencing an alleged issue with the fuel cutoff switch that could have caused the plane to lose power on takeoff. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-Unlimited!!!
Also: ATAC Contract Win, Starship Suit Tossed, Dutch Tax Oppo, ERAU Prescott ATC Training
DJI has brought the first-ever compact drone to feature a 1-inch sensor, its Mini 5 Pro, to the market… the European and Canadian market, that is. Government suspicion and tariff policies are preventing the drone maker from bringing its one-of-a-kind creation to the US, cutting one of the company’s biggest spenders from the launch. Just ahead of a live flight demonstration, two electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft built by the self-proclaimed ‘largest flying car company in Asia’ collided mid-air. XPeng’s technology unit, AeroHT, first drew headlines in 2021 with the X2: a sleek fifth-generation prototype that traded wheels for propellers, utilizing design characteristics from the XPeng P7 sedan. Andrew Kyle White of San Diego, age 37, pled guilty to federal criminal charges after admitting he twice illegally landed a small aircraft on the US Naval Auxiliary Landing Field San Clemente Island. The second time he landed there he stole a Navy truck and used it to damage gates on the island. White pled guilty to one felony count of theft of government property exceeding $1,000 and one misdemeanor count of illegal entry into a naval installation. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-Unlimited!!!
Spirit Airlines filed for its second bankruptcy in less than a year at the end of last month, and its competitors are now suggesting that this may be the beginning of the end. Speaking at an industry conference on Thursday, United CEO Scott Kirby called the ultra-low-cost carrier approach a “fundamentally broken business model” and argued that customers have already voted with their wallets. The Illinois Aviation Academy at DuPage County Airport (KDPA) in West Chicago, Illinois, announced it has been approved by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam to train Vietnamese pilots under internationally recognized standards. IAA will now be able to support Vietnam’s burgeoning demand for pro pilots. Owners and operators of Piper’s M-Class line of single engine piston and turboprop-powered aircraft undertook three days of safety content, presentations and camaraderie at the 2025 Piper M-Class Owners & Pilots Association (PMOPA) Convention in picturesque Lake Geneva, WI from Sept. 11-14. More than 260 attendees traveled to this year’s event in Lake Geneva, WI. Kenosha Regional Airport welcomed more than 70 Piper M-Class aircraft to the 2025 PMOPA Convention. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne!!!
Airborne 09.17.25: 787 Pilot Busted, 1st Production Ascend, Sling 4 Cocaine Haul
Also: Douglas Day Event, Tidal Flight And DeltaHawk, Runway Lighting Systems, Supersonic Regs
British Airways suspended one of its pilots who was drunk while traveling as a passenger and caused a disruption in the cabin, with the captain returning to the departure gate at Edinburgh Airport (EDI/EGPH) and delaying the flight to London Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) for more than 90 minutes. Textron Aviation announced the rollout of the first production unit of its new Citation Ascend business jet from its manufacturing facility in Wichita, Kansas. The FAA is expected to certify the aircraft later this year. The Citation Ascend is the newest member of the 560XL series of business jets, and employees held a special celebration to note the program milestone. At the scene of a plane crash that killed 46-year-old Australian pilot Timothy Clark, authorities came across nearly 200 kilograms of cocaine… and, oddly enough, it was completely covered in SpaceX branding. Brazilian officials are now investigating in hopes of learning where the drugs were headed and what went wrong on the way. The crash occurred at around 1:30 pm on Sunday, September 14. The aircraft, an Airplane Factory Sling 4 registered in Zambia, went down in a sugarcane field near Coruripe, in Brazil’s northeastern Alagoas region. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-Unlimited!!!
Also: Tidal Flight And DeltaHawk Collab, Russian Drone Strikes, Vertical Aerospace Transition, Power Bank Rules
The FAA aims to accelerate the deployment of AAM, or advanced air mobility vehicles. The new technologies are full of potential to transform aviation, expand connectivity in rural America, reduce road congestion in urban areas, and enhancing medical and emergency transport services. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and AeroVironment announced their collaboration successfully completed the first-ever air launch of a Switchblade 600 loitering munition system from a Block 5 MQ-9A Reaper UAS and marks the first time a Switchblade has been launched from an unmanned aircraft. The SB600 was successfully integrated with the MQ-9A and flight testing was conducted from July 22-24 at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Grounds Test Range in Arizona. Personal aviation company Jetson recently completed the first-ever delivery of its ONE electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, and to none other than Oculus and Anduril Industries founder Palmer Luckey. This comes as Jetson works to shift its business overseas, establishing new headquarters in California. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-NextGen!!!
Airborne 09.15.25: Last Call For RV-3/4/6, Second B-21, Dubai Show Bars Israelis
Also: New NTSB Nom, Plan To Accelerate AAM, New GAMA Members, SC CAP Wing Honors Duke
Van’s Aircraft is giving potential buyers their final chance to pick up a kit for the RV-3, RV-4, and RV-6 aircraft before they move into retirement once and for all. The deadline for orders is September 30, 2025. After that, no more empennage, fuselage, wing, or finish kits will be offered for the three models. Northrop Grumman announced that the second B-21 Raider stealth bomber flew from Palmdale, California, to Edwards Air Force Base after conducting a strenuous test flight. At Edwards, the U.S. Air Force will move forward with integration of weapons and mission systems as well as sustainment upgrades developed through an enhanced software package. Some Israeli weapons manufacturers have been refused entry to one of the world’s biggest aerospace expos in the United Arab Emirates after receiving letters from the organizers of the Dubai Air Show in November. This comes at a time when the anger of Gulf states grows as Israel continues its offensive action in Gaza, and more pointedly after a strike in Qatar that targeted Hamas political leadership. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-Unlimited!!!
Otto Aerospace announced that Flexjet will be its first fleet customer and its launch customer for the Phantom 3500 business jet, a windowless, ultra-efficient clean sheet aircraft that takes advantage of laminar-flow aerodynamics and all-carbon fiber composite that together cut fuel burn by 60 percent or more. The agreement is for a firm 300 aircraft with additional options, and with a value of $5.9 billion, is reportedly one of the largest aircraft orders with an OEM in business aviation history. Almost a year after DJI filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Defense over its designation as a ‘Chinese Military Company’, the courts have reached a decision… and the drone maker won’t be happy with it. Judges, unsurprisingly, determined that there was not enough evidence separating DJI from the Chinese Communist Party to overrule the DoD’s claims. After years of not-so-patiently waiting through technological mishaps and costly outages, pilots are finally getting the update they’ve been asking for: a shiny new Notice to Airmen system. While several examples come to mind, the most significant NOTAM failure was in January 2023. The system outage resulted in the first nationwide ground stop since 2001, affecting over 11,000 flights in the process. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-Unlimited!!!
The GA community is eagerly anticipating the date that marks the beginning of a new era for many pilots: October 22, 2025. That is when the long-awaited Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification – MOSAIC – final rule takes effect, and it will have a profound influence on many aspects of general aviation but perhaps most especially sport pilots. 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. On October 12, the NAA will be bringing electric aircraft to Springfield, Ohio, to compete for a title that hasn’t officially been given in more than a century: the Pulitzer Trophy. As of now, the lineup includes one Beta Alia CX300 and two Pipistrel Velis Electros. No... not ‘affordable’, per se... but the tech has potential for us all... All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne!!!
Also: Final IAF MiG-21s, United Adds Starlink, CAF Update On P-47N, Boeing’s Cert Restored
Gulfstream has announced the all-new, super-midsize Gulfstream G300 -- which will replace the Gulfstream G280 and feature Gulfstream Panoramic Oval Windows as well as an all-new Harmony Flight Deck. Gulfstream announced the G300 at its exclusive Discover the Difference customer event in Savannah. 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. SpaceX has filed a preliminary Local Notice to Mariners (LNM) indicating that Starship’s 11th test flight could launch no earlier than October 13. As always, dates and times in preliminary notices are subject to change based on regulatory approval, readiness, and weather. The LNM was filed following a confirmation by SpaceX on social media that it had successfully completed a full-duration static fire test with Starship on September 22. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-Unlimited!!!
