Also: New NASA Admin?, Anti-Aviation Hypocrites, Airberlin, Sky Hopper, Drone v Carrier, Jet Aviation, Airman Retires

The NBAA joined five other stakeholders to file a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, challenging the legality of a "settlement agreement” between the FAA and the city of Santa Monica. The highly unusual agreement, which was concluded last January with no public input and with disregard for numerous mandatory statutory requirements, would restrict and ultimately prohibit aviation access to Santa Monica Municipal Airport. “As this filing makes perfectly clear, NBAA will defend our nation’s critical aviation infrastructure and protect general aviation’s access to airports and airspace,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen. The Alliance For Aviation Across America (AAAA) has recently produced two videos featuring Ca

Also: Yuneec Extended Service Plan, UAV on A/C Carrier, Blue Angels Incident, Drone Operator Safety Act

MultiGP’s 2017 MultiGP International Open, conducted on the grounds of AMA HQ turned out to be a recordsetter! The AMA crew has reported that some 300 quadcopter pilots inundated Muncie, Indiana, August 8-13 for the much-anticipated Riot-MultiGP International Open. The races were held at AMA’s International Aeromodeling Center and in addition to plenty of opportunities to simply fly for the fun of it, pilots competed at eleven tracks spread out across nearly 1,100 acres. Racers came from all over the globe... A drone operator with a Part 107 license was recently cited by the City of Chicago for flying his aircraft over people without consent... except that it didn't happen. Attorney Jeffrey Antonelli represented Jerrick Hakim, who made one flight on Chicago's lakefront. Stopped by th

Also: Kansas DOT-AirMap, CIRRUAS Drone Program, Daytona Beach PD UAS, Virginia UAS SAR

The Reno Air Racing Association has signed an agreement with the MultiGP Drone Racing League to host the National Drone Racing Championship during this year’s National Championship Air Races. The drone races will be held in the Air Races on-site drone zone. "The addition of MultiGP’s National Drone Racing Championship into the air races allows our fans to experience exciting drone technology up-close and personally,” Tony Logoteta, Director of Finance for the Reno Air Racing Association said. The increased use of commercial and privately owned small unmanned aircraft systems has raised Defense Department concerns for the safety and security of its installations, its aviation and its people. Guidance was sent in early August to the services and to installations about the use of small unmanned ai

It's Official: Aggressive Upgrades For New Airborne Programs WILL Require New Digs

It's been in development for years, but we're getting to a point where we think we can pull off something TRULY REMARKABLE - which will require us to make BIG CHANGES. So... ANN is officially looking for a new home for a major new initiative... hopefully, a permanent one. We are now in the implementation phases of THE most significant upgrades we've ever undertaken and preparing to make significant operational modifications to accomodate them. As a result, we're currently inviting proposals for a NEW airport/office studio facility to serve as a home base and studio for new programming about to be introduced by the Aero-News Network, Inc., the Aviation World's Real-Time News and Information Service, our Daily Airborne Unlimited programming, our new 'Aero-Doc' documentary division, as well as other Aero-TV/Aero-Verse  productions.

Secretive Mini-Shuttle Reportedly Being Prepped For Launch

The X-37B space plane may fly again in September, but the Air Force is playing the actual launch date close to the vest.

Size Of Fleet Expands To Over 160 Aircraft

Apollo Aviation Group, a multi-strategy aviation investment manager, has contracted to purchase 38 aircraft in the first half of 2017 for a total gross purchase price of $910 million.

Robert Wegeman Jr. Joined the Air Force At 19

When a 19-year-old Robert Wegeman Jr. left Louisiana and joined the Air Force in 1976, Star Wars didn’t exist, Rocky had yet to fight Apollo, gas was 60 cent per gallon, the A-10 Thunderbolt was less than six months old, the F-15 was less than two years old and the main military fighter aircraft was the F-4.

Hellas-Sat-4/SaudiGeoSat-1 Communications Satellite Moves To Final Assembly

A team of engineers and technicians at Lockheed Martin has completed the integration of the company's first modernized A2100 satellite. The spacecraft, known as Hellas-Sat-4/SaudiGeoSat-1, now moves into final assembly and testing, on track for launch in the second quarter of 2018.

Retrofitted New Team Planes With All First-Class Seating

The New England Patriots have become the first NFL franchise to purchase its own team planes.

Will Support The ASAPTR Program

Aurora Flight Sciences has been awarded a $499 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract from the U.S. Air Force in support of the ASAPTR program. The competitively awarded Aerospace Systems Air Platform Technology Research (ASAPTR) contract is to conduct research for affordable, revolutionary capabilities for the warfighter.