Shiko Your Booty; or, It All Comes Out In the Mawashi

Japanese flagship air-carrier Japan Airlines (JAL) recently found itself uncomfortably middled between national pride and the immutable principles of physics to which aircraft operations are immutably beholden. On 12 October, JAL was forced to add an extra domestic flight for purpose of accommodating a sizable group of sumo wrestlers traveling to attend the Special National Sports Festival on Amami Oshima Island in Japan’s southern Kagoshima Prefecture. All told, 27 wrestlers, known in Japanese as rikishi, a term translating, more or less, to men of strength, had been booked to travel in two groups aboard a pair of JAL Boeing 737-800s—narrow-body jets with cabin ca

Onward, Toward The Stampede City

On 20 October 2023, Canada’s federal government issued a news release in which an assortment of the nation’s Ministers and managers set forth: “The aviation industry in Alberta and across Canada is growing, resulting in increased demand for pilots and skilled aviation professionals in the air transportation and aircrew industries. The Government of Canada is investing in Alberta’s aviation sector to support the increasing need for pilots and a flight-ready workforce while creating good paying jobs and diversifying Alberta’s economy ...

Amalgamation and Capital

Heads Up Technologies, Inc. (HUT), a leading provider of proprietary aircraft lighting and cockpit and cabin electronics, has acquired Sterling, Massachusetts-based ALTO Aviation (ALTO), a designer and manufacturer of high-end OEM and aftermarket audio and cabin management systems for the business aviation market. HUT is backed by JLL Partners, a New York-based private equity firm.

December 2023 Event to be Followed by Zenith Fly-In

Zenith Aircraft Company is returning to central Florida on 01 and 02 December 2023 for purpose of hosting its popular hands-on kit aircraft building workshop. Subject workshop will be held on the SUN ’n FUN Expo campus (site of the annual Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo), and followed immediately by an informal regional Zenith fly-in gathering.

New Light-Jet Model to Enter Service in 2025

Textron Aviation, parent company of Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker, Bell Helicopter, Lycoming Engines, and Pipistrel, has disclosed flyExclusive, the North Carolina-based charter operator and aircraft fractional ownership concern, will be the fleet launch-customer for Cessna’s new Citation CJ3 Gen2. The announcement was made during a press conference at 2023’s National Business Aviation Association - Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) event in Las Vegas.

Pilot Attrition Critical at Largest Amazon Carrier

For nearly three-and-a-half-years, the pilots of Wilmington, Ohio-based Air Transport International (ATI), as represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), have been mired in unproductive negotiations with the air-carrier’s management. In March 2023—compelled by a protracted stalemate occasioned by management’s obstinance vis-à-vis big-ticket issues the likes of compensation and retirement packages—both parties filed for mediation with the U.S. National Mediation Board (NMB). The last scheduled NMB session of 2023 will be held in Baltimore, Maryland and span 24 through 26 October.

Kodiak Liveries Henceforth Local

Daher’s Aircraft Division has inaugurated a large new paint facility at its Kodiak Aircraft Company production site in Sandpoint, Idaho, marking the latest investment since Daher’s acquisition of the Kodiak utility airplane product line in 2019. The 9,000-square-foot facility streamlines Sandpoint’s overall production process and further improves the build quality for this multi-role single-engine turboprop aircraft, which is produced in the Kodiak 100 and Kodiak 900 versions.

From 2010 (YouTube Version): Aero-TV Takes to the Skies Alongside ANG’s John Klatt

John Klatt is a man who truly lives and breathes aviation. As the pilot for John Klatt Airshows, he travels across the country bringing stunning aerobatic performances to aviation enthusiasts and aerobatic experts alike. Flying for over 23 years with over 13,000 hours of flight time, Klatt took an interest in flying shortly after high school. After discovering the Air National Guard while a student at the University of Minnesota, Klatt joined the ANG pilot training program where he earned his wings at the Air Force in Texas. Now assigned to the Air Guard in Minnes

Airplane Subsequently Impacted An Embankment In A Right-Wing, Nose-Low Attitude About 15 Feet Below The Top Of A Plateau

On October 1, 2023, at 1608 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 177RG (file photo, below), N545PZ, owned and operated by Lake Placid Air Service was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Lake Placid, New York. The pilot and pilot-rated passenger sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 aerial photography flight. The purpose of the flight was to photograph the accident airplane while airborne for later publication in a magazine article. According to witnesses, there were two airplanes that made up the flight. The lead airplane was a Beech A36 w

Launch Window opens 02 November 2023

Virgin Galactic, the California-based spaceflight subsidiary of billionaire-cool-guy-knight Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, has announced the window for its upcoming Galactic 05 mission—the company’s sixth spaceflight of 2023 and tenth to date—will open 02 November 2023. A research endeavor after the fashion of Galactic 01, which was flown at the behest and to the purposes of the Italian Air Force, Galactic 05 stands to reaffirm Virgin Galactic’s commitment to reducing the historical barriers of time and cost historically synonymous with microgravity and space-based research.

Aero Linx: The Historic Aircraft Association (HAA) The Historic Aircraft Association (HAA) was founded in 1979 with the aim of furthering the safe flying of historic aircraft in the UK and, later on, supporting the restoration and preservation of these aircraft. The Association, which currently has over 200 active pilot and engineer members, has made a major contribution to General Aviation, ensuring that British flying heritage is kept alive by promoting the safe flying of valuable, historic and heritage aircraft. The UK Air Display scene is flourishing, with more air displays taking place in this country every year than in the whole of the rest of Europe put to

Multicom A mobile service not open to public correspondence used to provide communications essential to conduct the activities being performed by or directed from private aircraft. 

“After negotiating for more than three-years, our pilots are fed up. The sluggish mentality of ATSG leadership is driving pilots away from what was once a destination airline. Delivering a contract with much-needed improvements in pay, retirement, and work rules will allow ATI to attract and retain experienced pilots and may polish ATI’s currently tarnished reputation within the industry.”

Source: From a statement by ATI ALPA Master Executive Council (MEC) chair Captain Mike Sterling,