Australian Carrier Undertakes $25 Million (AUD) Fleet Modernization

Queensland, Australia’s Torres Strait Air is making ready to take deliveries of no fewer than ten new Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander aircraft. The $25-million AUD ($16.3-million USD) acquisition speaks to the scope of the company’s fleet modernization plan. Over the period spanning 2023 through 2028, Torres Strait Air will refurbish the aggregation of aging BN-2, Cessna 206, and North American Rockwell Shrike Commanders with which it services locales within the vicinity of its namesake Torres Strait.

Rising Above

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Transportation have invited Nashville-based non-profit Freedom Aviation Network (FAN) to partner with the Blue Lightning Initiative (BLI), a national public awareness campaign undertaken for purpose of educating the public, law enforcement, and other industry partners to recognize the indicators of human trafficking and respond appropriately to possible cases thereof. Freedom Aviation Network’s volunteer general aviation pilots provide air-transportation to survivors of human trafficking and their advocates.

Year-End Completion Slated for 180,00-Square-Foot Structure

Textron Aviation—the Wichita, Kansas-based general aviation business unit of American industrial conglomerate Textron Incorporated and parent company of Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker, Bell Helicopter, Lycoming Engines, and Pipistrel—is about the business of expanding its Wichita, Kansas parts and distribution facility. The project, which broke ground in October 2022, is reportedly on track to be completed by the end of 2023.

E-Jet Training to Commence at CAE Singapore Facility

In a joint statement set forth at 2023’s Asia Pacific Airline Training Symposium (APATS), Embraer and CAE announced the expansion of the two companies’ long-standing partnership, which includes the training of pilots and cabin-crews operating the Brazilian airframer’s E-Jet E2 family of commercial aircraft. Embraer-CAE Training Services (ECTS) will launch a new pilot training program and state-of-the-art E-Jet E2 Full-Flight Simulator (FFS) at CAE’s Singapore Flight Training Centre, at which training events are scheduled to commence in December 2023.

Asimov’s Third Law

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Be’er Sheva, Israel, ParaZero Drone Safety Solutions is a technology concern specializing in the safe and comprehensive deployment of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). On 01 September 2023, the company debuted SmartAir Trinity, an AI-based avionics system designed to detect malfunctions in UAS and eVTOL aircraft in real-time and provide analytics for mission debriefings. The system utilizes a new, leading-edge sensor array with advanced capabilities.

AAL Cabin Crews Without Pay Increases Since 2019

American Airlines (AAL) Flight Attendants are demanding a new contract comprising long-sought pay and quality-of-life improvements. On 30 August 2023, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA)—the labor union by which American Airlines flight attendants are represented—reported that upwards of 99-percent of American’s 26,000-plus flight attendants voted to authorize union leaders to call for a strike. The move, which puts tremendous pressure on the airlines’ management to affect a more accommodating negotiating tenor, precedes the busy holiday travel season.

Also: Prigozhin Shot Down, Daher Defribillates, Delta-Skyborne, Destroyed and Scrapped A/C

The Perlan Project’s Perlan 2 spaceglider took flight on August 23rd, looking to take a jaunt over the Andes mountains of Peru to celebrate “National Ride the Wind Day”. After 2.5 hours of flight, the Perlan 2 was making a good vertical speed of 8 knots at a pressure altitude of 45,500 feet. By the end, the Perlan 2 was able to reach a max altitude just north of 60,300 feet, taking the better part of 5 hours to hit their max altitude. Californian defense contractor Advanced Tactics, Inc. has signed an agreement with Rotor X Aircraft

Receiver Network Enables Higher Resolution for ADS-B Tracking

The Civil Air Patrol’s Virginia Wing has helped uAvionix test out a DO-260B compliant dual band ADS-B receiver network to supplement FAA sensor data, bearing out the new systems’ benefits under the National Radar Analysis Team mission to shorten rescue times. Volunteers all over Virginia state have helped to find and assess receiver sites to install small, lightweight “Flightstation” ADS-B receivers designed to pick up and relay transponder data from nearby aircraft. The network helps increase resolution at lower altitudes, greatly enhancing the quality of positional data for low-flying general aviation aircraft.

Impossible N’Est Pas Français 

Following a two-year certification campaign during which three fight-test aircraft logged an aggregate total of some 1,500-flight-hours, Dassault’s Falcon 6X has been granted FAA and EASA type-certification. The first Falcon 6X production aircraft are currently undergoing final completion in preparation for customer deliveries.

Cape May in September

The Vertical Flight Society (VFS), a non-profit technical society for the advancement of vertical flight, will hold its 7th Workshop on Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Infrastructure on 26 through 28 September 2023 in Cape May, New Jersey. For more than a decade, VFS has remained in the vanguard of vertical and electric flight, working alongside the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies for purpose of supporting the integration of eVTOL and AAM aircraft into the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS). The 7th Workshop on Advanced Air Mobility will be held in the Cape May Convention Hall.

From 2016 (YouTube Version): EAA’s Pilot Proficiency Center Is Designed to Encourage Proficiency and Provide Actual Training…

While at EAA AirVenture 2016, ANN News Editor, Tom Patton, stopped by the Pilot Proficiency Center in its new location at what was known as the, EAA Four Corners. This new central location brings to light EAA’s position that pilot proficiency is key to aviation safety. Tom met up with Chuck Gensler, who is the Operations Manager for EAA’s Pilot Proficiency Center. Gensler pointed out that the purpose of the Pilot Proficiency Center was not only to promote the concept that profi

Aero Linx: The T-34 Association The T-34 Association was formed in July 1975 so that individuals purchasing then military surplus T-34As had an organization which would provide support for these aircraft. The idea was to share operating and maintenance information to all members. The organization was formed by Charlie Nogle, Earl Parks, and Bob Morris. The charter membership included 75 members, mostly Civil Air Patrol pilots who were flying these aircraft on missions and buying them from the government.

Protected Airspace The airspace on either side of an oceanic route/track that is equal to one-half the lateral separation minimum except where reduction of protected airspace has been authorized.

“uAvionix is proud to work together with CAP to improve low altitude data availability for this important public service. The introduction of ADS-B has resulted in a significant improvement of General Aviation safety, expanding on the FAA coverage at lower altitude and for UAT transponders typically carried by General Aviation will further enhance the tools used in safety of life activities such as CAP‘s Emergency Services mission.” Source: Christian Ramsey, Managing Director of uAvionix, discussing how the Civil Air Patrol’s Virginia Wing has helped uAvionix test out a DO-260B compliant dual band ADS-B receiver network to supplement FAA sensor data, bearing out the new systems’ benefits under the National Rad