New Display Debuts in 2023

After an enthusiastic reception at Oshkosh, ScaleWings's SW-51 Mustang returns to Sun ´N Fun 2023. The SW-51 is a light-sport, homebuilt aircraft designed by ScaleWings of Strasswalchen, Austria. The machine is a seventy-percent replica of the North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft of the Second World War and has set alight the imaginations and ownership aspirations of vast tracts of Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) enthusiasts.

Young Eagles Credits, Pilot Challenges Round Out Celebrations

With 4 months left in the EAA's 30th Anniversary Young Eagles Celebration, participating members still have enough time to make the most of special promotions, bonuses and awards. First, the bonus of double the Young Eagles credits ($10 per flight) will continue to be offered through July 31st of this year, allowing chapters and volunteers enough time to obtain them when there's better flying weather available. The EAA hopes that the added bonus will help to foster additional flight activity and chapter rallies.

Belaboring the Obvious

Citing what he referred to as an "uptick" in recent aviation incidents, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg called upon attendees of the Federal Aviation Administration’s 15 March safety summit to investigate and address the "root causes” of a series of runway incursions and near collisions which have occurred at numerous U.S. airports since the beginning of 2023.  

Novel Architecture to Broaden UAV Operations

CAV Ice Protection Limited—a leading global supplier of airborne ice protection solutions, announced on 17 March 2023 that it had filed documents germane to the patenting of an anti-icing solution for small Uncrewed Aerial Systems (sUAS). CAV set forth that the new system has the potential to revolutionize the manner in which commercial drones are utilized in cold climates.

SIGMET in the North

Flair Airlines, the Edmonton, Alberta-headquartered Canadian ultra low-cost carrier (ULCC) which promotes itself as being Canada's first and only independent ULCC, has, of late, suffered repeated tarnishings of its reputation. Following months of customer complaints pertaining to flight delays and cancellations, four of Flair’s Boeing 737 MAX narrow-body jets were repossessed by Airborne Capital—the entity from which the carrier leases its aircraft—over claims of lease nonpayment. The repossession occasioned extensive rescheduling of Flair flights which adversely impacted nearly two-thousand passengers mere days before the zenith of the profitable March spring-break season.

From 2012 (YouTube Version): The Corporate Pilots' Fun Airplane

Nestled among the multi-million-dollar business jets and high-performance turboprops at the NBAA static display in Las Vegas in October was something a little unusual... a motorglider. Alexander Papenberg, CEO of Stemme USA, was showing off the Stemme S10-VT at NBAA for a simple reason. "Lots of corporate pilots fly from A to B IFR during the workday, and on weekends they want to fly a real airplane. They come here, they look at it, and fall in love."

The Subjectivity of Heroism

The pilots of two Russian Su-27 Flanker jet fighters ostensibly responsible for bringing down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) over the Black Sea on Tuesday, 14 March 2023 have been honored by their country. In a statement announcing the aviators’ imminent awards, the Russian Ministry of Defense contended that the two pilots had "prevented the violation" of a military exclusion zone established by Moscow. The statement went on to assert that the Su-27s flown by the feted pilots neither deployed their weapons nor came into contact with the MQ-9.    

Congressional Pilots Say Nominee “Entirely Unqualified”

Fourteen Republican lawmakers—certificated pilots all—have called upon Joe Biden to withdraw his nomination of Phil Washington to lead the Federal Aviation Administration. The cadre of GOP aviators cited Washington’s "zero aviation experience,” and his ignorance of even the most rudimentary aviation principles, regulations, and orthodoxies. In a letter to Biden, the lawmakers set forth: "While Mr. Washington honorably served our nation in the Army, he did not serve in an aviation unit. He is not a pilot, has zero aviation safety experience, and is entirely unqualified to lead the federal agency responsible for keeping the flying public safe."

...Unable To Return To The Airport And Made A Forced Landing In The Everglades National Park

On March 7, 2023, about 1722 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172, N64535, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Miami, Florida. The flight instructor and student pilot were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. The flight instructor said the engine began to make a “knocking” noise followed by a total loss of oil pressure. The engine then seized and the propeller “locked up.”

A Call to Action

During the Federal Aviation Administration’s 15 March 2023 Safety Summit, general aviation (GA) industry leaders participated in both the opening public session and a closed-door breakout session for purpose of discussing the challenges by which the general aviation industry is currently faced and determining means by which to improve the safety of GA operations.

Aero Linx: Alaskan Aviation Safety Foundation

Welcome to the Alaskan Aviation Safety Foundation. The foundation was created to improve aviation safety in Alaska through education, advocacy, and research. We are a non-profit membership organization, established as a 501(c) 3 tax-exempt corporation.  Some of our activities include organizing safety seminars, hosting a  segment on public television, and participating in a variety of forums and working groups to promote aviation safety.

Braking Action Advisories

When tower controllers receive runway braking action reports which include the terms “medium," “poor," or “nil," or whenever weather conditions are conducive to deteriorating or rapidly changing runway braking conditions, the tower will include on the ATIS broadcast the statement, “Braking Action Advisories are in Effect." During the time braking action advisories are in effect, ATC will issue the most current braking action report for the runway in use to each arriving and departing aircraft. Pilots should be prepared for deteriorating braking conditions and should request current runway condition information if not issued by controllers. Pilots shou

"I repeat, for those who have not gathered themselves to look at the situation objectively: Our fighters did not come into contact with the American UAV. Russia did everything possible to prevent this kind of incident—it informed the international community in good time about the boundaries of the temporary airspace regime established for the special military operation." Source: The poorly conceived and pretty much unbeleiveable statement made by Russian ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, trying to deflect criticism for the inexcusable and exceedingly poor airmanship exhibited by two SU-27 Flanker pilots that encountered a US MQ-9 and ultimately caused its destruction.