Hide/Show Archive Navigation.

All News

December 07, 2023

Airborne-Flight Training 12.07.23: BAA Skyhawk Deal, Bell Training, L3Harris Sale

Also: NJSAP v Buffet, FAA Reauth, Sopwith Camel Flight Sims, FAA Flight Training Dispute

International flight enterprise BAA training inked a deal for 48 C-172s, expanding their educational Cessna fleet around the world. BAA Training is a full-spectrum GA provider with facilities in Spain, Lithuania, France and Vietnam. Additionally, pilot training services are provided through a consultancy office in India and a sales representative office in the UAE. Bell Training Academy in Valencia, Spain welcomed around 200 students to training using its nifty facilities, its crown jewel being a fully certified Bell 429 Level D Full Flight Simulator. The sim has been a hot commodity, with more than 1,000 hours logged this year alone. L3Harris Tech

More Videos

EcoPulse Rides for the First Time Ever

Distributed Propulsion TBM Takes Flight Under Hybrid Power

A Daher TBM equipped with a suite of 6 electric motors took its first flight, going up for 100 minutes as the crew established function checks of major systems. The EcoPulse sports a hybrid powertrain, taking flight with a combined battery and turbogenerator arrangement that provides power to a series of electric motors mounted on each wing's leading edge. To power all those spinning props, the EcoPulse sports an 800 volt battery pack that can deliver up to 350 kilowatts of power, and keep them topped off with its turbogenerator to ensure the design does not suffer from the usual constraints of an all-battery aircraft.

Single-Engine Turboprop Gets All-Weather Capability

Epic Aircraft's E1000 GX turboprop gained FAA certification for Flight Into Known Icing (FIKI), improving livability and safety for operators in an even greater number of missions. The certification was a long time coming, said Epic CEO Doug King. He said it was "one of the most challenging" that the company had faced during E1000 development. "We began testing several years ago, flying the E1000 GX in all of the FAA-specified natural icing conditions. This FAA certification establishes that the E1000 GX can withstand known icing conditions in a real-world operating environment with minimal changes required of the airplane."

American-Made Crop Duster Offers 200-lb Payload, 1-Minute Downtime

Guardian Agriculture says it's the first to utilize eVTOL aircraft in traditional agriculture operations, using a fleet of 4 "aviation-grade" aircraft to spray crops in the Salinas Valley. The company says its eVTOL drones "spray crops more efficiently, sustainably, and safely than traditional crop-dusters or ground-based equipment". Just one of their Guardian eVTOLs can cover "up to 60 acres per hour" and "carry a 200-pound payload". Downtime is pretty short, too, with a combined refueling and recharging time of "less than 1 minute".