Only in Alaska

Late Christmas Eve 2022, the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center (AKRCC) received a call from the Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC) requesting emergency assistance for a patient experiencing acute complications of pregnancy at a clinic in Shaktoolik, a coastal settlement approximately 365-nautical-miles northwest of Anchorage. Prevailing weather conditions along west-central Alaska’s Norton Sound precluded the patient being airlifted by civilian air ambulance.

All Roads Lead to Glendale

The NBAA, by dint of its Air Traffic Services division, has set forth a number of insights, suggestions, and resources of value to aircraft operators planning trips into and out of the Phoenix metropolitan area over the upcoming Super Bowl LVII festivities.

Getting the Lead Out

The passage into law of the $1.7-trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 saw $10-million allocated to the continuing development of unleaded aviation fuels. The funds will support the joint FAA-Petroleum Industry Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions (EAGLE) partnership, and may be used to expedite the maturation of unleaded fuels currently being tested and evaluated under the auspices of the FAA’s Piston Aviation Fuels Initiative (PAFI) program.

Also: Ukranian Drone School, New FAA Weather Book, Flair Pilots, Pilot Vaccine Usage

The FAA issued notice that almost 140 pilots will be required to take a new checkride in order to retain their certifications after “defrocking” a longtime DPE in Alaska. Pilots who took their Instrument and Flight Instructor checkrides (both initial and add-on) with backcountry aviator Don Lee between July 2018 and May 2022 will be required to be re-inspected to keep those ratings - and complete the re-check within 15 days. From the sound of things up north, locals were not given notice directly, with most finding out about the issue from an FAA notice sent to local offices. Boom Supersonic has partnered

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Over the holiday, Scalewings looked over the year to see how production is coming, and things are looking better than ever. Despite the youth of the company, the company has managed to complete, ship, and deliver the first 8 of its beautiful P-51 Mustang. The 2022 ICAS Convention American showed clear skies ahead for the airshow community in 2023 and beyond. A total of 1,377 delegates gathered in Las Vegas, Nevada, including 683 event organizers working on 164 different air shows, principally in the United States and Canada. The show also saw the release of

Seasons Don’t Fear the Reaper …

General Atomics—the San Diego-based energy and defense concern specializing in research and technology development and maker of the enigmatic Predator family of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA)—announced in November 2022 that it had flown the first production MQ-9A Multi-Domain Operations (M2DO)-ready variant of the U.S. Air Force’s MQ-9A Reaper.

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The SportPlane industry has had its hands tied in regards to designing and building for the future by the promise and broken promise of MOSAIC (Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certificates). Once expected and pretty much promised for an NPRM by Oshkosh 2022, the Sport Aviation community instead gets to sit on its hands for another year and Oshkosh 2023. With Cessna 172s pricing out at well over the purchase cost of a house, the LSA industry has found its airframes utilized more and more for flight training all across the US, as well as the world. The

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Leonardo has completed the first phase of flight testing for its upcoming Falco Xplorer drone. The aircraft now moves on to the second phase of the campaign as part of the company's "Be Tomorrow 2030" plan. The Xplorer will be the largest UAV ever made by Leonardo. The company says it has everything it needs for a successful, combat-ready UAV platform, from sensors and aeronautics to software and control. Advanced Aircraft Company has been selected to develop a tilt-wing prototype UAV for NASA. The "aero-activated", uncrewed aircraft will make cons

Also: Ukranian Drone School, New FAA Weather Book, Flair Pilots, Pilot Vaccine Usage

The FAA issued notice that almost 140 pilots will be required to take a new checkride in order to retain their certifications after “defrocking” a longtime DPE in Alaska. Pilots who took their Instrument and Flight Instructor checkrides (both initial and add-on) with backcountry aviator Don Lee between July 2018 and May 2022 will be required to be re-inspected to keep those ratings - and complete the re-check within 15 days. From the sound of things up north, locals were not given notice directly, with most finding out about the issue from an FAA notice sent to local offices. Boom Supersonic has partnered

Aero Linx: The Subsonic Aerodynamic Testing Association The Subsonic Aerodynamic Testing Association was formed in March 1965 to provide a world-wide organization for operators of low speed aerodynamic testing facilities.

Flight Check A call sign prefix used by FAA aircraft engaged in flight inspection/certification of navigational aids and flight procedures. The word “recorded” may be added as a suffix; e.g., “Flight Check 320 recorded” to indicate that an automated flight inspection is in progress in terminal areas.

“The F-15EX is an incredible addition to the USAF inventory. This event, executed by a top-notch team of test pilots, engineers and experts, proves yet again that the F-15EX will be ready if and when our adversaries challenge our nation’s interests.” Source: USAF 96th Test Wing Commander Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Wee, commenting on the news that a pair of F-15EXs had successfully fired air-to-air missiles from newly installed and operational weapon stations during a 29 November 2022 test flight. On separate passes over the water range of Eglin Air Force Base’s Test and Training Complex, USAF Major Jeremy Schnurbusch, a pilot attached to the 40th Flight Test Squadron, and USAF Major Brett Hughes of the Oper