Also: United A/L Agreement, Test Pilot School, American Airlines Furlough Potential, James Webb Space Telescope

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has confirmed August 2 as the target splashdown date for DM-2 crew members Behnken and Hurley, with additional details on the return of this historic mission to come. A twitter message got the news rolling with, "We're targeting an Aug. 1 departure of @SpaceX's Dragon Endeavour spacecraft from the @Space_Station to bring @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug home after their historic #LaunchAmerica mission. Splashdown is targeted for Aug. 2. Weather will drive the ac

Stock Configuration LX7 Cruises From Anchorage, AK to Redmond, OR in 5.5 Hours

Whoever said records are made to be broken must’ve known something about RDD, an experimental aircraft manufacturer from Redmond, Oregon. In March of this year, just before COVID19 quarantines went into place. Sisters, Oregon resident Paul Hodge piloted his LX7 personal aircraft from Redmond, Oregon to Anchorage, in just six hours for, a new all-time record for that distance. After arriving in Anchorage, Hodge and co-pilot Laird Hamilton, CMO of Laird Superfoods in Sisters, Oregon, were picked up for an epic day of heli-skiing and boarding at Tordrillo Mountain Lodge. 

Iconic Learning System Takes The Next Step

King Schools has been busy these last few months, despite the ravages of a global pandemic... As a result, Pilots taking flight training via the Cessna Flight Training System will find their learning easier and more fun as a result of upgrades to their courses. New features include updated navigation, design and functionality on their iPhones, iPads, laptops and desktops. Flight instructors will also see major modifications to features in the Course Tracking Application (CTA). The CTA tracks individual student training progress online, offline, and even in the air using an iPad app that syncs the offline progress to the system whenever the instructor reconnects to the Internet.

90 Years Ago, Ruth Alexander Reached An Altitude Of 6583M

FAI has a long memory... and recently, they let us now that on 11 July 1930, American aviatrix Ruth Alexander flew a Nicholas-Beazley NB-3 equipped with a Warner "Scarab" Jr. 90 H.P. motor and established a female Altitude world record (6583m) over San Diego, California (USA). Thanks to her exceptional performance, Alexander, then 25 years old, added her name to the list of FAI women’s world-record breakers for the second time. Her first record was in 1929.

GA/BizAv Appears Exempted

Remember that trip to the Bahamas you were planning? Well... we hope you're going by GA or BizAv... if you actually want to get there from the US. The BMT&A tells us that, "Due to the continued increase in COVID-19 cases in the United States, as well as an uptick in cases in The Bahamas, Prime Minister, The Most Hon. Dr. Hubert Minnis, has made the difficult decision to close borders to international commercial flights and commercial vessels carrying passengers from the United States. The order is effective as of Wednesday, July 22 at midnight..."

Free Youth Admission, Early-Bird Discounts Available

Missing Oshkosh this week? Well... the line is starting RIGHT NOW for Oshkosh 2021. Advance purchase admissions, camping, flight experiences, and merchandise are now available for EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2021. The 68th Experimental Aircraft Association fly-in convention is scheduled for July 26-August 1 at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh.

Loses Weight While Gaining Seats

Duncan Aviation took on a task requiring them to reduce the overall weight of a client's Falcon 900EX EASy, while giving them additional seats, to boot. During a pre-buy inspection at Duncan Aviation’s MRO facility in Battle Creek, Michigan, a customer requested his 14-seat Falcon 900EX EASy be reconfigured to sit 17 -- comfortably. He also wanted the aircraft’s overall weight to drop so future round-trip flights could be completed with the elimination of inconvenient fuel stops.

From 2010: Preserving The History Of An Amazing Facet Of Aviation

ANN's phenomenal trip to Albuquerque for the 2010 ABQ Balloon Fiesta is the gift that keeps on giving... both with the memories we have of the extraordinary visual delights of that week as well as the tremendous opportunities our Aero-TV crews had to experience so much of the world of ballooning, its people and its history. One of the more intriguing aspects of that trip was our visit to the Anderson-Abruzzo International Balloon Museum. The Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum presents the d

The Spacecraft And Launch Teams Have One More Major Review To Complete

NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission cleared its Flight Readiness Review Wednesday, an important milestone on its way to the launch pad. The meeting was an opportunity for the Mars 2020 team and launch vehicle provider United Launch Alliance to report on the readiness of the spacecraft, along with the Atlas V rocket, flight and ground hardware, software, personnel, and procedures. The daily launch window on Thursday July 30 opens at 7:50 a.m. EDT

Glider Impacted Terrain On The Leeward Side Of The Mountain At About The 8,800 Ft Level

On July 11, 2020, at 1500 Pacific daylight time, an Alexander Schleicher ASW 27-18 glider, N167TM, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Ely, Nevada. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight. According to the tow pilot, after takeoff at 1119, he released the accident glider at an altitude of 7,800 ft mean sea level (msl) about 2 miles south of Ely Airport (ELY). About 10 minutes later he heard radio traffic that the accident pilot was climbing to 9,000 ft msl. The tow pilot stated that about 1540 he heard that a glider was down, and between 1600 to 1645 he f

Aero Linx: Association of Naval Aviation Our mission is to educate the general public about the overall military status of the United States, to encourage widespread interest as to the importance of Naval Aviation in the defense of the United States and its allies, to stimulate the collection, preservation and display of historical material concerning the history of naval aviation, and to encourage scientific and technical development of naval aviation. ANA is a not-for-profit organization as defined in section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Code.

Vortices Circular patterns of air created by the movement of an airfoil through the air when generating lift. As an airfoil moves through the atmosphere in sustained flight, an area of area of low pressure is created above it. The air flowing from the high pressure area to the low pressure area around and about the tips of the airfoil tends to roll up into two rapidly rotating vortices, cylindrical in shape. These vortices are the most predominant parts of aircraft wake turbulence and their rotational force is dependent upon the wing loading, gross weight, and speed of the generating aircraft. The vortices from medium to super aircraft can be of extremely high velocity and hazardous to smaller aircra

"Due to the continued increase in COVID-19 cases in the United States, as well as an uptick in cases in The Bahamas, Prime Minister, The Most Hon. Dr. Hubert Minnis, has made the difficult decision to close borders to international commercial flights and commercial vessels carrying passengers from the United States. The order is effective as of Wednesday, July 22 at midnight. In addition, Bahamasair will cease outgoing flights to the United States, effective immediately."  Source: From a statement by the Bahamas Ministry Of Tourism & Aviation, describing travel restrictions being put in place as a result of issues involving the COVID-19 pandemic.