NAV/COM Radios and GPS Units Stolen from Smith Aviation Services

An array of aircraft NAV/COM radios, GPS units, and other avionics components was reported stolen from five aircraft belonging to Goldsby, Oklahoma’s Smith Aviation Services—a family-owned flight-school and aircraft rental concern on McClain County, Oklahoma’s David Jay Perry Airport (1K4).

Frank Rubio Surpasses One Year In Space

During an Earth-to-Space call slated to be made Wednesday, 13 September 2023 at 12:05 EDT, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy will speak with agency astronaut Frank Rubio about his record-breaking number of consecutive days in space. On 11 September, Rubio, who’s currently serving out a year-long mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), earned the distinction of logging the longest single spaceflight by an American, surpassing former record-holder NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei’s mark of 355 days in space.

The Giving Hand

In an 8-k filing submitted to the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), Wheels Up, the New York City-based provider of on-demand aircraft services set forth: “On September 6, 2023, the Company [Wheels Up] and Delta [Air Lines] entered into the Third Amendment to Secured Promissory Note to increase the aggregate principal amount of the Note by up to an additional $15-million, of which the additional $15-million was received by the Company on September 6, 2023.”

$28-Billion for Nothing Discernable

The Biden administration has made public its intention to sink some $28-billion into as-of-yet unspecified technologies for purpose of mitigating, ostensibly, the alarming number of aircraft proximity-incidents (read near-misses) by which the U.S. air traffic management system has been plagued of late. The ambiguous language in which the Biden White House has framed its intentions vis-à-vis the vast sums taxpayer dollars salient to its mysterious plan is at once deeply worrying and eminently emblematic of the constancy with which the Department of Transportation has paid lip-service to but failed to address the nation’s air traffic management shortcomings.

STEM Among the Military Branches

The United States Navy’s Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division Lakehurst (NAWCAD LKE) partnered with New Jersey’s Toms River School District to host a drone camp at which students were instructed in the basics of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) design, purpose, and operation. The camp’s Drone Legends STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Fundamentals course helped participating fifth-through-eighth-grade students learn to fly drones, the purposes to which such machines are put in the real-world, and the correlation of mathematics and science to UAV design, construction, testing, and fielding.

Planemaker Takes the High Road

Oregon-based Van’s Aircraft is developing a web-portal by which customers in receipt of cracked aircraft parts may report such and arrange to take delivery of replacement components. Customers visiting the portal will be presented lists of laser-cut parts from which they may specify the replacements they require. The portal will also afford Van’s customers opportunity to select non-laser-cut parts at no additional charge. Customers requiring replacements of punched parts will be able to request and view discounted prices for subject parts via the portal.

LongShot Program Nears Flight-Test Phase

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI), the U.S. energy and defense concern, is preparing to commence the flight-testing phase of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) LongShot program, which seeks to develop and demonstrate an air-launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) capable of carrying and employing air-to-air weapons.

From 2009 (YouTube Version): From China to Wittman Field, Singer Introduces the Nanchang CJ-6A

From 1954 until 1958, the Nanchang Aircraft Factory build the Soviet Yak-18 under license as the CJ-5; however, with increasing advancements in jet pilot training, Chinese engineers quickly realized that improvements to the performance and design would be necessary in order to meet the needs of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force. Starting in 1957, two aeronautical engineers, Bushi Cheng and Lin Jiahua, began intensive revisions to the basic Yak-18 in order to develop a better-suited trainer aircraft. Several improvements were made including a retractable und

Aero Linx: Air Education and Training Command Air Education and Training Command, with headquarters at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, was established and activated in January 1942, making it the oldest major command in the Air Force. AETC takes America’s sons and daughters – young men and women who have volunteered to serve their country in a time of war – and develop them into Airmen. “Develop” denotes more than educating or training them – it implies bringing them to embrace Air Force culture, teaching them (by example) the Air Force core values of integrity, service before self and excellence in all we do.

Rescue Co-Ordination Center [ICAO] A unit responsible for promoting efficient organization of search and rescue service and for coordinating the conduct of search and rescue operations within a search and rescue region.

“Our testing program for this issue is ongoing and focused on reviewing the various hole diameters and material thicknesses/types that were used to produce the laser-cut parts. These variables, as well as variations in manufacturing process parameters, can result in a marked difference in the potential for a crack to form in a given hole. We will prioritize testing and manufacturing of replacement parts based on these differences. We are also reviewing the metallurgy of the holes at the third-party test lab, in order to better understand the origin and cause of the observed cracks. From that, we will gain a greater understanding about these cracks and at what stages in the process they are formed (when cut, when dimpled, when riveted). We expect to receive those results so