Meet the New Boss …

More than 17-months after the resignations of the FAA’s last permanent Administrator, the Washington D.C. bureaucracy appears to have identified a suitable, ostensibly qualified candidate for the job. Both the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) issued 07 September 2023 statements lauding the Biden administration’s nomination of Michael Whitaker to serve as the next permanent administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.

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Montaer Aeronaves unveiled a follow-up to its 2-seat MC-01 Aircraft, with a 4-seater sporting IFR-ready avionics and a parachute. The all-metal, high-wing, tricycle geared MC-04 sports a Rotax 916 iS with all 160 turbocharged ponies under the hood, granting it a 132-knot cruise for 800 nautical miles. Californian defense contractor Advanced Tactics, Inc. has signed an agreement with Rotor X Aircraft Manufacturing Company for the design, modification, and production of a new and improved version of their A600 Turbo kit helicopter. Van’s provided anot

It’s a Small World After All…

Founded in 2011 by pilot, aircraft designer and builder, and U.S. Air Force veteran Sam Watrous, Uncasville, Connecticut-based ScaleBirds is about the noble mission or salting the kit-plane marketplace with unique, radial-engine-powered, down-scaled replicas of iconic WWII aircraft. Currently in its prototype phase, ScaleBirds’s initial offering is a 55-percent scale P-36 Hawk. Once thoroughly vetted and certificated, the type will be the first in what Watrous and his crack team of engineers, fabricators, and artists have dubbed the company’s LiteFighters series.

Another Day, Another Little Problem on the Production Line at Boeing

The GE Aerospace turbofans powering the Boeing 777 might have some issues with contaminated iron, with pieces of the high-pressure turbine discs, rotor spools, and compressor seals affected. A proposed airworthiness directive follows a string of GE Aerospace findings pointing to “iron inclusion” in powdered metal parts. The additional iron represents a weak point in the engine, resulting in parts that fail to meet longevity and strength specifications as designed. The AD is on track to become a final order once the comment period ends on October 20th.

G280 and G600 Chosen for Poster Planes in Malaysian Push Gulfstream made its Malaysian airshow debut at Selangor Aviation Show 2023, bringing out its "super-midsize" Gulfstream G280 with a Gulfstream G600 on display. The airshow makes a first for the company as it looks to further its sales footprint around the globe. Gulfstream Aerospace has been on the upswing in recent years, bolstered by improving product lineups and a boom in business aviation, charter interest, and private flight around the world. 

MAX Family Sales Continues to Gather Momentum

Arlington, Virginia-based aerospace titan Boeing and Aviation Capital Group (ACG), a full-service aircraft asset management concern and wholly-owned subsidiary of Tokyo Century Corporation, have finalized an agreement by which the latter will acquire 13 737 MAX jets, thereby increasing ACG’s order book to 47 737 MAX family aircraft.

School Finds Itself the Go-To for Turnkey sUAS Solutions

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has been chosen to handle all needed curriculum and online training for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. Under the contract, the Office of Aviation (or Air Wing, colloquially) opted to lean on ERAU as the best choice for a one-stop solution to develop an appropriate framework for training its future UAV operators. The change follows a small bonanza of sorts in the uncrewed aircraft training scene, as the equipment gains capability at a pace just a bit quicker than regulators can keep up. In a time of increasing BVLOS applications and increasingly sophisticated long-range networking, g

Carrier’s A350 Orders Reach Forty Jets

Turkish national flag-carrier Turkish Airlines has announced an order for ten additional A350-900 aircraft, thereby increasing the carrier’s total A350 family orders to forty jets. The agreement supplements the airline’s August 2023 order for four A350-900s. Currently, Turkish Airlines’s fleet comprises 14 A350-900 wide-body aircraft.

Tales from the Florida-ISS Express

The 04 September splashdown of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule dubbed Endeavour marked the successful end of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission. The capsule drifted safely down under a quartet of fully-deployed parachute canopies, plunging—hot and bearing the scorched scars of atmospheric re-entry—into the cold waters off the Atlantic coast of Jacksonville, Florida at 00:17 EDT.

Witness: Sound Continued Until “It Just Stopped,” And He Then Heard A “Slap” Sound

On August 4, 2023, about 1010 mountain daylight time, an experimental, amateur built Glastar airplane, N617G was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Idaho City, Idaho. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. A witness, located about ½ mile from the Idaho City Airport (U98), Idaho City, reported that he was outside and heard an engine power up. The sound continued until “it just stopped,” and he then heard a “slap” sound.

Aero Linx: National Aeronca Association We are dedicated to supporting the design and preserving the history of Aeronca aircraft. Founded by Jim Thompson and fostered by his leadership for nearly thirty years, we are now led by a Board of Directors. We meet in convention every two years at Hook Field (MWO) in Middletown, Ohio, the site of the Aeronca Corporation, where all of our post war planes were produced.

Terrain Following The flight of a military aircraft maintaining a constant AGL altitude above the terrain or the highest obstruction. The altitude of the aircraft will constantly change with the varying terrain and/or obstruction. 

“Mike Whitaker has long been an outspoken aviation safety advocate and champion of innovation in the industry, who demonstrated during his time as Deputy Administrator at the FAA that he is a proven leader who delivers results. We [the NBAA] enthusiastically support his confirmation as FAA administrator.” Source: NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen, speaking on the subject of Mike Whitaker’s nomination to be the next Administrator of the FAA.