Seven Shells for Seven Test Aircraft

Lilium GmbH, the German aerospace concern, has commenced assembling fuselages for its Lilium Jet—an eVTOL personal air vehicle the company asserts remains on track for a late-2024 maiden flight. Fuselage assembly instantiates a tangible manifestation of Lilium’s ability to see its planned eVTOL proceed from conceptualization to actualization. The fuselage currently under construction is the first of seven such structures salient to the near-term assemblies of seven flight-test and certification iterations of the Lilium Jet.

Also: Avionics Theft, CIAM Legends Award, Wright Trophy For Crippen, PHI buys Airbus Helis

The ANN crew had an immensely successful trip to Mt. Vernon Illinois for the very busy 15th Annual MidWest LSA Expo. Not the biggest show in the world, there was still LOTS of flying, an overtly friendly atmosphere and a volunteer staff that could NOT be beat. Close to 40 vendors filled the easily accessed airport ramp, and nearly 200 demo flights were safely executed. Overall traffic was estimated to be up some 20% over previous such events. On 11 September, Frank 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. Upon returning to Earth later this month, Rubio will have accrued 371 days in space. In an SEC filing, Wheels U

Klyde Is Not The First Tio Note The FAA's Lack of Humor...

FMI: www.klydemorris.com

Easy Online Forms Available For Sport Plane Manufacturers And Suppliers To Be Listed In The Upcoming eSPRG

Work on the SportPlane Resource Guide is going well… Albeit a little bit behind schedule, because as we got into this process, things became a bit more complicated simply because we learned we could do an even better job at certain aspects of this project than we thought from the beginning. They say that the enemy of true quality is the phrase "good enough" and we want to be far more than “good enough.” FMI: www.sportplane.com, Online eSPRG Vendor Survey Form, Online eSPRG Sp

Upgraded Lightnings Won’t Be In USAF Hands This Year After All

Lockheed Martin says that the expected, upgraded F-35 Lightning II’s slated for delivery this year will have to be delayed until 2024, pushing back the introduction of the Tech Refresh 3 (TR-3) package. The change cuts into the expected F-35 fleet quite a bit, with 97 TR-2 aircraft on tap for delivery this year, about 20 fewer than they had planned. Overall, the TR-3 software development process is, in typical F-35 fashion, delayed. Earlier admissions of prolonged development had already pushed 2023 deliveries from 147 to 153 aircraft down to 100 to 120. Lockheed has targeted a rate of about 156 annual deliveries as a goal, now promising that it will be achieved in 2025.

Conklin & de Decker Vice-President Honored

The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) will award its John P. “Jack” Doswell Award to Nel Stubbs, vice-president of Chicago aviation consultancy Conklin & de Decker and a preeminent aviation authority by dint of whose guidance a multitude global companies and entrepreneurs have optimized their respective business aircraft operations. The association will present Ms. Stubbs the award during the NBAA’s Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE), to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada from 17 through 19 October 2023.

With The eSPRG Only Weeks Away From Its Start Date, A-AF Will Help To Support Sport Flyers, Worldwide

With the all-new and all-digital SportPlane Resource Guide getting ready for publication early next year, the Aero-News Network is pleased to announce yet another addition to the Airborne video news programming roster… Airborne-Affordable Flyers. Dedicated to keeping people up-to-date on the most affordable aspects of sport and general aviation, Airborne-Affordable Flyers is one of our most exciting offerings yet. A-AF will delve into more than just the current LSA community, but look at all aspects of aviation to examine and evaluate the most enjoyable, and most affordable, solutions to flying, operating, and owning aircraft in the 21st century.

Flight Instructor Stated That The Pilot Receiving Instruction Had Been “Making Really Steep Turns” 

Analysis: The pilot receiving instruction had not flown a float-equipped airplane in 3 years, so the flight instructor considered the training flights as review. The flight instructor stated that, during their 2-hour morning flight, the pilot receiving instruction sat in the front seat and that he tended to “fly too slow” and “turn sharply.” The instructor had to “push the nose down on several occasions.” After eating lunch and refueling the airplane, the afternoon flight began, with the pilot receiving instruction sitting in the rear seat. The flight instructor estimated that they had been flying for about 1 hour when the accident occurred. 

From 2017 (YouTube Version): A Quality LSA For Well Under $100k…

Aeroprakt unveiled its new LSA at the Deland Sport Aviation Showcase in November. Dennis Long, U.S. Importer and Distributer for Aeroprakt U.S.A., told ANN’s Tom Patton that the design has been around for nearly two decades. “What makes them special is their handling, anywhere between 100 miles per hour to 30 miles per hour,” Long said. “It’s just spectacular the way they handle thermals, and bumps and crosswinds.” Long said the airplane has a base price of about $79,000, but with popular options, most of the are selling in the $83,000 range. They can be delivered with either a stick or a yoke, which is unique in the LSA market, he said.

The Economics of Resurrection

Delta Air Lines has enacted a bold strategy by which the airline intends to make Wheels Up, the embattled New York City-based provider of on-demand aircraft services, an integral facet of its product offerings. Wheels Up CEO (née Delta board-member) George Mattson stated: “This investment represents both an important source of capital for Wheels Up to support our strategy for financial stability, future profitability, and long-term growth on behalf of our members and customers, as well a vote of confidence in our path forward from a group of investors with deep experience in the premium travel space.”