No More Crop Dusters On Payroll Now That the Agras is On the Mission

DJI announced the new Agras T25 and T50 for sale, providing support for smaller and larger growers with application, fertilization, and similar sprays. DJI says that its agricultural drones have already treated more than 980 million acres in more than 100 countries and regions, not too small a record for a lineup that only showed up on scene in 2023. The T25 is the smaller, more affordable model, while the T50 gets to be the flagship of the Agras lineup. 

Governor Aims to Highlight Impact of General Flight on State Economy

Governor Spencer Cox of Utah announced that the month of may would be known as General Aviation Month in the state, highlighting the "rich history, significant contributions, and promising future of general aviation in our state and across the nation." Governor Cox highlighted the particular impact of general aviation today, which sends out more than 200,000 aircraft on 26 million flight hours a year. 

Electric Aircraft Shaping Up to Be Hot Commodity for Military Logistics

Pyka has leveraged its expertise in building electronic uncrewed cargo aircraft to offer the RUMRUNNER, a defense-oriented variant of their Pelican Cargo. in order to offer something workable to military clientele, Pyka tapped in SNC Partner for their "expertise in customizing solutions for the world's most complex challenges". The RUMRUNNER is the result, the "largest 100% electric cargo UAS for sustainment in contested operations."

Updates and Upgrades Continue for Allied Operator

Airbus Helicopters has signed a contract with the Ministry of Defence of Brunei for the acquisition of six H145M helicopters. The new aircraft will replace the country's older Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm BO-105s. The West German platform was pretty good for its day, offering the country a nimble twin-engine helo that could pull off missions outside strike roles alone. That's a nice value add for more cash-strapped nations, since they can't necessarily purchase and maintain an expansive fleet of single-purpose airframes.

From 2017 (YouTube Version): Dynon Announces Certified Avionics For GA At AirVenture…

Dynon Avionics unveiled a new line of certified avionics for part 23 airplanes at AirVenture this summer. Michael Schofield, Marketing Director for Dynon Avionics, told ANN CEO and Editor in Chief Jim Campbell at Oshkosh that the line is lead by the company's flagship EFIS system. Dynon began working on the certified line shortly after the first STC was granted in April, 2016. Schofield said the company realized that attitudes at the FAA were changing with respect to certification of avionics, making the process go more smoothly.

(FAA) Inspector Observed That Both Fuel Tanks Were Intact And That Only A Minimal Amount Of Fuel Remained In Each

Analysis: According to the pilot, approximately 8 miles from the destination airport, and while flying at 2,000 ft mean sea level, the engine experienced a total loss of power. The pilot attempted to restart the engine but was unsuccessful. The pilot subsequently conducted a forced landing to a blueberry field impacting several sprinkler heads, which resulted in substantial damage to both wings.

Aero Linx: FAA Managers Association (FAAMA) Recognized by the FAA, FAAMA is a professional association dedicated to the promotion of excellence in public service. The Association is a vehicle for managers and other non-bargaining unit employees to communicate their interests in the political arena. Acting as an original source of responsible, balanced, and fact based information to our employer, the White House, Congress, and other relevant venues, FAAMA pursues political solutions representing the interests of our membership. 

As Long As You Ask Us, It's Usually OK

It's a question the ANN staff is asked too many times per week to count. The message usually goes something like this: "I really enjoyed the story Aero-News did on (fill in topic here.) I'd love to post it on my blog/newsletter/website... is that OK?"

Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS) A ground based GNSS station which provides local differential corrections, integrity parameters and approach data via VHF data broadcast to GNSS users to meet real-time performance requirements for CAT I precision approaches. The aircraft applies the broadcast data to improve the accuracy and integrity of its GNSS signals and computes the deviations to the selected approach.  A single ground station can serve multiple runway ends up to an approximate radius of 23 NM.

“Pyka’s Pelican Cargo is unlike any other UAS solution on the market for contested logistics. We assessed a number of leading capabilities and concluded that the Pelican Cargo is significantly more capable than any other platform. It is the only all-electric, austere environment cargo aircraft with that kind of range, payload capacity, and cargo volume. While the clean energy aspect is important, creating a more diverse, distributed, and survivable supply chain is expected to be the primary driver in terms of interest from the DoD. The Zero-Fuel component minimizes the need to forward-stage bulk fuel, which significantly reduces the logistics tail normally associated with resupply operations. This presents opportunities to increase the survivability of our service members, reduce risks to the force, and transform the way military operations have historically been conducted.”  Source: Michael Bertman, vice president of programs at SNC, discussing  Read More