Laser-Cut Parts Fiasco Comes to a Close This Summer

Van's Aircraft published the video that accompanied an email to customers earlier this month, explaining the upcoming deadlines for those with outstanding orders and issues in order to get things back to normal. Affected laser-cut parts were generally delivered in shipments from 2022 to the first half of 2023. Such parts replaced previously punched holes and elements with a more modern and efficient laser-cut version of the same. Van's has a classification list of such parts, where each is classified as either "replacement recommended" or "acceptable for use". The deadline for buyers of standard Van's kits to either turn down parts replacement, or to accept the revised parts package, is June 30th. For quick-build buyers, the deadline for parts replacement orders is August 31st of this year. 

The Old EVA Units Hold the Line 45 Years After They Were Designed - But Time's Running Out

Apparently the old NASA set the bar pretty high, now that rumors hint that RTX Collins Aerospace wants out of its contract to design them for the Artemis mission. The RTX firm is in talks with NASA about dropping the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services (xEVAS) contract, leaving NASA stuck with its now quite vintage Extravehicular Mobility Units spacesuits. The contract saw $3.5 billion awarded to Collins and Axiom Space in 2022, intending to provide two new space suit designs. One would have been a general use replacement for the current astronaut suit, providing mobility and protection in space. The other was to be a much more robust, involved unit to walk on the Moon once again, demanding a whole host of improvements. 

P-47 Thunderbolt Pilot Lost Over Central Italy

Many are probably not aware of this but approximately 72,000 U.S. personnel remain missing from World War II according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), the only federal agency tasked with locating and accounting for missing service members active in past conflicts. Several thousand of them are in Europe. Between April 6 – June 8 of this year, US Army paratroopers stationed with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vicenza, Italy, assisted DPAA on an archaeological investigation to recover a pilot of a P-47 Thunderbolt in Central Italy.

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Two women were arrested at London Stansted Airport on June 20 on suspicion of vandalizing aircraft in a restricted area of the airport where private aircraft are parked. Local police said officers responded to a report of “people gaining access to a private area of the airport well away from the runway and main passenger terminal” and damaging two aircraft without providing further details. Just what aviation needed, yet another black eye... this time from a repeat offender who's had no end of trouble with the feds over the last decade-plus. On June 6, 2024, Michael Anthony Roberts pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska to charges of acting as an airman without a pilot's certificate and aircraft registration fraud. The ever-so-mobile B-29 Doc History Restored Tour will be a part of the Wings & Whee

Deal Valued at $4.08 Billion in Mostly Stock, Some Cash

The Boeing Company has offered Spirit AeroSystems $35 per share to acquire the company. The bid has been switched from an original all-cash offer to a mostly-stock transaction with some cash. Based on Spirit’s outstanding shares as of May 7, the offer is worth $4.08 billion, representing an almost 6% premium above Spirit’s stock closing price on Monday, June 24, and more than 22% above the share price in February when the takeover talks became publicly known.

Wet Microburst Also Severely Damaged Aircraft

Heavy thunderstorms on Saturday severely damaged an aircraft and several hangar doors at North Platte Regional Airport (KLBF) in North Platte, Nebraska. According to the National Weather Service (NWS) a small line of thunderstorms moved across northern Lincoln County around 3 am CDT. The trailing end of the storms continued eastward and produced a wet microburst event that impacted eastern portions of the city of North Platte including the airport. The NWS conducted a survey of the area that showed widespread damage in those areas. 

Air Taxi Operations Software for Partners, Pilots, and Consumers

Commercial eVTOL aircraft maker Joby Aviation, Inc., has announced that the proprietary software suite developed in-house to support its operations has gained FAA authorization for operational use. The suite, named ‘ElevateOS’, consists of operations and schedule management software, tools for pilots, a mobile app for riders, and an intelligent matching engine. The rider app and matching engine are similar to ground ride-hailing apps used by Uber or Lyft. Joby’s matching engine and mobile app, the software matches passengers with available aircraft and vertiports that provide the most efficient travel.

Landing Gear Production for Boeing, Airbus Held Up Amid Labor Dispute

Safran SA workers at the Mirabel, Quebec factory began their picket this week, surrounding the factory as the non-strikers kept up the routine of a normal workday. A 5-week-long strike by employees at Safran's Montreal the landing gear production line has really bit into production for their clientele at home and abroad, leaving Airbus and Boeing high and dry until the dispute is resolved. Workers are hoping to get a 22% pay raise from the company, higher than Safran's offer of 14.5% over a 3-year period.

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The long-awaited hearing before a Delaware Bankruptcy Judge has taken place and Icon Aircraft, carrying over $170 million dollars in debt, was pretty much sold off for less than ten cents on the dollar, to 'SG Investment America' for $15.54M. SG Investment America is a recent subsidiary of Germany's Durkopp Adler GmbH, but is owned by ShangGong Group based in Shanghai, China... and from there the legalities get interesting... but regardless, as forewarned by other investors in the company, Icon is now a Chinese owned enterprise... Risen’s Andreas Venturini and Alberto Porto committed themselves to an extraordinary personal and aerodynamic test with the announcement of their “Challenge Flight” from Italy to Oshkosh several weeks ago and we had high hopes for its success... and those hopes have been exceeded. Of the stats we kno

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Another day, another Starliner delay... or so it seems. NASA and Boeing leadership report that they are 'are adjusting the return to Earth of the Starliner Crew Flight Test spacecraft with agency astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from the International Space Station.' The move off Wednesday, June 26, deconflicts Starliner’s undocking and landing from a series of planned International Space Station spacewalks while allowing mission teams time to review propulsion system data. Uh-huh.... A Piper PA-34-200 Seneca ditched into the sea about 10 miles off Northwest Point, Providenciales, following a loss of engine power. The Coast Guard rescued two people on board, Saturday, after F-BXLZ, a Piper Seneca, ditched 10 miles northwest of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands. Five members of the Lakeland Aero Club will travel to Ostrow, Poland