UAV Manufacturer Bolsters Airbus Drone Bonafides

Airbus Helicopters and Aerovel have signed an agreement that will bring Aerovel into the Airbus fold. The new acquisition will add Aerovel's Flexrotor to the Airbus portfolio, falling neatly into the company's desire to strengthen its portfolio of tactical unmanned solutions. The Flexrotor platform is a small tactical UAS designed for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance missions at sea and over land.

Eloy Police Cite 8 Survivors in "Envelope Failure"

A hot air balloon crash landed into the desert in Eloy, Arizona, causing fatal injuries to 4 passengers and leaving 8 survivors. The 13 people aboard had taken the Kubicek BB 85 Z hot air balloon up in the hopes of using it for skydiving operations. The 8 survivors jumped before the aircraft had an "unspecified problem with its envelope", which caused the balloon to fall to Earth in a fatal impact. Not much info is available at this time, though reports to local news sounded as if the aircraft was vascillating before it fell out of the sky.

Seminars Return for 3rd Year, Supporting Ultralight Fanbase

The Experimental Aviation Association is once again holding its Ultralight Days even from February 20th to the 22nd, an even designed to "build community and share knowledge for ultralight enthusiasts". The free event will feature 15 web-based seminars over the 3-day span, with 5 held each day of the event. Each day will kick off at 13:00 Central Time daily and run to 20:15. they'll follow the "highly successful format used during the previous EAA Virtual Ultralight Days, EAA Homebuilders Week and EAA’s popular webinar series", where the EAA brings in "well-known subject matter experts in the ultralight community" to present on pertinent topics within the Ultralight scene.

French Manufacturer Caps 2023 with 74 Delivered and 100+ on Order

Daher's sales and deliveries were pretty brisk through 2023, according to its most recent reports. Both product lines have continued to sell briskly, with Daher delivering 74 throughout 2023, with 100 more on track into the early months of 2025.The TBM family saw 56 deliveries, with its new stepsister the Kodiak logging 18 throughout the year. Daher notes that the majority of TBMs delivered were the top-flight 960 model, 43 of which were tendered to North America.

Up and Coming Fractional Sharpens Focus on Operations

Wheels Up Experience continues to roll up its tents in the private jet circus, divesting itself of its sales unit. The firm had already sold off its aircraft management arm to Airshare, as well as licensed off its 'Avianis' technology to Portside. It's a very high-profile, slow motion corporate dismemberment for the once-promising jet operator and aircraft broker.

Unlicensed Charters Continue to Kill, Per ACA

The Air Charter Association has set a date to raise awareness of the dangers of illegal charter flights while calling on the industry to help and report suspicious operators to celebrate its "Fly Legal Day", held on January 21st, 2024. The date was chosen to highlight the fatal crash of an illegal charter that killed Premier League footballer Emiliano Sala and his pilot, David Ibbotson in 2019. The pair died in the English Channel 5 years ago.

Widebody to Join Fleet as First -1000 Variant

Delta Air Lines placed an order for 20 A350-1000 aircraft, bolstering their widebody fleet with an all-new airframe. The company currently operates more than 450 Airbus aircraft from a range of families, including the A220 to the previous-gen A350-900. Before placing their most recent order, Delta held orders for 200 more aircraft of various models. The A350 has been a fave for carriers abroad, offering 9,700 nautical miles of range in the 300 to 400-seat category.

Also: Surf Air, General Atomics MQ-9B, 2024 Nikolsky Lectureship, Cops v Drones

Aurora's X-65 has been started under DARPA's Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors (CRANE) program. The aircraft is a purpose-built testbed for demonstrating the effects of active flow control throughout a variety of flight envelopes and missions, testing the effects of the theory on tactical operations and performance-focused high-speed designs. NASA is once again soliciting names to be included aboard the upcoming VIPER moon mission, allowing Earthbound civilians a chance to get their name inscribed in spacefaring history. Much like the Perseverance Rover p

The Airplane Impacted Trees And Terrain And Came To Rest Against A Home

On December 26, 2023, about 1813 central standard time, a Cirrus Design Corp SR22, N858RC, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Canton, Texas. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. A witness heard radio transmissions from the pilot of N858RC reporting that the airplane was west of Thompson Field Airport, Canton, Texas. He then heard additional transmissions from the pilot reporting that the airplane was on the downwind, base, and final legs for runway 13, which was equipped with solar-powered deck lights.

From 2011 (YouTube Version): The Third Question (of Five) Is Put Forth Among The Attendees of the 2011 US SAE

OK... three questions down, two to go... are you feeling better educated about LSAs yet? One of the most enjoyable interactions we at ANN and Aero-TV undertake at the dozens of events we attend is the chance to talk NOT with the newsmakers... but to those that the news we report on affects most... YOU. At the 2011 Sebring Sport Aviation Expo, we spent extra time asking the attendees a series of five questions... both to gauge the kind of interest that LSA holds for the aviation community as well as the strength of tha

Aero Linx: Lake Amphibian Club This website is created and sponsored by the Lake Amphibian Club, to help spread the word about these wonderful, versatile amphibians that can land just about anywhere, making traveling in small aircraft adventurous, safe, and just plain fun. The public portion of the site includes a tremendous amount of information about Lakes, that should help anyone interested in the planes learn more about them. An active forum discussing everything from ADS-B to Zero gravity, and problems being solved by knowledgeable Lake owners and mechanics, plus information on fly-in destinations, and more. The Forum also contains a searchable database with over 5,000 discussion threa

Digital-Automatic Terminal Information Service (D-ATIS) The service provides text messages to aircraft, airlines, and other users outside the standard reception range of conventional ATIS via landline and data link communications to the cockpit. Also, the service provides a computer-synthesized voice message that can be transmitted to all aircraft within range of existing transmitters. The Terminal Data Link System (TDLS) D-ATIS application uses weather inputs from local automated weather sources or manually entered meteorological data together with preprogrammed menus to provide standard information to users. Airports with D-ATIS capability are listed in the Chart Supplement U.S.

“These figures reflect the market’s stabilization as we continue to see a strong demand for TBM and Kodiak aircraft, although challenges persist in affecting our industry – including employment and supply chain issues. There have been efforts made to address these difficulties and improve the situation. We are seeing the results of our solutions in the employment field through internal training and the attraction of new talent. For the supply chain, the importance of delivering on time will enable us to continue seeking opportunities in a strong market.” Source: Nicolas Chabbert, the Senior Vice President of Daher’s Aircraft Division, explaining why Daher's sales and deliveries were pretty brisk thro