Recent Updates

Santa Claus wears captain’s bars in the e-commerce economy but it’s some of the pilots who are getting gifts this holiday season. FedEx is offering its retirement-age captains as much as $110,000 in retention bonuses to keep working through this year’s busy time. Last year, FedEx and its competitor UPS had record years thanks to […]

I recently heard the following between Kansas City Center and an airliner. The airliner was trying to top some weather and had been granted an even altitude even though he was flying west, because he was too heavy to go any higher. Kansas City Center: “Airliner 123, how long ’til you can go up? I […]

AVweb‘s weekly news roundup found reports of recently released drone strike research, the launch of a mobile avionics and maintenance service, an improved propeller blade measuring system, a new flight animation system, a free safety webinar and a discussion of international pilot medical standards. The University of Dayton Research Institute recently released itslatest drone-strike test […]

FAA Approves Ultralight VTOL First of all, the FAA does NOT “approve” ultralight vehicles. The letter shown only states that in the FAA’s opinion, the craft appears to meet part 103 requirements. It either meets part 103 or it doesn’t. If it does, then the FAA is out of the picture. Mel Asberry Motorcycle gear […]

A bill to reauthorize the FAA (H.R. 302) was passed by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 93 to 6 on Wednesday. The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, which made it through the House of Representatives last week, now only needs a presidential signature to become law. The legislation has earned praise from many […]

In partnership with Ethnos360 Aviation and Helivida, the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) is providing disaster relief flights in Sulawesi, Indonesia, after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake and the resulting tsunami devastated the region on Sept. 28. MAF says it has been flying evacuation and emergency personnel transport missions since Tuesday. The organization has also set up […]

Lockheed Martin revealed its new concept for a fully reusable lunar lander at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Bremen, Germany on Wednesday. The lander will be designed to dock with NASA’s planned Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway for service, refueling and storage in between missions. According to Lockheed, it will be capable of carrying 2,000 pounds […]

The FAA is investigating an incident in which a police helicopter was used in an effort to disperse a large tailgate party that took place before a Penn State vs. Ohio State football game at Penn State University’s Beaver Stadium last weekend. As shown in the video below, a Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) helicopter flew […]

Boeing has announced that it has been awarded a $9.2 billion contract to supply the company’s T-X advanced pilot training system to the U.S. Air Force. The funds will cover 351 new T-X combat training jets, associated ground equipment and 46 simulators, Boeing says. The company developed and tested the T-X in partnership with Saab. […]