Recent Updates

AVweb’s search of aviation news worldwide found shipments starting up for Garmin’s new ADS-B assembly, a new guidebook from Power Flow Systems, an aircraft app from Pilot John, and a Wi-Fi mod connecting Dynon’s SkyView with ForeFlight.Garmin has announced that initial orders of the GDL 84, the latest addition to Garmin’s comprehensive lineup of certified […]

Sonex Aircraft has shipped its first SubSonex JSX-2 personal jet kit, launching the initial set of deliveries from the microjet’s first production run as a quick-build kit. The SubSonex’s arrival to Redge Greenberg of Durango, Colorado, “marks the conclusion of an intense six-month effortto bring JSX-2 from prototype aircraft to a fully-developed quick-build kit product,” […]

The other night, I saw a video report-one of several, actually-about how some government agency was lit up because it’s beginning to look like 3-D printing will be capable of making parts for firearms. In passing, it mentioned that complex airplane parts would soon be producible by 3-D technology. Yeah, I thought, when pigs fly. […]

Maybe you haven’t used a 3-D printer to make your own cogs or dowels (yet), but Jim Bertel and Joel Smith of Stratasys Direct Manufacturing are putting additive manufacturing to work in mankind’s final frontier – outer space. Duration: 13:43 File Size: 12.5 MB download here

While most general aviation advocacy groups had positive reviews overall this week for the FAA’s proposed new rules for commercial operations of unmanned aerial systems, reaction has been mixed on other fronts. One of the biggest disappointments was handed to Amazon, whose plans to develop autonomous delivery drones would be grounded by the proposed rules. […]

Quest Aircraft, which builds the Kodiak turboprop in Sandpoint, Idaho, has been acquired by Setouchi Holdings, the company announced on Tuesday. Setouchi, which has been an authorized Kodiak dealer, is part of the Tsuneishi Group, an international company based in Japan, which is mainly involved in shipbuilding. “We are very excited to have a strong […]

Letter of the Week:Drones No Danger I’m a commercial pilot and small drone operator and want to thank you for not joining the unfounded media hysteria over small UAV operation in the U.S. Regarding the “numerous” drone sightings reported by pilots as tabulated by the FAA, I’ve examined them, and the most frequently used words […]

Commercial operators of small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) weighing less than 55 pounds will have to pass an FAA knowledge test every two years and their aircraft will have to be registered under regulations proposed in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking released by the FAA and the DOT Sunday (PDF). In a telephone news briefing, […]

We test-fly DJI’s latest unmanned aerial vehicle, the Inspire. view on YouTube

When I was reading over the draft small UAS regs and analysis that leaked out of the FAA over the weekend, I couldn’t help thinking … man, this feels like a breech birth assisted with a crowbar. For one thing, the timing caught the FAA off guard. Thanks to the wonders of the web, the […]