CATEGORIES

FOURTH SAPFA SPEED RALLY STAGED AT GROBLERSDAL

Christine and I drove to Groblersdal on Saturday morning 19 August to report on the final SAPFA Speed Rally for this year that attracted 20 entries. The day was sunny with fine weather and only a slight breeze from the north-west, but rather hazy due to the many veld fires that are burning at this time of the year.

Universal Air Evac 10th ANNIVERSARY

Choosing the correct air ambulance provider is critical to the patient, as well as everyone close to the patient due to the fact that they are being affected by the medical emergency.

US AIR FORCE SELECTS STARTUP JETZERO

TO BUILD BLENDED WING BODY DEMONSTRATOR

Joby Q2 net loss widens as eVTOL manufacturer gears up for certification

Electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft manufacturer Joby Aviation is still losing millions in its pursuit of becoming the United States first eVTOL air taxi route, but its investments are beginning to pay off.

SKYPORTS infrastructure's design for VERTIPORTS approved in DUBAI

The vision for Dubai's future air mobility infrastructure network was jointly presented by Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), Skyports Infrastructure and Joby Aviation at a closed presentation ahead of the start of the World Government Summit, an annual three-day event which brings together international government officials and business leaders.

Proposed aviation standard supports HYBRID-ELECTRIC POWERPLANT DESIGN

A newly proposed standard from ASTM International's aircraft systems committee (F 39) will cover the design of hybrid-electric powerplants and engines. \"This proposed standard is intended to support companies that are creating hybrid-electric power generation systems for use as the primary source of electrical propulsive power in electric aircraft,\" says ASTM member David Eichstedt.\"They will benefit from a more clearly defined certification path, but aircraft developers will also benefit.

ELECTRA AERO unveils full-scale technology demonstrator

On 12 June 2023, Electra unveiled the newly completed test vehicle by which it intends to vet its hybrid-electric Short Take-Off and Landing (eSTOL) platform. The event marked a significant milestone in the company's stated mission of helping decarbonise aviation and revolutionise urban and regional transportation.

ARCHER partners with US Air Force AFWERX programme

Since 2021 ARCHER has been partnering with the United States Department of Defence (DoD) on a series of projects through the US AIR FORCE'S AFWERX PROGRAMME with the goal of helping the AFWERX Agility Prime programme assess the transformational potential of the vertical flight market and eVTOL technologies for DoD purposes.

NASA and DARPA partner with industry on Mars rocket engine

On Wednesday 2 August NASA and the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced Lockheed Martin of Littleton, Colorado, as the prime contractor for the design, build and testing of NASA and DARPA's nuclear-powered rocket demonstration, in collaboration with other industry partners. The Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations. (DRACO) programme will test a nuclearpowered rocket in space as soon as 2027.

WEBB celebrates first year of science with close-up on birth of sun-like stars

From our cosmic backyard in the solar system to distant galaxies James Space delivered on its promise of revealing the universe like never before in its first year of science operations. To celebrate the completion of a successful first year, NASA has released Webb's image of a small star-forming region in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex.

Pyka secures FAA authorisation for commercial operation of largest electric drone

Pyka, manufacturer of large-scale highly automated electric aircraft for crop protection and cargo transport, announced that it has received approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate its zero-emission Pelican Spray aircraft for crop protection commercially nationwide.

DANX CAROUSEL and ELECTRON AEROSPACE PARTNER on ZERO-EMISSION cargo plane

The Danx Carousel Group and Electron Aerospace are entering a strategic partnership to launch Electron 5, an electric, zero-emission cargo aircraft. Danx Carousel is investing in the Dutch aircraft manufacturer as the 'Founding Logistics Partner' for the project, which aims to revolutionise the air freight industry.

STUDY OFFERS INSIGHTS INTO NEAR-MISS COLLISIONS BETWEEN DRONES AND AIRCRAFT

Researchers have developed a new way to accurately count and objectively analyse close encounters between drones and airplanes without depending solely on pilot sightings.

Astronics confirms orders from ten eVTOL manufacturers

Headquartered in New York State, Astronics Corporation (Astronics) has announced that the company is in receipt of firm orders from ten eVTOL manufacturers who are developing electrical aircraft for emerging air mobility missions.

What goes into a vertiport?

Leadingvertiport provider Skyports Infrastructure has commissioned cloud-led digital transformation Managed Services Provider (MSP) Node4 to provide the IT network components and data analysis capabilities required for vertiport operations.

Switchblade flying car/bike gains more sales at Oshkosh

At the moment, the flying car has as many sceptics as believers. However, at Oshkosh last month the Samson Sky added 115 sales of the Switchblade to its order books. At about US$170 000 per street legal vehicle, the Switchblade is able to both drive on highways and take-off and fly from airports.

EAA AirVenture 2023 Future Flight developments

EAA AirVenture is one of the globe's largest airshows and the event at Oshkosh's Wittman Regional Airport once again earned its title as 'The World's Greatest Aviation Celebration' with a record-breaking attendance of 677,000 people attending the week-long event that concluded on 30 July 2023.

NASA works to restore Supersonic passenger flight

Concorde conducted its final commercial flight on 24 October 2003, flying from New York to London at Mach 2.0, twice the speed of sound in about 3.5-hours.

AMPAIRE provides company update

Founded in 2016 under the guiding principle of establishing itself as the world's foremost developer of practical electric aircraft, Los Angeles-based Ampaire has made headlines and demonstrable progress toward upgrading existing utility aircraft to hybrid-electric power.

Garmin Autoland and Autothrottle are ready for retrofit market

At AirVenture Garmin reported that imminent FAA certification to bring Garmin Autoland and Garmin Autothrottle to the retrofit market, starting with King Airs. The approval will first be for select G1000 NXi-equipped King Air 200 series aircraft and, soon after, select King Air 300 series aircraft.

Aeronautical Aviation (AMO 1033)

Based at Lanseria International Airport, Aeronautical Aviation was founded in 2005, and has been supporting and offering specialised services within the General Aviation industry with the repair, overhaul and installation of aircraft instrumentation, avionics, electrical and pilot accessories.

AIRCRAFT INSTRUMENTATION FEATURE

Until recently, most General Aviation aircraft were equipped with individual instruments utilised collectively to safely operate and maneuverer the aircraft.

MITSUI BUSSAN AEROSPACE H160 SIGNS FOR TWO AW169 HELICOPTERS

Mitsui Bussan Aerospace (MBA), the authorised distributor for the Leonardo AW139, AW169 and AW189 helicopter models in Japan, announced new orders for two Leonardo AW169 light intermediate twin helicopters.

A HELICOPTER OF HOPE: BELL AIRCRAFT HELPING ROCKET EMS

Having a fully equipped aircraft could not be more critical than when it comes to Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) missions. In many emergency scenarios, especially in remote locations, helicopters often remain the sole method of quickly transporting patients to hospitals.

LABOUR SHORTAGE AND MATERIAL COSTS THREATEN MRO INDDUSTRY'S GROWTH

Ever since the start of the pandemic, the MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) industry has faced many challenges that had an impact on many industry players. According to Anca Gosling, Director of Training Content and Development at Aeroclass, an aviation digital learning platform, despite hurdles, the industry is expected to reach new heights in the coming years.

HAVE YOU FACED FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS AND FLIGHT DELAYS?

In the wake of thousands of cancelled flights and the extensive flight delays travellers are facing, Jonathan Merry, CEO of MoneyTransfers.com has put together some of his key recommendations to navigate the upcoming flight delays.

THE WORLD'S FIRST SEVEN-BLADE PROPELLER INSTALLED ON 75 PILATUS PC-12 AIRCRAFT

The installation of The Silent 7 MT-Propeller on the Pilatus PC-12 sets new limits for certain applications, exceeding the performance of five-blade propellers.

RECENT ALSIM SALES INTO THE PILOT TRAINING MARKET

In June and July 2023 ALSIM announced several world-wide acquisitions of various models from the ALSIM range of procedural simulators to flying school operations.

FIRST EUROPEAN DELIVERY OF CHALLENGER 3500

So eager was Bombardier to unveil its Challenger 3500 super-midsize jet that it jumped the gun, debuting the model one month prior to 2021's NBAA-BACE event.

SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS AIRBUS A340-600: 6 NOVEMBER 2018 LOSS OF CONTROL REPORT

On 17 July 2023 the final Board of Inquiry report by the German authorities into the loss-of-control experienced by an SAA South African Airways Airbus A340-600, registration ZS-SNF performing flight SA-260 from Johannesburg to Frankfurt, on 6 November 2018, which was enroute at FL380 climbing to FL390 over Switzerland, about 40nm south-south-east of Zurich, when the aircraft encountered overspeed and the subsequent actions by the crew (notably the PIC) led to a loss of control.