The company has developed a system that is based on the Apple Vision Pro AR system. The high-fidelity imagery of aircraft flight decks allows trainees to manipulate all the controls and view the instruments and status indicators in real time as they do so.

The system won’t replace full-on flight training device hours, but it will allow trainees to master homework tasks.

“The Apple Vision Pro App developed by CAE will allow pilots to familiarize themselves with the flight deck, practice critical procedures and develop muscle memory for key functions from anywhere,” Emmanuel Levitte, CAE’s chief technology and product officer, said in a statement. 

The company has fully developed the app for the Bombardier Global 7500 but says it can be adapted to any aircraft.

AVweb’s Russ Niles took the goggles for a spin and said the system is startlingly realistic.

“The fidelity and the virtual manipulation of the controls is hard to describe until you’ve done it,” Niles said. “With some practice, a trainee could be confidently running procedures and dealing with emergencies in a realistic way without leaving the couch. The prospects for this kind of training device are significant.”

Niles spoke with CAE’s Director of Incubation Eric Fortin, who developed the system, about its possibilities.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

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The forecast also predicts demand for 8,500 new business aircraft worth $280 billion during that period, up a little from earlier forecasts and prompting some manufacturers to ramp up production. At the same time, customer demand has leveled off, suggesting a more balanced market is taking hold, according to the survey, which was released Sunday in Las Vegas on the eve of the big show.

“The business aviation industry is in a prolonged period of healthy growth, and we don’t see that positive trend changing any time soon,” said Heath Patrick, president, Americas Aftermarket, Honeywell Aerospace Technologies. “Business aviation continues to see more users and, as a result, manufacturers are ramping up production to keep pace with growing demand, a trend we expect to continue for the foreseeable future.”

Demand for large business jets continues to dominate the market. More than two-thirds of that $280 billion will be spent on the latest long-range wonders. But those of more modest means remain bullish on their smaller aircraft as important business tools.

“More than 90 percent of those surveyed expect to fly more or about the same in 2025 than in 2024,” Honeywell said.

NBAA-BACE formally kicks off on Tuesday at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

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In a rare news release about the hyper-secret mission of the X-37B, the Space Force said it will employ aerobraking to rapidly change orbits using the drag of the atmosphere and only a little fuel. The spaceplane needs to get closer to Earth to jettison equipment it no longer needs. If it dumped the space junk at higher orbits, it would remain there for years, but dropping closer to the planet assures speedy and fiery reentry.

• READ MORE: U.S. Space Force’s Secret Robot Spaceplane Could Be Headed to Deep Orbit

Presumably the maneuver will have other uses beyond taking out the garbage, and the Space Force seems pretty excited about it.

“This first-of-a-kind maneuver from the X-37B is an incredibly important milestone for the United States Space Force as we seek to expand our aptitude and ability to perform in this challenging domain,” said chief of space operations General Chance Saltzman. “The success is a testament to the dedication and perseverance of the team.”

The X-37B is testing “Space Domain Awareness technologies” on its seventh mission.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

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But what authorities couldn’t determine is whether Fengyun Shi had anything to do with a spate of drone incursions over hypersensitive military installations in Virginia and Nevada in late 2023. The Wall Street Journal stitched together a report from unnamed government sources, police records, court documents, and social media photos that alleges drone swarms flew over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia over 17 nights in December and two months earlier at the Energy Department’s Nevada Security Site near Las Vegas.

The story says senior military officials saw the drones, but no action was taken because it’s against the law to shoot them down unless they pose an imminent threat.

Shi entered the picture January 6 when people in Newport News, Virginia, noticed him trying to free a drone that was stuck in a tree. They called police and he was questioned by officers who ultimately suggested Shi ask the fire department to retrieve his drone. Instead, he immediately returned his rented car, took a train to Washington, D.C., and flew to Oakland, California. The drone fell out of the tree on its own, and police found aerial pictures of a shipyard owned by Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), which builds nuclear submarines and Ford Class aircraft carriers.

The FBI arrested Shi in San Francisco on January 18, as he was about to get on a plane with a one-way ticket to China. He pleaded guilty to taking photos of classified naval installations, and on October 2 a judge didn’t buy his story that he was a hobbyist who liked taking pictures at night.

Despite the conviction, and his proximity to the drone incursions that had occurred two weeks previously, authorities couldn’t find any evidence directly linking him to Chinese intelligence organizations.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

The post Report: Mystery Drone Flew Over Sensitive Military Sites appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Tulsa Community College and the University of Oklahoma are the first two institutions to offer the new Enhanced Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative. Under the initiative, graduates will go directly to air traffic control facilities for on-the-job training and skip the FAA’s training academy in Oklahoma City.

FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said the two post-secondary institutions will offer the same training on the same equipment as the academy.

The goal is to streamline training to address the nationwide controller shortage.

“The FAA is working to hire and train more air traffic controllers, in order to reverse the decades-long decline in our workforce and ensure the safety of the flying public,” said Whitaker. “The Enhanced AT-CTI program is an important part of that effort.”

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

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The plane ran off the end of the runway but was undamaged and no one was injured. First responders performed CPR at the scene and took the pilot to a hospital, according to Bakersfield’s KGET-TV.

“I would say that the passenger did an outstanding job getting the aircraft down safely,” Kern County Airports director Ron Brewster told the television station. “He was a passenger with knowledge but no pilot’s certificate…The pilot was transported to the hospital, and we don’t have the disposition (of his condition) as of yet.”

The FAA issued the following statement: “The passenger of a twin-engine Beechcraft King Air 90 landed at Meadows Field Airport in California around 1:40 p.m. local time on Friday, October 4, after the pilot had a medical emergency. Two people were on board. The aircraft departed Henderson Executive Airport [KHND] in Las Vegas and was headed to Monterey Regional Airport [KMRY] in California. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide all updates.“

The aircraft, owned by a private company in Henderson, Nevada, took off from Henderson Executive Airport at 11 a.m. PST bound for Monterey, California. 

According to FlightAware, the IFR flight plan took it on a loop through Southern California before turning north toward Monterey, and the track shows it maintaining a steady 219 knots at 20,000 feet for almost two hours when it turned south and began an erratic descent toward Bakersfield.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

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That’s the day after the FAA has said it will have a fully approved replacement fuel for 100LL through its End Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions (EAGLE) program.

Newsom signed the bill, which passed by votes of 59-11 in the House and 30-8 in the Senate in August, on September 22. It’s the first such law in the U.S., but several other states are contemplating similar action.

The original bill, introduced by Democratic State Senator Caroline Menjivar in February, would have started the phase-out of leaded avgas starting in 2026, but a significant lobbying effort by aviation industry groups won amendments that made the bill conform to the FAA’s 2030 timeline. But if the FAA misses that deadline, the bill, as passed, will still ban leaded avgas the next day.

It will “ban airport operators and any public or private entity that offer aviation gasoline from selling or distributing leaded fuel starting in 2031.”

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

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Operation Airdrop has established a base at Concord-Padgett Regional Airport (KJQF) in North Carolina and is inviting owner-pilots to volunteer to operate supply flights to the storm-ravaged area. Pilots without their own aircraft and ground volunteers are also welcome to apply.

Most roads remain impassable and whole towns have been virtually obliterated by the massive storm.

“Flight operations will begin on Monday, September 30, 2024,” the group said in a Facebook post. “We’re calling on volunteer pilots to get ready to deploy! Multiple destinations are set, with Asheville Regional Airport (KAVL) being our largest, and other locations (with and without airport access) that are in need.”

Volunteers will get a 75-cent-a-gallon discount on fuel at the Concord FBO. Details for pilot participation can be found on the organization’s website.

Ryan Spellman, Director of Operations at Airdrop, Discusses Helene Efforts: 

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

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Those are the only aircraft configurations covered by the STC, but Swift says that’s only the beginning. The breakthrough was first reported by Aviation Week.

Swift Fuels is managing a comprehensive program targeting the global replacement for 100LL within three to five years, said Swift CEO Chris D’Acosta.

“Our 100R unleaded avgas product will be the preferred fuel to eliminate toxic lead from avgas,” D’Acosta said. “We are actively working with industry and OEMs on FAA-certifications and ASTM International specifications. Yes, the FAA recently approved a critical part of our engine and airframe (STC) certification program.  This follows a similar FAA/ ASTM approval pattern we architected for UL94 avgas over nine years ago.”

The 172s captured by the STC are the newest in the fleet. The R model was launched in 1996 as the first fuel-injected platform. It was produced through 2012, and the engine was limited to 2,400 rpm and produced 160 horsepower. The S model has the same engine, but its rpm limit is 2,600 and rated at 180 horsepower.

According to Lycoming’s service instruction, specifying approved fuels, that engine is the most flexible when it comes to what makes it go. In addition to 100LL and other 100 octane leaded aviation fuels, it can use 91 and 94UL aviation fuels and 93 AKI mogas.

D’Acosta did not specify what engine and airframe combinations might be next.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb

The post FAA Grants Swift Fuels STC for 100R Avgas appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Whitaker will appear before an investigative subcommittee of the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on September 25 to discuss the FAA’s oversight of Boeing after a new Max 9 went through Boeing’s Renton, Washington, assembly plant and was delivered without four bolts that secured the door plug.

• READ MORE: NTSB Grills Boeing Over Max 9 Door Plug Loss

On January 5, the door plug detached while the plane was climbing out of Portland, Oregon, on an Alaska Airlines flight to California.

Boeing has already testified in June before lawmakers in trying to explain how that error happened despite its safeguards. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who chairs the committee, suggested Whitaker is in for a rough ride next week.

“Instead of encouraging workers to report quality and safety concerns, Boeing’s culture pushed workers to conceal problems that required federal inspectors’ attention,” Blumenthal said. “The FAA has to explain what they knew and when they knew it. Boeing’s broken safety culture is in desperate need of repair, and the FAA has an essential role to play.”

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

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