CATEGORIES

ARTEMIS II ASTRONAUTS NAMED

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) made public the names of the four astronauts selected to serve as the Artemis II mission’s primary crew

JEKTA SIGNS LETTER OF INTENT WITH GAYO AVIATION FOR TEN PHA-ZE 100 AMPHIBIOUS AIRCRAFT

THE JEKTA PHA-ZE 100 ELECTRICALLY POWERED AMPHIBIOUS AIRCRAFT IN 19 seat configuration and on water

HEART AEROSPACE TO EXPLORE EARLY USE CASE FOR ELECTRIC ES-30 AIRPLANE WITH ÅLAND ISLANDS

On 23 March Swedish electric airplane maker Heart Aerospace and the Government of Åland announced a collaboration to explore the use of Heart’s electric regional airplane, the ES-30, in developing sustainable air services for the Baltic Sea group of islands

AIRBUS ACHIEVES IN-FLIGHT AUTONOMOUS GUIDANCE AND CONTROL OF A DRONE FROM A TANKER AIRCRAFT

Airbus Defence and Space and the company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Airbus UpNext, have achieved in-flight autonomous guidance and control of a drone using an A310 MRTT

FLYH2 ANNOUNCES THE SUCCESSFUL MAIDEN FLIGHTS OF DRAGONFLY V

Cape Town based FlyH2 Aerospace has announced the successful maiden flights of its hydrogen-electric Dragonfly V, a commercial UAV (or drone) designed for a range of applications requiring long endurance or payload flexibility. The flight tests took place last week in Citrusdal, approximately two hours outside of Cape Town, South Africa

NORWEGIAN FOUNDATION COLLABORATES WITH AIRBUS ON EVTOL

With more than 40 years of experience in emergency medical response, the Norsk Luftambulanse supports pre-hospital care across the country. It is working alongside Airbus to come up with eVTOL solutions

eVTOL TECH TO BRIDGE INDIA'S AIR CONNECTIVITY GAP

The creation of an electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) ecosystem in India aligns with the Indian government’s Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) (Hindi: Let the common citizens of the country fly) initiative, a regional airport development programme undertaken for purpose of upgrading underserviced air routes and improving the Indian population’s access to air transportation. The UDAN initiative is part of the Indian government’s Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)

HONEYWELL AND WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC PARTNER ON H2 AERO FUEL-CELL SOLUTIONS

A new partnership between Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), USA and Honeywell Aerospace aims to reduce the aviation industry’s carbon footprint by examining means by which hydrogen fuel-cells may be utilized to power future generations of aircraft

AUSTRALIA's FIRST COMMERCIALLY PRODUCED ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT UNVEILED

South Australia will be home to Australia’s first commercially produced electric aircraft, with Adelaide-based Bader Aero already taking orders for their new plane. The E22 Spark aircraft was unveiled to the public for the first time at Adelaide Motorsport Festival as part of RAA’s e-motions display in Victoria Park

Airbus Helicopters and International SOS join forces

Airbus Helicopters has partnered with International SOS to launch a next generation emergency medical system improvement programme, LifeSaver, which enhances healthcare systems to improve patient outcomes.

PISTON ENGINE AIRCRAFT 2023

Over the past fifteen years South Africa, which mirrors other countries in the world, has seen a steady decline in the number of 'certified piston engine' aircraft sold as 'new' to the market.

SPANISH AIR FORCE PURCHASE ANOTHER 16 PC-21s AND SIMULATORS

The Spanish Air Force, Ejército del Aire, decided to purchase 24 PC-21s in early 2020. The final PC-21 of this order was delivered to Spain in mid-2022. The Spanish Air Force has now decided to purchase another 16 PC-21s. The contract signed with the Dirección General de Armamento y Material (DGAM) makes Spain the largest PC-21 operator in Europe.

INTERNATIONAL DEFENCE EXHIBITION (IDEX)

The International Defence Exhibition & Conference, or IDEX, is a biennial arms and defence technology sales exhibition. The exhibition is the largest defence exhibition and conference in the Middle East and takes place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

AVIAT AIRCRAFT

Get behind the stick in an Aviat Aircraft and you will experience the difference.

GARMIN UPDATES

Upgrade your avionics with the GTN™ Xi series navigator

AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL AIRSHOW AT AVALON AIRPORT

The AMDA Foundation Limited is an Australian not-for-profit corporation established to promote the development of aviation and Australia's industrial, manufacturing and information / communications technology resources in the fields of aviation, aerospace, maritime, defence and security. AMDA achieves this goal by delivering Australia's most prominent and respected world-class biennial industry expositions as platforms for interaction between industry, defence, government and academia.

AFTER ONE YEAR WILL UKRAINE BE VICTORIOUS OVER RUSSIA'S INVASION?

On 24 February when Russian forces first crossed Ukraine's borders there were few who believed Kyiv would even last a week, let alone have any chance against Russia's overwhelming military. Yet when US President Joe Biden made a surprise and morale-building visit to Kyiv on 20 February he did so with a startlingly different assessment than defence planners would have given him a year ago.

LEONARDO'S AUSTRALIAN AW139 FLEET GROWS

Leonardo has announced further growth in presence of the AW139 intermediate twin engine helicopter in Australia with orders for a total of six aircraft by three different prime operators: Babcock Australasia, RACQ CQ Rescue and StarFlight Australia. All six aircraft will be delivered from Leonardo's Vergiate final assembly line facility in Italy during 2024.

RARE WWII TARGET DRONE TO BE DISPLAYED IN A USA MUSEUM

On 28 February 2023, Idaho's Spirit of Flight Foundation museum announced that a rare WWII era Culver target drone has been donated to the museum's collection.

BEST OF THE BEST DUTCH KINDEBERGER

James Howard 'Dutch' Kindelberger was an American aviation pioneer. He led North American Aviation from 1934 until 1960. As an extroverted character, Kindelberger was famed for his emphasis on hard work, orderliness and punctuality.

EMIRATES SELECTS DIAMOND AIRCRAFT DA42-VI FOR FLIGHT TRAINING

Emirates Flight Training Academy (EFTA), operated by Emirates airline, is bolstering its current fleet with an order for three state-of-the-art twin engine training aircraft DA42-VI and its corresponding flight simulator from Diamond Aircraft.

BLACKHAWK AEROSPACE UPDATES

Blackhawk Aerospace is adding the PC-12 to its roster of aircraft for aftermarket engine upgrade Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs).

NAMES TO REMEMBER

Famed cosmonaut Valery Polyakov dead at 80

VIP AIRCRAFT: HOW DO PRESIDENTS, PRIME MINISTERS AND HEADS OF STATE TRAVEL?

While some of the world's leaders and heads of state arrive at regional and international meetings on massive four-engined planes, others travel on smaller airliners or business jets.

SPORTS AEROBATIC CLUB TRAINING CAMP AT KITTY HAWK

Once again, the superb Kitty Hawk airfield was the venue for the SAC's aerobatics training camp over two days, Friday 10 and Saturday 11 March 2023. I drove to the venue on Saturday morning to spend some time watching the aerobatics training taking place.

SAUDIA ANNOUNCES MAJOR BOEING ORDER

On 14 March 2023 Boeing and Jeddah-based Saudia announced that the Saudi national flag carrier will add up to 49 787 Dreamliners to its long-haul fleet.

GRAVITY SUCKS

Well, I always wanted to talk about this thing called gravity.

AERO CLUB OF SOUTH AFRICA'S AIRWEEK AT MIDDLEBURG

Once again, the annual AeCSA weekend fly-in staged at Middleburg airfield over three days Friday 3 to Sunday 5 March was an outstanding success. I drove to Middelburg on Friday morning and by 10h30 my tent office was set up so that I could report directly from this very important aviation event.

DOUGLAS's A-26 INVADER ONE AIRCRAFT, THREE US WARS

The Douglas A-26 Invader was a World War II era, American, twin-engined light-bomber and ground attack aircraft designed to meet a 1940 US Army Air Corps (USAAC) requirement for multi-role light bomber optimised for low-level and medium-altitude precision bombing attacks.

TWO-SEAT PROTOTYPE OF SOUTH KOREA's KF-21 FIGHTER JET CONNDUCTS MAIDEN FLIGHT

The test flight took place on 20 February 2023. The prototype stayed airborne for about 34 minutes flying from the 3rd Flying Training Wing of the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) based in Sacheon Airport (HIN), South Korea.