CATEGORIES

HAI HELIEXPO 2023: EXPLORING THE WORLD'S LARGEST HELICOPTER INDUSTRY GATHERING

South Africa may have the largest and busiest general aviation sector in Africa, but when we look worldwide, over 80% of flights occur in North America alone. A substantial number of these flights are helicopters.

CAPE TOWN HELICOPTERS' - NEW EXPERIENCE FOCUS.

Cape Town Helicopters has adopted a specific focus on tourist operations particularly in the Cape Town area which is world-renowned as 'the Fairest Cape in all the world'.

PETER AND NICK'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE

A phalanx of Restricted and Military Operating Areas confronts pilots heading north out of Los Angeles. Between sprawling Edwards Air Force Base and the Naval Air Weapons Station situated at water-free China Lake, a pilot studying the chart for the first time must think the way impassable.

TRUSTY TWIN

I don't know if you are familiar with the workings of the De Havilland (Canada) Dash 6, otherwise known as the Twin Otter, but they're surprisingly complicated for what has become one of the classic bush aircraft of all time.

FUEL PUMP F-UP

AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT REPORT

MISSION FLYING IN AFRICA - THE BEST AND WORST OF HUMANITY

Child rape is tragically all too common in places like South Sudan where justice isn't often delivered. Mission Aviation Fellowship comes to the rescue.

NEW STRUCTURE STOPS EAST LONDON ILS/VOR

The ILS and VOR approach to the primary East London Runway Runway 11 has been NOTAMed as \"permanently closed\" due to a structure having been erected on the approach to Runway 11.

ZEROAVIA HIGH TEMPERATURE FUEL CELL TESTING

On 9 March 2023 ZeroAvia announced that it has achieved record-breaking performance in testing of its High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane (HTPEM) systems. Early testing of the pressurised 20kW HTPEM stack power module in ZeroAvia’s UK R&D location has demonstrated a record 2.5 kW/kg specific power at the cell level, paving the way for 3+ kW/kg system level densities in the next 24 months.

DASH-8 FLIES ON PARTIAL HYDROGEN POWER

On the morning of 2 March 2023, Universal Hydrogen, the California energy concern about the commendable endeavour of making hydrogen-powered commercial flight a near-term reality flew its Lightning McClean, a De Havilland Dash 8-300 regional airliner under partial, hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion.

SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL

Aviation has a very high impact on the planet, accounting for over two percent of global CO2 emissions, and nearly double that warming impact through non-CO2 effects. For this industry to persist in a zero-carbon world, we must find ways to reduce its impacts through new technology, operational efficiency, sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and carbon offsets.

AUSTRALIA TO DEPLOY AIRSPACE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR UNMANNED AIRCRAFT IN 2025

On 27 February Airspace Australia said it has completed prototyping on its Flight Information Management System (FIMS) for UAS and is now focused on delivering a product in 2025.

BAE UNWRAPS STRIX VTOL STRIKE DRONE WITH 800KM RANGE AT AVALON

BAE Systems Australia used the first day of the biggest Avalon Air Show in history to unveil its new Strix long-range strike and ISR drone.

DO CONSUMERS TRUST THE IDEA OF DRONE DELIVERY?

While a stunning 90% of all Americans surveyed indicate that they are interested in ordering products for drone or driverless delivery, there are obvious concerns with safety, privacy and logistics.

WORLD'S FASTEST EVTOL TAKES PILOTS ONBOARD: THE AIRSPEEDER MK4 FLYING RACING CAR

Alauda Aeronautics has unveiled the Airspeeder Mk4, the first crewed version of its flying racing car.

NESTE ON THE MOVE WITH SAF DEALS

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) manufacturer has signed several deals recently to boost use of SAF. Boeing has agreed to purchase Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel supplied by EPIC Fuels, Signature Aviation and Avfuel to power its US commercial operations through 2023. These fuel purchases more than double Boeing’s SAF procurement from last year. Neste’s SAF will be blended with conventional jet fuel at a 30/70 ratio to produce 5.6 million gallons of blended SAF.

SPACEX CREW-6 STARTS ITS LONG MISSION

Following a successful lift-off from the Kennedy Space Centre’s storied Launch Complex 39A, the four crew-members manning NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission have safely attained Earth orbit.

LUFTHANSA AVIATION TRAINING BECOMES LAUNCH CUSTOMER FOR THE ALL-ELECTRIC EDA40

Diamond Aircraft Austria and Lufthansa Aviation Training (LAT) have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to jointly explore and develop opportunities for a more sustainable flight training. The cooperation includes testing of the all-electric eDA40 in a real training environment, an eDA40 purchase intention to supplement the current DA40 NG fleet as well as analyses for the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels.

VOLOCOPTER GAINS STRATEGIC JAPANESE INVESTOR

The pioneer of urban air mobility (UAM), Volocopter announced that Sumitomo Corporation, a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest trading companies in the world, invested in the company’s Series E Funding round. They will also become key strategic partner for entry into service in the Japanese market starting in 2025.

ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT MARKET TO REACH US$27.7-BILLION BY 2030

The global market for electric aircraft is estimated to be $7.9-billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $27.7-billion by 2030 at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 14.8-percent during the forecast period. The market’s growth is driven primarily by the deployment of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) aircraft and the increasing use of electric aircraft for cargo applications and commercial aerial mission-specific activities.

FLYING THE TIGER MOTH

Guy Leitch writes: The Tiger Moth is one of the greatest trainers of all time. It’s easy to fly, yet really hard to fly well, and this is what made it a great trainer.

STARSHIP LAUNCH IN MARCH?

Following a test-firing of the Raptor rocket engines by which its Super Heavy booster is powered, SpaceX is nearly ready to fly its huge Starship.

PT6 CLOCKS UP A BILLION HOURS

Pratt & Whitney Canada is celebrating the accumulation of a billion hours on its PT6A engine in the 60th year of the engine's production.

GUARDIAN AIR

GUARDIAN AIR HAS, since its inception in 2009, become a key provider of non-scheduled Part 135 air charter operations and support services, and in particular, aeromedical flights.

IRIS GOES TO KHARTOUM

Laura McDermid continues her stories of Iris McCallum's flying exploits.

STICK TO THE RULES

Last month John shared the anticipation and de-horning flights. preparation for Rhino This month he continues the story with some unwelcome mechanical drama.

AIRLINK - BA CODESHARE

In February British Airways announced a codeshare partnership with Airlink.

SANDF DISASTER UNIT

THE SOUTH AFRICAN National Defence Force (SANDF) is looking to establish a dedicated disaster response unit, as it is regularly called on to assist with floods, fires and other events.

RIGHT SEAT RULES - PART 3 MAKING THINGS MEMORABLE

We all know an instructor who just seems to have the knack of making things memorable. We probably think of him as being a good, or even a great, instructor. Ever wondered how he does it?

FACE TO FACE HADI AKOUM

Guy Leitch (GL) asks Airbus Africa head Hadi Akoum (HA) about how his company assists African airlines and thus the demand for Airbus airliners.

HENSOLDT DEMONSTRATES ASTUS UAV TO POTENTIAL CLIENTS

Early in December 2022, HENSOLDT South Africa recently held flight demonstrations of its ASTUS unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the Western Cape for potential customers, showcasing the aircraft’s sensor payload capabilities.