New Acting FAA Boss, Fancy New Wristwear from Brand G, and a Soon-to-Be New Part 23 Plane

Longtime airline employee and former airline pilot Billy Nolen has been named Acting FAA Administrator following the sudden departure of Administrator Steve Dickson earlier this month so Dickson could spend more time with his family, according to the agency. A timetable for the naming of a new Administrator has not been floated. The position requires approval by the Senate, but it is seldom a partisan issue.

Garmin introduced its latest watch, the D2 Mach 1, a premium aviation enabled watch that boasts a large AMOLED touch face display. The watch, available with a titanium or leather band, costs between $1,200 and $1,300, and features a battery life of up to 11 days.

MD Helicopters simultaneously announced it was going out of business and that it was back in business, its assets having been picked up by an investment group that plans to keep operations going. MD emerged from the old Hughes Helicopter company and makes a lineup of light helicopters for use in the civil and defense segments.

On a personal note, congratulations for longtime AOPA editorial leader Tom Haines on his well-deserved retirement. Congratulations, Tom, on many years of great work leading a talented team.

FreeFlight Systems announced a couple of 5G compliant radar altimeters. The instruments feature specially engineered electronic filters to reject noise from the 5G cellular network.

EAA will be feting the 75^th Anniversary of the Beechcraft Bonanza at this year's EAA Oshkosh AirVenture fly-in, July 25-31, at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh Wisconsin. The salute to the long-running personal flyer will include a number of special events, including a mass arrival and numerous speakers.

AOPA announced a new safety initiative to help combat deadly accidents caused by inadvertent visual flight rules flight into instrument conditions. The program, called VFR into IMC: Avoidance and Escape, will include multimedia resources for helping pilots learn common and effective avoidance and escape techniques.

Aircraft maker Flight Design says that it is one step closer to getting FAA certification for its F2-CS-23 two-seater. The European aviation regulator EASA, it said, has submitted the plane maker's compliance package to the FAA.

The last Learjet rolled off the line at the plane maker's Wichita factory earlier this week. The first true light jet, the Learjet 23 earned FAA certification in the mid-60s. The last Lear, a Model 75, is likely already in the hands the last new Learjet customer. Learjet owner Bombardier plans to keep the facility open in support of existing jets.

Isabel GoyerWriter

A commercial pilot, editor-in-Chief Isabel Goyer has been flying for more than 40 years, with hundreds of different aircraft in her logbook and thousands of hours. An award-winning aviation writer, photographer and editor, Ms. Goyer led teams at Sport Pilot, Air Progress and Flying before coming to Plane & Pilot in 2015.