The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary, factual report on the crash of a Cessna 140 at a short takeoff and landing competition in Nebraska last month, which claimed the life of the solo pilot, Tom Dafoe. The report included a statement from a race official, who twice warned Dafoe to lower the nose of the plane when it appeared to the official, who was watching the planes on final approach, that the vintage Cessna was getting dangerously slow.
All 22 occupants of a Tara Air de Havilland Twin Otter were killed when the plane crashed in high terrain on its way from a city in Nepal to a popular tourist destination. Bad weather is eyed as a possible factor in the tragic crash. Searchers recovered the plane’s flight recorders and investigators are trying to find a cause for the tragedy.
The government of the Bahamas delayed indefinitely a proposed customs clearance program called Click2Clear after the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association petitioned the Bahamas to do so, saying that the program, which was already in effect for commercial operators, would be inappropriately complicated and burdensome for private flyers of small planes.
AOPA has expressed concern to Transport Canada about a coming ADS-B mandate for aircraft flying in Canadian airspace to be equipped with antennas capable of receiving space-based transceivers. The U.S.-based member organization says the timetable is tight, there’s a lack of installers for the required new antennas, and the mandate would require many owners who have recently installed ADS-B systems to update or overhaul those systems.
The film Top Gun: Maverick, starring Tom Cruise, had a record-breaking opening week at the box office. The film, which was delayed for two years because of the pandemic, was the highest opening take for any Tom Cruise film. Additionally, critics are raving about the film, which is a sequel to the popular but critically panned Top Gun of 1986.
Supply chain woes and other effects of the pandemic have affected aviation businesses worldwide, but good news. Power Flow, which manufactures upgraded exhaust systems for piston engine aircraft, announced that it has greatly increased its production capacity, as it works to fill demand for its Power Flow exhausts for owners of aircraft with a number of different Continental engines. Power Flow says its systems increase engine power and cut down on fuel consumption.
The Flight School Association of North America (FSANA) came out strongly against Republic Airlines’ request to the FAA for an exemption to the current Federal Aviation Regulations on first officers to allow them to fly with 750 hours. The regs generally call for right-seaters to have 1,500 hours of total time and an ATP. FSANA very astutely pointed out that 750 hours is just half of 1,500 hours. (We ran the math; it checks out). Higher flight-time requirements are typically good for flight schools, as they help drive additional business and keep graduated students instructing longer.
The Special Olympics Airlift takes off on Saturday (June 4, 2022), when more than 120 Cessna, Beechcraft and Hawker aircraft will be transporting athletes from their home towns across America to the site of the games, Orlando, Florida. The games will run from June 5-12.
Honeywell is developing a lightweight, one-megawatt electric generator for use in hybrid aircraft. For those of us not well versed in electricity, one megawatt is enough to power about 1,000 homes (though the actual calculus is a bit more complicated than that). The generator, which weighs more than 200 pounds, is intended for a coming class of larger, hybrid-powered aircraft.
