Four projects intended to study potential AAM use cases and guide Michigan lawmakers as they regulate the industry have received a total of $6.25 million in funding. AAM is an umbrella term used by the FAA to denote new forms of passenger- and cargo-carrying aircraft, from drones to electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis.

The $2.6 million will be allocated to electric aircraft and charging station developer Beta Technologies. The remaining funds will be divided among drone infrastructure developer Skyports ($512,000); Traverse Connect, the economic developer for the state’s Great Traverse region ($689,500); and Michigan Central, a transportation technology campus located in Detroit ($2.45 million).

The money comes from the Michigan AAM Activation Fund, which has the combined backing of the state’s Department of Transportation (MDOT), Office of Future Mobility and Electrification (OFME), and Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). The fund aims to prepare Michigan for the arrival of AAM aircraft by coordinating state agencies.

“Advanced air mobility is an incredible economic opportunity for the state of Michigan,” said Gilchrist. “These investments create high-tech jobs, grow cutting-edge businesses, and enhance quality of life for our residents. These innovative advancements will elevate the way our companies operate, making air transportation more efficient and changing the way we move both people and cargo.”

Added Bradley Wieferich, Michigan state transportation director: “This new investment complements the state’s strategy to find safe and cost-efficient ways to capitalize on a robust network of aviation infrastructure serving Michiganders today.”

Beta will use its $2.6 million appropriation to install electric aircraft chargers statewide, including at Cherry Capital Airport (KTVC), Capital Region International Airport (KLAN), West Michigan Regional Airport (KBIV), and Willow Run Airport (KYIP).

The company is developing systems that adhere to the combined charging standard (CCS), a set of design protocols endorsed by Beta, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), and other manufacturers such as Archer Aviation and Boeing’s Wisk Aero. So far, Beta has about 20 chargers installed and online in the Eastern U.S., with another 50 or so in the construction or permitting process.

Skyports will use its money to launch a trio of proof-of-concept, ship-to-shore drone delivery services in the cities of Sault Ste. Marie and Detour Village, in partnership with local shipping provider Interlake Steamships. The ships will be anchored while drones arrive to pick up deliveries.

Traverse Connect, with an assortment of partners, will examine the use of drones to deliver critical medical supplies to rural areas, which typically have less access to the U.S. healthcare system. The drones will also be deployed for marine surveying, water sampling and testing, bathymetric mapping, and emergency response in the Lake Michigan area.

Michigan Central, meanwhile, has been tasked with improving Michigan’s recently announced advanced aerial innovation region, an urban campus that was opened to bring AAM companies and jobs to the state. It will also work alongside Brooklyn’s Newlab, a technology center best known for revitalizing the Brooklyn Navy Yard, to test beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone use cases across building inspection, cargo delivery, and medical delivery.

“Michiganders have always been pioneers in the mobility space, and now we’re taking to the skies, finding new ways to use next-generation transportation to deliver critical resources like medical supplies and food, reinforcing international partnerships and cross-border collaboration, and so much more,” said Justine Johnson, Michigan chief mobility officer.

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The post Michigan Allots Over $6M for Advanced Air Mobility Projects appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Founded in 2009, Solairus boasts 75-plus base locations, 330-plus private aircraft, and about 2,00 flight crew and support personnel. The company is headquartered in Petaluma, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Solairus Aviation Mission Statement

“We never settle for even very high levels of customer satisfaction and we’re always looking for better ways to do our business.” —Greg Petersen, chief operating officer

Solarius Aviation in the News

Solairus Aviation Announces Updates to Executive Leadership Team
Company appoints Brent Monroe as chief growth officer and promotes Bob Marinace to chief experience officer.

Solairus Aviation Announces Chad Davidson Business Aviation Leadership Scholarship Fund
The fund honors late aviator and Solairus team member Chad Davidson in support of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students.

Solairus Aviation Openings on FindaPilot.com

• Hawker 900XP Captain in Rockland, ME
• Gulfstream G650 Captain in Teterboro, NJ
• Gulfstream G550 Captain in Teterboro, NJ
• Challenger 650 Captain in Bedford, MA
• Gulfstream G500 Captain in Oxford, CT
• Gulfstream G650 Captain in Camarillo, CA

More Solairus Aviation Resources:

• Career site 
• LinkedIn 
• Facebook 
• X (Twitter) 
• Instagram 
• YouTube

The post Employer Profile: Solairus Aviation appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Dawn Aerospace, manufacturer of the Mk-II Aurora, announced that New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has granted it approval to fly at “unlimited” speeds at up to 80,000 feet in altitude. The company is permitted to fly beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) of a remote pilot and will not be limited to restricted airspace.

Dawn describes the Aurora as “an aircraft with the performance of a rocket.” According to the company, the aircraft is designed to be the first vehicle capable of flying to the Kármán line—which at about 100 kilometers in altitude is considered the edge of space—twice in one day.

“This unlocks the next major performance milestone for the Mk-II vehicle, namely supersonic flight,” said Stefan Powell, CEO of Dawn. “To the best of our knowledge, this would be the first privately funded [uncrewed aerial vehicle] to break the sound barrier.”

The only successful supersonic airliner, Concorde, which was developed by two now-defunct manufacturers, was retired more than two decades ago. But a new crop of companies, including Dawn and Boom Supersonic, are trying to break the sound barrier again.

Unlike Boom’s Overture, which is being developed as a passenger airline, Dawn’s Aurora is intended for space transportation.

The Mk-II first flew in 2021 and has since completed more than 50 test flights, operating under both jet and rocket power. It last flew in 2023, reaching 200 knots at an altitude of 9,000 feet. But those flights were under a more restrictive license than the one obtained by the company last week.

The goal of the firm’s upcoming campaign, which will comprise about a dozen flights between July and September, is to reach Mach 1.1—the boundary of supersonic speed—at an altitude of 70,000 feet. It hopes to fly to space twice in one day and spend about 180 seconds in microgravity.

If it achieves all objectives, the company believes it would set records for speed, altitude, and climb rate for a self-powered aircraft.

Dawn’s primary business is manufacturing propulsion systems for satellites, and it has 76 thrusters in space. But the company is now looking to enter the suborbital space.

The Aurora is a first-stage demonstrator for the company’s more robust Mk-III—a two-stage-to-orbit model that will take off from the runway and deploy a 250 kilogram satellite at the apex of its flight path.

According to Dawn, it is remotely piloted, low cost, and “rapidly reusable,” designed to fly multiple times per day and between 100 and 1,000 times over its lifespan.

Its engine uses storable, “aircraft friendly” propellants that allow the vehicle to take off without having to wait to be fueled. The engine is also carbon neutral, producing no hydrocarbons during operation.

“Room temperature storable propellants will not boil off, and carbon fiber will not suffer from microcracking, as is common in cryogenic composite tanks,” the company says on its website.

Dawn chose a winged design in order to reduce the risk of an engine malfunction, which could jeopardize the landing—and therefore reusability—of the Mk-II. It will be certified as an aircraft in New Zealand. The model takes off like a conventional aircraft, accelerating to Mach 3 speeds and bending upward into a near-vertical route. On the way down, it descends and glides horizontally back to the runway.

Dawn’s first phase of aircraft testing, conducted with the company’s jet-powered Mk-I, comprised eight hours of flight time across 47 flights. After receiving CAA approval for rocket-powered flight in March 2023, it began flying in just a few weeks.

So far, the Mk-II has made three rocket-powered flights, completed within a three-day span a little over one year ago, as part of the second phase of aircraft development, with the goal of reaching the Kármán line under certification.

According to a blog post from Powell, the current version of the vehicle has a maximum altitude of about 60,000 feet, which will require the company to develop a more powerful variant called the Mk-IIB.

“At full performance, the Mk-II will fly faster and 2.5 times higher than any prior aircraft that takes off from a runway, including the current record holder, the SR-71 Blackbird,” said Powell. “That is the power of bringing rocket performance to an aircraft platform.”

Despite being a demonstrator, Dawn plans to one day use the aircraft for Earth observation, high-speed flight research, in-space science including microgravity research, and even civil and defense applications. According to Powell, the company is already fielding interest in a commercial version of the Mk-II and will be in a “prime position” to roll one out once it reaches the Kármán Line.

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The post Supersonic, Rocket-Powered Aircraft Gets All Clear to Break Sound Barrier appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The aircraft were participating in a parade of airplanes in front of thousands of spectators at the Wings Over Dallas airshow when they collided, killing all six on board. 

In a photograph included in the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) preliminary investigation, the B-17 and the P-63 were shown flying at the same altitude. The P-63 was behind the bomber and in a slight left bank with its belly facing the larger aircraft, making it impossible for its pilot to see the B-17 prior to impact.

The P-63 sliced into the bomber, severing its tail. The forward half of the bomber cartwheeled to the ground and the P-63 disintegrated. There was a large fireball as the remains of the aircraft hit the ground.

• READ MORE: NTSB Releases Docket for Fatal Wings Over Dallas

In a Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO) released Monday, the FAA outlined risk mitigation measures for the civilian airshow community. 

According to the SAFO, despite dissimilar aircraft operating in close proximity to one another, “the NTSB preliminary report stated there were no altitude deconflictions briefed before the flight or while the airplanes were in the air. This accident highlights the complexity of mass aircraft demonstrations, and the critical importance of safety protocols to provide separation and enhance situational awareness.”

The SAFO identified the complexities and challenges for these aerial demonstrations, such as the participation of dissimilar aircraft, the complexity of the flight patterns, communication protocols, and the number of aircraft involved.

In that document, the FAA made the following recommendations to mitigate risk and improve safety at these events:

• Air bosses should be experienced and have a background in mass aircraft demonstrations. 
• Pilots should have proper training, credentialing, and recency of experience.
• Formations should utilize experienced flight leads that have demonstrated their ability to manage their formation element.
• Mass aircraft demonstration structure should include a detailed written plan that is distributed to all pilots in a manner that is clear and concise and able to be used in the cockpit.
• Mandatory preflight and postflight briefings should review all aspects of the normal and emergency procedures for all participants.
• Following the briefed plan for operational execution is of critical importance. Deviations from the plan, ad hoc instructions, or maneuvers can contribute to confusion and loss of separation.
• No simultaneous flight operations for aircraft not involved in mass aircraft demonstration.
• Complete geographical, vertical, lateral, and time separation should be utilized.
• Mass aircraft demonstrations should use simple racetrack patterns to avoid complex maneuvering and loss of visual separation.
• Avoidance procedures should be clear to all participants and easily executed in the event of an emergency.

“Pilots, air bosses, and event organizers should be continually assessing the risks and implementing appropriate safety mitigations to ensure the continued safety at aviation events,” FAA said.

The post FAA Issues New Safety Protocols for Aerial Demonstrations appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

• READ MORE: What Is the Rudder Used for in Flying?

Answer: According to an FAA spokesperson:  “Generally speaking, the FAA will accept [a pilot’s] last airman certificate application (Form 8710-1) or what they reported on their last medical application (Form 8500-8).” You should have access to at least one of those documents.

Pro tip: Moving forward, you may want to invest in an electronic logbook and save the information to the cloud, or at least record a digital image of each page of the paper logbook when you fill it up. If you rent aircraft, sometimes you can re-create your experience by cross-referencing your receipts. 

• READ MORE: Is There an Official Weather Briefing?

Do you have a question about aviation that’s been bugging you? Ask us anything you’ve ever wanted to know about aviation. Our experts in general aviation, flight training, aircraft, avionics, and more may attempt to answer your question in a future article.

The post What to Do When You Lose Your Logbook appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

This is the 100th installment of The New Owner, and I suppose it’s only natural that the milestone is occurring amid a maniacal blend of emotions swirling around said ownership.

On one hand, EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is next week (July 22-28), so there’s massive excitement for epic times just ahead. On the other hand, some maintenance issues have arisen over the past couple of weeks that create severe trepidation and directly threaten those amazing times.

It’s a perfect representation of aircraft ownership as a whole. Amazing experiences put at risk of derailment from unforeseen circumstances, fighting back and forth like so many Hollywood heroes and villains. But instead of the villains threatening the powers of good with swords, guns, and death rays, the threats come in the form of grounded airplanes and massive repair bills.

Frankly, I’d prefer to take my chances with the guns and death rays.

• READ MORE: Airplane Types Unlock AirVenture Locations for Parking, Camping

The first sign that something was amiss came several days ago in the form of engine oil. More specifically, a few extra drops on the hangar floor, slightly higher consumption than normal, and a new sheen collecting on the bottom of the engine. It wasn’t that my Continental engine was leaking oil. That’s pretty typical for most old Continentals. It was that mine was quite suddenly leaking in new places, at higher volumes, much differently than normal.

At any other time of year, it would be a simple matter of postponing future flights and booking some time with my mechanic. But this was Oshkosh month, a time when the severity of any mechanical problems increases exponentially as the date of the magnificent fly-in nears. And being that the big event was only a couple of weeks away at this point, panic quickly set in.

I immediately texted my mechanic, Ryan. He’s a great guy who embodies rural Wisconsin friendliness and honesty. He’s the kind of person who will bend over backward to help you and happily provide educational lessons about the tasks he’s performing along the way. He and his brother own and operate Johnson Brothers Flying Service in Lone Rock, Wisconsin, about 40 miles west of Madison.

While I was waiting for his reply, I examined my engine. I couldn’t quite pinpoint the source of the oil, but I suspected my Continental C-145 was experiencing weepy pushrod seals. This is a known issue with the type, as well as with the later version, the O-300.

I’ve always been amused at the engine’s midproduction name change from C-145 to O-300. Continental evidently figured that referring to the engine by the displacement (300 cubic inches) made it sound more powerful and impressive than referring to it by the 145 hp it produces. Marketing 101, I suppose.

Ryan replied that he would try to make it out sometime during the week before my departure to Oshkosh. But because he was so busy, he couldn’t guarantee it. I’d just have to wait and hope. In the meantime, I opted to remove my upper and lower cowls for a closer inspection.

To someone like me with close to zero mechanical aptitude, dismantling your airplane’s upper and lower cowls to reveal an entirely naked engine is simultaneously empowering and intimidating.

In one respect, it makes you feel like you know what you’re doing. Anyone walking past the open hangar door would naturally assume you possess some rudimentary level of knowledge and proficiency. But in another respect, you’re pretty sure you’re fooling nobody.

For the purposes of an engine inspection, however, it worked out just fine, and I was able to trace the leak to the oil temperature probe on the back of the engine accessory case. I forwarded this intel to Ryan.

The next afternoon, I received a text from him. Unbeknownst to me, he made it out to my plane and addressed the leak. I was ecstatic and headed right out to the airport for a shakedown flight prior to my trip up to Oshkosh.

Sure enough, the oil leak appeared to be taken care of. I preflighted the airplane, pulled it out of the hangar, and hopped in—only to discover that the throttle was inexplicably encountering some kind of blockage halfway into its travel.

Thinking that a running engine might somehow solve the problem, I started it up but found that nothing had changed. The throttle knob would only advance about halfway to full throttle before encountering a hard stop.

Now, things were getting serious. It was a Friday evening, less than a week before my planned departure to Oshkosh. Ryan was busy and wouldn’t be able to chat until Sunday or Monday. Desperate not to miss the big event, I gave my friend Dan a call.

“Hey, man, have you sold your Ercoupe yet?” Dan replied that he had not. “And you’re not going to make it to Oshkosh this year, right?” “That’s right,” he replied. “We’ll be in Michigan all week.”

• READ MORE: Flying In to AirVenture: A Carefully Orchestrated Cacophony of Chaos

He knew I was angling for something, so I explained.

“I’m dealing with some mechanical issues on the 170, and I’m not sure if it’ll be fixed in time for Oshkosh,” I said. “If it’s not, how about I take the Ercoupe up and hang some of those big ‘for-sale’ signs on the prop so a half million people see it?”

After considering this for a moment, Dan agreed that it would be a win-win sort of situation.

With a backup plan firmly in place, Saturday came and went. On Sunday morning, I received a text from Ryan. He was available to zip out to the hangar and have a look at my throttle issue.

The fix took him all of about five minutes. He explained that he must have inadvertently dislodged part of the throttle cable while inspecting something else during the oil leak work. He assured me it wasn’t likely to occur again and said he’d be entirely comfortable flying it. He also said that because it was his fault, he wouldn’t be charging me for the trip out. I gave him a 100-dollar bill anyway to show my appreciation.

At the time of this writing, I have just about everything packed up. My tent, sleeping bag, cooler, chairs, underwing party lights, and coffee supplies are ready to go. This afternoon, I’ll fly a shakedown flight to check for any errant oil leaks and confirm all is in order. With any luck, I’ll be flying my own plane up to Oshkosh tomorrow and, much as I sincerely appreciate Dan’s offer, hopefully not an Ercoupe.

If you wonderful readers will also be at Oshkosh next week, please come find me. I plan to be somewhere around Row No. 67, right up on the airshow crowd line. I’d like to thank you in person for your readership and support over the past few years and give you a sticker or two.

Just look for the blue 170 with Alaskan Bushwheel tires. Or, depending on how things go, a classy little Ercoupe.

The post When Unforeseen Circumstances Threaten to Derail Amazing Experiences appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Today’s Top Pick is a 1984 SOCATA TB-30 Epsilon.

Many pilots dream about flying the hottest fighters from World War II, such as North American P-51 Mustangs and Vought F4U Corsairs.

But those increasingly rare aircraft are extremely complex and expensive to maintain—and not all that easy to fly. Those are among the factors that have made military trainers so popular.

Aircraft such as the Beechcraft T-34 Mentor, North American AT-6 Texan, Boeing Stearman PT-17, and Epsilon for sale here allow pilots an opportunity to fly vintage military iron without breaking their budgets. Flying aircraft in this category is within the capabilities of many private pilots, though still demanding enough to be exciting.

They generally offer more impressive performance than standard aircraft and are strengthened to handle aerobatic flight and combat-style maneuvers. Among the military trainers available, the Epsilon is closer than most to familiar GA designs, making it more approachable while still somewhat exotic.   

This 1984 TB-30 Epsilon has 4,755 hours on the airframe, 1,203 hours since overhaul on its engine, and 737 hours on the propeller. The panel features a Garmin G5 EFIS with backup battery, Garmin GNX 375 GPS, GA 35 WAAS antenna, GAD 29 interface unit, and Garmin 660 in the rear cockpit. 

Pilots seeking a taste of military flight training in an airplane that is fit for long-distance travel should consider this 1984 SOCATA TB-30 Epsilon, which is available for $356,000 on AircraftForSale.

If you’re interested in financing, you can do so with FLYING Finance. Use its airplane loan calculator to calculate your estimated monthly payments. Or, to speak with an aviation finance specialist, visit flyingfinance.com.

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The post This 1984 SOCATA TB-30 Epsilon Is a Military-Spec ‘AircraftForSale’ Top Pick appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

It’s been the catch phrase used everywhere the last few years, and it has become the gold standard of top quality aircraft or those so realistic and so well designed that you could study them to obtain actual type ratings and pass an initial course.

Most add-ons are of simpler design and varying levels of quality, but over the years, these study level aircraft for the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (MSFS20) and X-Plane 12 (XP12) platforms have grown in numbers.

I am old enough to remember the old fighter sim called Falcon 4.0 in the late 1980s and early ’90s. It came with a thick paper manual that felt like a novel. I miss those days of real boxes, manuals, and reading material.

Some of the most detailed aircraft add-ons come loaded with PDFs to study, and some have nothing at all, leaving it up to the customer to go online or just obtain the actual real aircraft’s study manuals. It seems lazy to not bother to publish a manual for an aircraft release, but then again, if it’s so realistic that the only PDF says “go obtain a real Airbus A320 POH” for more information, I’m sold. If something is that good and complete, then I think the developer is allowed to be lazy, or perhaps a bit big braggish.

Most commercial pilots, or experienced aviators in general, were dismissive of flight sims at home. Twenty years ago, I was embarrassed to come out of the sim closet for I’d be a victim of skepticism or at least a target of laughter. “No flight sim can do anything close to what ‘real pilots’ deal with in Level D sims,” I was often told. Or, I’d hear, “Oh, yeah, that little Microsoft Flight Simulator, I played with it once. It looked like a cartoon, so that won’t help anybody.”

• READ MORE: Turn Up the Heat in Sims With Density Altitude Games

This is what every older-and-bolder, gray-haired retired airline pilot said when seated to my left.

Now that I have gray hair, I am all too happy to encourage the younger generation to get active with sims when they aren’t flying the real thing. It’s also accepted among almost all real pilots I know as a really useful tool now that photorealistic graphics are everywhere and far exceed the quality of a $20 million sim the FAA approves. For as little as $2,000, you can rival those simulators at home.

I am not going to mention every study level aircraft available—that would require a book.

Yet over the years before and even right through MSFS2020 and XP12, several come to mind and most are quite famous and have been around for a long time:

Precision Manuals Development Group

The company has been around since the early 1990s. It’s the longest add-on group ever for any sim, and in my opinion, the finest. Everything about it is study level.

Its entire Boeing products are the gold standard of what an add-on should be, and nobody has rivaled it in producing a Boeing 737NG, 747-400, or 777. Now since the release of MSFS2020, we have been enjoying the entire 737NG set, including BBJ. Almost every system, failures, controls accuracy, autopilot, performance, switchology, sounds, visuals, etc. have all been reproduced perfectly.

• READ MORE: The Art of Simulated Long-Haul Flying

Years of development for just one airframe. You’d ace a type rating in the real aircraft after spending time with PMDG products. I wish I could go get a 737 type rating just to test this theory myself. I feel I know no other aircraft as well as this one, due to my years with PMDG 737s. Now, we are about to get its 777 finally after years of waiting patiently. It will be released this year and continue the outrageous quality and realism we all crave from a company that really only releases masterpieces.

Fenix

This company is a new entrant that stormed onto the stage just last year with its completely detailed A320 for MSFS2020. Upon release, it quickly became accepted as the most detailed Airbus for any sim platform.

In my opinion, the early release suffered from performance and frame rate issues as it couldn’t compare to the smoothness and fidelity of the PMDG lineup. But a year later, with all the refinements and the recent release of the update or Block 2, it is now a masterpiece. Detailed systems right down to individual circuit breakers are modeled. Engine modeling and accuracy is key. All that has been done, and now the IAE version is included, each with its own systems, sounds, and realistic performance.

• READ MORE: Taking Risks at a Trio of Mount Rainier Airstrips, Virtually

Some say it has blown past the PMDG. Whatever the opinion, I share the zeal. It’s smooth, precise, and many real airbus pilots online tout it as basically perfect. A true study level that you’d absolutely use during type rating school. I’ve enjoyed flying it now, as much as I have over the years with the PMDG lineup.

SimMarket

This company sells the Maddog MD82 for MSFS2020. I am not as familiar with the older airliners, so I will defer to the majority of sim fans online holding this up to the level of the Fenix.

For MD fans, this is also a real keeper. It represents a blend of systems modeling and accuracy all from the later ’70s to later ’80s replicated at a high level. In a battle for the top, this is often referred to as the best airliner ever made for MSFS2020. I’ll have to learn it better to give my own opinions, as I have used it little, never being a Maddog fan. But I see the reviews touting it as in the top few airliners ever released.

X-Plane

It has the outrageously in-depth Felis 747-200 series for the X-Plane sim. It is one of the most complete jetliner simulation add-ons I have ever used—from nose to tail. This is one of the reasons I still use XP12.

I cannot say enough about this masterpiece other than I wish it was available on MSFS2020 as well. You need to be three pilots at once to handle this beast. Setting up view points is key, as you’ll not only be pilot and copilot but flight engineer as well, often manipulating the systems as you sit sideways. You can feel the quality, heaviness, and momentum.

X-Aviation

The company sells the most renowned and sought-after bizjet for any sim, the Hot Start Challenger 650. This completely study level jet is once again simulating entire circuit breakers from head to tail. Setting the bar so exceedingly high, it’ll be what all future bizjets are compared to.

Sadly, only X-Plane 12 has it, but again, that’s another reason I still use it. The accuracy, realism, handling, etc. is all spot on. I fly a similar aircraft in real life and find this exceptionally close to the real thing. Again, it’s a type rating quality example to learn from. Many have called it the best jet ever designed for any sim, and it’s impossible to disagree. It certainly rivals the airliners above in total quality and experience.

Flysimware

It has a Learjet 35A that was recently released in “early access.” I have featured this in many an article so far, and it is well on its way to what I would call an honorable mention study level aircraft.

Its blueprint quality visuals, scaled parts, and cockpit clarity make this a winner right out of the gate. I’ve never seen such a beautiful reproduction in an early access or beta-style release. The flight quality, accurate avionics, sounds, and more make this a really promising product when the final version comes out.

It is the best pure bizjet built specifically for the MSFS2020 lineup so far. Let’s leave the jetliners behind now, as accuracy and study level can go down a category and be just as advanced.

A2A Simulations

The company has the 1960s Piper Comanche 250 featuring its coveted Accu-Sim 2.0 technology to bring a living, breathing aircraft to your desktop. This example must be run as gently as a real one, maintained and babied, or else face what real owners face: expensive repair bills.

You can damage and destroy the airplane if you’re a ham-fisted pilot. The aircraft requires a full preflight and walk-around inspection. You can test the fuel and do everything a real pilot would during a flight.

Continually monitoring its wear and tear, systems, and cleanliness is all part of this intensely realistic model that keeps its constant state alive, meaning it will remember its health on a continual basis, even if you fly something else in between on different days. You even get to perform an overhaul and other yearly tasks.

This airplane has quite a following and has been labeled by many as the best general aviation aircraft ever designed for any sim. I believe A2A is leveraging its AccuSim technology to future releases, and it certainly has captured the immersion of owning, operating, and maintaining a personal airplane like no other.

Conclusion

These are all my experiences with what I own and fly in the sim world. Your opinions may vary, especially when you get into the smaller airplanes as it’s much easier to simulate a simple single-engine in study level than an airliner.

In some ways, many of the default or add-ons for GA are close to this namesake already. A basic default Cessna will accelerate any new student pilot right to the top. The graphics of MSFS2020 and XP12 aircraft are good enough and photorealistic enough to permanently lodge in the brain of anyone learning to fly and stay current.

It’s a great time to study and learn in today’s flight sim environment. Compared to what we had in 1981, everything now is study level.

This feature first appeared in the Summer 2024 Ultimate Issue print edition.

The post Ultimate Issue: Taking Sim to a New Level appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

In a letter to the FAA penned by John Nichols, the mayor of College Station, Texas—one of two locations where Prime Air began flying in 2022—on behalf of the city council he urged the regulator to deny a request that would more than double the service’s range. The mayor cited noise concerns from residents as the chief factor guiding the city’s position.

College Station has become a critical hub for Prime Air, which has struggled to get its drone delivery service off the ground. The city was intended to be one of two key launch markets in addition to Lockeford, California, but the latter service was shuttered in April after a less-than-stellar performance in a little more than its first year.

That leaves College Station as the sole market for Prime Air operations, and Amazon recently bolstered the service by adding on-demand delivery of prescription medications for the flu, asthma, pneumonia, and more. The e-commerce giant is also looking to bring drones to the Phoenix metro area in Arizona and has teased an international expansion to the U.K. and Italy.

Last year, Prime Air unveiled its MK30 drone, which is rangier, quieter, and more durable than its current MK27-2. To integrate the new model into its Texas fleet, the company submitted a draft supplemental environmental assessment to the FAA summarizing the MK30’s potential impacts on College Station residents.

Since the new model can fly in light rain and more extreme temperatures than the MK27-2, Amazon proposes operations 365 days per year, an increase from 260. Flights per day would increase from 200 to about 470 and would take place between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. CT, removing an FAA restriction limiting flights to daytime hours.

Under the proposal, the company’s operating area would expand from 43.7 to 174 square miles. The expansion to 43.7 square miles happened earlier this year, when the FAA granted Amazon approval to fly its drones where its pilots cannot physically see them. Comparable waivers have been handed out to competitors such as Zipline, Alphabet’s Wing, and UPS’s Flight Forward, similarly allowing those companies to expand their service areas through remote operations.

If approved, the lighter restrictions would allow Prime Air to fly more than 170,000 operations per year in College Station with the MK30, compared to 52,000 with its current model.

Nichols said that the city is excited to be one of the few in the U.S. to host a drone delivery service. But that came with a caveat.

“While the city is supportive of Amazon Prime Air’s efforts, we do not support their request in its entirety,” Nichols wrote. “Since locating in College Station, residents in neighborhoods adjacent to Amazon Prime Air’s facility have expressed concern to the city council regarding drone noise levels, particularly during takeoff and landing, as well as in some delivery operations.”

According to Nichols, residents “have continued” to voice concerns regarding Prime Air’s planned expansion, worrying that the noise will only worsen. The mayor added that the expanded service area could extend beyond the city’s commercial zoning district, which is intended to limit commercial spillover into residential neighborhoods.

“Due to the level of concern from residents, the city would ask to delay the increase in service levels relating to the number of deliveries, as well as the expanded operation days and hours, until additional noise mitigation efforts are implemented by Amazon Prime Air,” Nichols wrote.

Nichols did offer support, however, for the introduction of the MK30, which is expected to be 40 percent quieter than its predecessor. It is unclear whether the new drone would represent sufficient “noise mitigation efforts” in the city council’s eyes, though Nichols said it would have a “positive effect” on residents’ displeasure.

The comment period for the environmental assessment closed on Friday, and the city and Prime Air will now have to wait for the FAA’s decision. Amazon is also awaiting comments and a final decision on a draft environmental assessment for its planned Arizona service.

Should the proposed expansion be rejected, it would represent yet another blow for Prime Air, which so far has not delivered on former CEO Jeff Bezos’ prognostications more than a decade ago.

In that time, competitors such as Zipline and Wing have risen to the top of the young industry—each of those firms has completed multiple hundred thousands of drone deliveries, including outside the U.S.

Prime Air’s future prospects may be bolstered by the MK30, which promises to address some of the company’s problems: namely range, excessive noise, and limitations on deliveries in inclement weather.

Amazon is not the only drone delivery provider contending with unhappy customers. Earlier this month, a Florida man was arrested for shooting down a Walmart delivery drone he said was flying over his house.

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After a few months of success with air force pilots and rear gunners with shotguns taking out Russian drones in a Yak-52, the Ukraine military is now training pilots and gunners to use the rag-and-tube A-22 to do the same. Previously the light sport aircraft (LSA) have been used as single-use flying bombs and have taken out some high-value targets. 

According to Forbes, Russian bloggers say it’s time to do something about the new role and its inspiration.

“The Yak-52 flew over Odessa and with high efficiency shot down our reconnaissance UAVs for a week, causing laughter in some circles,” Forbes quoted a translation of the blogs as saying. “This has not been funny to UAV operators and us for a long time.”

What, exactly, the Russians might do to counteract the low-and-slow platforms wasn’t discussed on the blog. The Yak has reportedly taken out 12 drones that cost about $100,000 each.

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

The post Drone-Downing Ukrainian Piston Planes Annoying Russians appeared first on FLYING Magazine.