Aviation: Electric Passenger Plane prototype makes first flight at Moses Lake, WA
Source: Prototype electric airplane takes first flight in Washington state – oregonlive.com
Aviation: Flying car start up Kittyhawk, shutting down
No explanation provided. Just 3 weeks ago, they posted a thank you to the 7 new hires that would be starting soon – that’s gotta hurt. Company had been co-founded…
Demographics: The pilot shortage (and mechanics and air traffic controllers …)
Watch the video. It’s a shortage across multiple job functions, not just pilots. Why the U.S. is running out of pilots (cnbc.com) Pilot training is time-consuming and very expensive. But…
Part 9 – Population Demographics: “Pilot shortage prompts proposals to raise retirement age, lower training hours. : NPR”
So to address the shortage, some in the industry and in Congress are calling for some big changes. Among them are raising the mandatory pilot retirement age from 65 to…
Legal Problems with Drone Detection and Defense Systems
Trying to stop bad drones? This article dives into the different types of counter drone systems (drone jammer, anti-drone gun, etc.) & their legal problems. Source: Big Legal Problems with…
Carbon offsets are a massive con
Mike Childs, head of science, policy and research at environmental organization Friends of the Earth, previously described carbon offsetting as a “massive con” to CNN, partly because any effect from…
Fed likely setting up to heavily regulate model aircraft
Last week, the White House announced it wants Congress to act on new laws that would permit increased monitoring and the remote destruction of “drone” aircraft. One news article said…
Red Bull ‘plane swap’ stunt violated FAA rules and crashed the plane
They should have hired Trevor Jacob for this! Pilots Luke Aikins and Andy Farrington were unable to complete the never-before-seen stunt as one plane went out of control. Source: First…
Alaska Airlines to retire all Q400 turboprops by end of 2023
Sad to hear this: Alaska Airlines has announced that by the end of 2023, the Seattle-based carrier’s fleet will consist exclusively of Boeing 737s for mainline flights, and Embraer E175s…
Hydrogen fueled airliners?
Airbus said it plans to test a hydrogen-powered engine on a modified A380 by the middle of the decade, in hopes of bringing lower-emissions fuels to commercial air travel. Source:…