Behind the closed doors of a hangar at the Atlantic Aero FBO more than two decades ago at Greensboro, North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad International Airport (KGSO), a team of engineers and technicians assembled an oddly configured twin-engine very light business jet.

This was the proof-of-concept (POC) prototype of what would become the best-selling HondaJet very light jet. The team’s work culminated on Dec. 3, 2003, when the POC took flight and a new business jet family was born. The Honda team worked overtime to achieve the goal of flying the POC by the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight on Dec. 17, 1903.

A year after earning its Part 145 certificate, Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Omni Aircraft Maintenance has taken full advantage of its status as an FAA-approved repair station, witnessing the annual number of its MRO jobs roughly triple over the span of a year. For 40 years, the company’s MRO division has been engaged in the maintenance of Omni Air Transport’s fleet of Learjets under individual mechanics’ A&P licenses.

The division has expanded its scope of activity to include several aircraft models, ranging from King Airs to Gulfstreams. Now, as outside work accounts for roughly 25 percent of its business, the company plans to open a new 20,000-sq-ft hangar in Tulsa, effectively doubling its capacity from three heavy lines to six by the end of the year.

As August 2018 came to a close, Congress was left with just a month—and actually far less than that—to come to some sort of agreement on a long-term FAA reauthorization bill or face yet another extension of the agency’s operating authority. The agency was operating under a short-term extension set to expire September 30. Another stop-gap measure would make the sixth short-term extension in the current reauthorization cycle.

The previous long-term reauthorization cycle expired on Sept. 30, 2015. It took only 23 short-term extensions and five-plus years to get that long-term bill, FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, passed. The debates that held up long-term legislation a decade ago weren’t too far from the debates that had held up the 2018 reauthorization bill, namely how to fund air traffic control.

Leonardo is displaying the latest skid-equipped version of its AW169 utility helicopter at the Dubai Airshow. It recently delivered the example on show to Italy’s Guardia di Finanza (GdF) and airlifted it to Dubai for the airshow and customer demonstrations within the UAE, including to local operators that fly some 10 of the original wheeled version.

The acquisition of more than 20 AW169s by the GdF, 17 to 18 for the Italian Carabinieri police force, and 50 for the Italian army highlights the AW169’s suitability for government agency operations such as military tasks, law enforcement, and rescue. The type suits civilian offshore support missions.