It’s been a busy year of development for Hollingshead Aviation, one of two service providers at Tennessee’s Smyrna Airport (KMQY). The company, which has operated from the former Smyrna Air Center facility for seven years, has made several upgrades to its property.

Hollingshead is about to wrap up a six-month renovation project at its two-decade-old, 12,000-sq-ft, two-story terminal. Completely gutted and remodeled, the terminal is expected to be finished by the end of the year and will include a pair of 10-seat conference rooms, a pilot lounge with showers, a media room, a flight planning area/business center, and a marble tiled passenger lobby with fireplace.

At first blush, the Cessna Citation M2 looked like a refreshed CJ1+, only with subtle winglets. But under the skin, much was new, including uprated Williams FJ44-1AP-21 engines with Fadec, new Garmin G3000 touchscreen avionics, and a roomier cockpit with a shorter control pedestal. 

In 2021, the airframer announced plans for a refreshed M2, designated the M2 Gen2, with additional improvements. Among them are three more inches of cockpit legroom and a cabin with more durable materials, new sidewall ledges, a choice of wood or carpet flooring materials, accent lighting, illuminated cupholders, and wireless and USB charging ports at each passenger seat. 

Highly influential U.S. association AARP opposed a manager’s amendment in a 2018 FAA reauthorization bill to impose a mandatory retirement age of 65 for certain Part 135 charter and Part 91K fractional pilots. “AARP has long opposed mandatory retirement; using an arbitrary age as a proxy for competence is wrong in any occupation, and it is wrong for pilots,” AARP told then House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster and ranking member Pete DeFazio.

“Pilots should be judged on the basis of their individual ability, flying skills, and their health, not on stereotypes or mistaken assumptions about their fitness based on age,” the association, which has 38 million members, told the congressmen. “The pilots affected are already subject to twice-yearly medical certifications and ‘check ride’ tests of fitness and competency to fly. AARP supports requirements for testing and exams that are designed to measure the job-related characteristics needed to do the job. If different or additional types of tests are needed, the focus should be on determining that.”

Park City, Utah, has been in the spotlight for multiple reasons since it was founded in 1869 as a hardscrabble mining town. It boomed after 1880 when the first transcontinental railroad made it possible to transport its silver and lead to wider markets.

After a mining bust, Park City developed a ski resort, became a training ground for Olympians, and was selected as an Olympic competition venue. Now it hosts the famous Sundance Film Festival and is a luxury ski destination.

In 2021, a 23-year-old pilot flying on a low-level pipeline patrol was killed seconds after his aircraft hit the guy wire of a radio tower. Upon striking the wire, the left wing of the Cessna 182 was sheared off, sending the aircraft tumbling onto the ground, where it then burst into flames. In its final report on the fatal crash, the NTSB noted that, 35 seconds before hitting the guy wire, the pilot made a post on social media app Snapchat. That was his final post.

According to the accident report, “Based on known information, it is likely the pilot was distracted while using his mobile device in the minutes before the accident and did not maintain adequate lookout to ensure a safe flight path to avoid the radio tower and its guy wires." The NTSB has long led a charge to eliminate distractions in aviation and other forms of transportation. Sadly, these accidents are preventable.

Joby Aviation and NASA have completed a series of air traffic simulations to assess how eVTOL air-taxi operations can be integrated into public airspace. The exercises were conducted at NASA’s Ames Research Center, including simulated flights at busy airports using existing air traffic control tools and procedures.

The partners developed the simulations based on learnings from an extended study, and these involved scenarios involving dozens of eVTOLs per hour flying in and out of the airspace around the Dallas-Forth Worth area. The exercise made use of NASA’s Future Flight Central facility, which is a high-fidelity control tower with a 360-degree view of a real-time airport simulation.

The Gulfstream G500 represents a leap forward in flight deck and flight control interface design, a bold move for a manufacturer as conservative as Gulfstream yet also a logical progression in business jet design. The G500 is a delight to fly, a significant step up in handling compared to the non-fly-by-wire (FBW) designs (G550 and below). And the many touchscreens that run the avionics and systems feel as natural as wings on airplanes.

If a customer doesn't need the 7,500-nm range of the G650ER but a wider cabin and higher speed is required, then the G500 and G600 ought to be a logical choice for those who appreciate the Gulfstream brand.

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