December 21, 2024
Saturday

Eclipse Aerospace has begun flying Daedalean AI’s visual awareness system in an Eclipse 550 twinjet, testing the system’s artificial intelligence (AI)-based capabilities for detect-and-avoid traffic deconfliction. Ultimately, Daedalean’s visual awareness system will offer the traffic capability, as well as landing guidance and navigation in GPS-denied environments.

Although this project is in the early stages of testing and not yet on a certification track, Daedalean is pursuing an FAA Part 23 STC for its PilotEye visual traffic detection system in partnership with Avidyne. The company is also developing a similar traffic system, Ailumina Vista, for Part 27 rotorcraft and is working on an EASA STC.

Anyone who endured airline travel over the Thanksgiving holiday last month can tell you that the best time for a visit to Grandma’s for a turkey dinner is also among the worst times to fly “the scheds.” Major airports strain to handle traffic loads during normal times, and when all those passengers want to get off the ground at once, you can practically hear the terminals bulging at the seams.

Naturally, anyone with the wherewithal to take advantage of private aviation for family travel will choose the holidays to play that card. There are plenty of well-known, practical arguments for deciding to fly on your own year-round, but here are five less-talked-about reasons why private jets can’t be beat for family and holiday travel.

Directional Aviation Capital (DAC)—the company headed by Kenn Ricci that owns Flight Options, Sentient Jet, Nextant Aerospace and Constant Aviation—announced that it is buying fractional provider Flexjet from Bombardier for $185 million. Bombardier president and CEO Pierre Beaudoin said the sale to DAC “marks the next step in Flexjet’s evolution…[and] will allow Bombardier to focus on its core business areas,” which is mainly aircraft manufacturing and product support. The transaction is expected to close by year-end, pending U.S. government approvals.

Flexjet LLC, which is DAC’s shell company for the acquisition, also placed a $1.8 billion firm order for 85 Bombardier business jets—25 Learjet 75s, 30 Learjet 85s, 20 Challenger 350s and 10 Challenger 605s—along with options for 160 more worth another $3.4 billion. According to Ricci, the Learjet 75 order is for a not-yet-announced LXi version, which has a six-seat cabin configuration with a divan.

In 1978, Bill Giannetti and a fellow pilot received permission to establish an FBO at the University of Illinois/Willard Airport (KCMI). The university-owned and -operated airport began operations in 1945, and despite its being home to the university’s Institute of Aviation—a flight training and research facility—for decades, it had no general aviation service provider.

“We started with a trailer, we moved to a bigger trailer, and about 10 years later we built the building here. We’ve grown it from basically a flight school to a full-service FBO with charter flying and aircraft management,” Giannetti told AIN, noting that it has gone from just three employees at the start to 170 today.

What's more adventurous than finding that perfect, secluded beach? You may have battled dirt roads and other obstacles to get there, but in the end it’s worth it.

Here are four beaches off the beaten path we think are worth visiting.

Nimbus Aerospace, a Seattle start-up planning to introduce an electric business jet, has flown a one-tenth-scale demonstrator aircraft for the first time. The company is targeting a range of 1,100 miles for the six- to eight-passenger N1000 aircraft, which it said could enter service in 2032. According to Nimbus, the 1-minute 23-second test flight on December 4 validated its proprietary airframe design and distributed electric propulsion system, which features six ducted fans mounted on top of a fixed wing.

According to Nimbus, the one-minute 23-second test flight on December 4 validated its proprietary airframe design and distributed electric propulsion system, which uses ducted fans mounted on top of a fixed wing. The company said it built the demonstrator in less than a month using bespoke and off-the-shelf components.

Air New Zealand will accept delivery of an Alia CX300 electric airplane and several aircraft chargers from Beta Technologies in 2025 as the flag-carrier airline prepares to launch commercial cargo operations with the aircraft in 2026.

After agreeing to purchase up to 23 Alia CX300 aircraft last year, Air New Zealand has opted to lease an additional “technical demonstrator” to use for familiarization practices ahead of service entry, Beta announced on December 11. In addition to the demonstrator, the airline has added one permanent charging station and multiple mobile “MiniCube” chargers to its existing order from Beta, which manufactures the multimodal chargers.

 

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