Doubtless with some exceptions, just about everyone who traveled to Geneva in May for the annual EBACE show sincerely believes they are an environmentalist, concerned about the impact of flying and other human activities on our shared planet and committed to doing something about it.
That would include the lively and diverse group of protestors who joined the officially-sanctioned demonstration outside Palexpo on the evening of the show’s opening day, and also all the industry executives who participated in multiple EBACE meetings focused on sustainability and reducing aviation's carbon footprint.
During the European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition event in Geneva, Switzerland, keynote speakers Susie and Toto Wolff spoke to Business Jet Traveler before going on stage about maintaining a high level of performance, balancing family and work, and how they think the culture of F1 could influence aviation and other industries.
In the foothills of the Austrian Alps, set amid bucolic farmland, is the global headquarters of F/List, a family-owned company that in the 35 years since its founding has become a major purveyor of luxury fittings and materials to the high-end aviation, yacht, and residential markets. The company has worked as a supplier to virtually every aviation OEM.
F/List says its sustainable innovations are deeply rooted in the company's philosophy, and during a recent visit by AIN, its material wizards showed off its newest product lines, which are making their way into first-class airline and private jet cabins, as well as onto opulent yachts. The company also displayed its in-house capabilities in research, development, and product testing.
After asking for a show of hands from air charter operators who are experiencing difficulties filling pilot vacancies, FAA deputy director of flight standards John Duncan told attendees at the NATA Air Charter Summit that he gets involved in discussions about pilot shortages in a lot of different venues. “From an academic standpoint, it’s going to be interesting,” he said. “But from a community standpoint, it’s probably going to be a little painful. This is a dilemma for the aviation community.”
Although the major airlines have always been able to attract flight crews with the experience that they needed, there is a perception that the new flight, duty and rest rules will create a need for more pilots. A second dynamic is the new first-officer qualification rule, with which the smaller feeder airlines are already having problems. So the airlines have to look to other places for pilots.
An encounter with nature can be rejuvenating, and there's no better place for that than at one of America's botanical gardens.
Here's a list of 13 we consider outstanding. Located from coast to coast, they include the oldest continuously operating public garden in the U.S., an arid-plant showcase in Phoenix, and more.
Some lucky Parisians and Olympic Games visitors are set to become the world’s first paying passengers in an eVTOL aircraft. During last week's Paris Air Show, Volocopter confirmed it is on schedule to secure type certification by EASA for the two-seat VoloCity aircraft in time for the games, which open on July 26, 2024.
Volocopter is one of some 30 partners involved in the Re.Invent Mobility project being conducted around the Olympic Games to demonstrate the potential for new aircraft to enhance public transportation in and around the French capital. On June 22, airports group ADP announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with eVTOL developer AutoFlight under which the company will conduct flight demonstrations with its Prosperity I vehicle from a specially-constructed vertiport at Pontoise Airport, northwest of Paris.
Raytheon’s Patriot surface-to-air missile (SAM) system has shot down seven Russian Kh-47 Kinzhal air-launched hypersonic missiles over Ukraine in the past few weeks. The success was confirmed by Colonel Serhiy Yaremenko, commander of the 96th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade. “No one was sure that the Patriot was capable of destroying a Kh-47. Ukrainians proved it,” he told the Wall Street Journal.
Previously, the Patriot system has seldom met expectations. Its kill ratio was far from 100 percent in the Gulf Wars, and more recently, over Saudi Arabia against Scud-class tactical ballistic missiles fired by Houthi rebels from Yemen, despite the latest PAC-3 version being billed as having such capability. It had apparently never been tested in the U.S. against a hypersonic threat. “It was not a requirement…but it turns out Patriot has some capability,” Vice-Admiral Jon Hill, director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, told a Senate hearing recently. “It’s got the natural ability [to intercept hypersonic missiles] because it is a cruise missile killer,” he added.
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