Last year, reports that fake signals were jeopardizing aircraft navigation systems spiked near conflict regions. First reported by security intelligence organization OpsGroup, the reports cited false or jammed global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals, affecting the U.S. global positioning system (GPS) civil signals, causing aircraft navigation systems to show missing or inaccurate position information.

More recently, an OpsGroup member reported experiencing GPS spoofing on January 29 after departing from Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport (LLBG). “This lasted until the FIR boundary. ATC was notified and provided vectors [to us] instead.”

Owning and operating a $30 million aircraft to fly 50 hours a year is like buying a 30-room mansion to live in. By yourself. 

Opportunities for mistakes abound when you’re buying a business jet. Here are six common ones that can have expensive consequences.

Should general aviation pay more toward the cost of the nation’s air traffic control system, especially if it would hasten the implementation of the NextGen air traffic control (ATC) system and depoliticize FAA funding? If so, is the current system of fuel and excise taxes the best way to do it?

Historically, the airline lobby has pressed policymakers to implement higher fees on general aviation (GA), claiming the industry does not pay its fair share. The official policy of GA, as espoused by the NBAA and others, has and continues to be that the current aviation fuel tax system is the fairest and most efficient way to collect GA’s contribution to ATC, even if that tax needs to be increased. The tax on jet-A currently amounts to 21.9 cents per gallon.

The resurgent offshore energy industry is driving fresh demand for Sikorsky’s largest civil helicopter, the S-92A Helibus.

Sikorsky delivered just four S-92s in 2022 and three last year. But three more are on the assembly line at the company’s West Palm Beach, Florida facility, and the company is in the final stages of negotiations for a block of 14 new-build helicopters for delivery in 2025 and 2026.

How many cities do you know where you can walk to hotels, restaurants, museums, and marinas from a general aviation airport? You can do that—and enjoy a family vacation or a break after a business trip—in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The Albert Whitted Airport for private air traffic is right on the waterfront at the edge of downtown. A Hertz rental car office is in the terminal, but you can also walk or take a trolley from the airport to numerous hotels and restaurants. If you want to do some memorable sightseeing, consider the tours offered by Executive Helicopters and Flying Adventure. The latter lets you survey the city from an open-cockpit WWII Stearman biplane.

In a key milestone for the U.S. eVTOL industry, the FAA has published its final airworthiness criteria for Joby Aviation’s five-seat JAS4-1 air taxi in the Federal Register. This marks the first time the FAA has settled on the airworthiness criteria for any passenger-carrying eVTOL, providing a framework for other eVTOL developers.

Joby finished submitting its certification plans for the JAS4-1 model to the FAA in July. On February 21, the company announced that the FAA had approved those certification plans, marking the completion of the third of five stages in its certification process. The company has already gotten a head start on the fourth stage, which involves tests and inspections per these FAA-approved plans. It expects to have the aircraft certified later next year.

Skyryse is taking refundable, non-transferrable $2,500 deposits for its Skyryse One, a Robinson R66 retrofitted with its SkyOS operating system featuring simplified, single-stick control and two touchscreens. The proprietary system offers an IFR-capable, aircraft-agnostic, triple-redundant fly-by-wire system.

The company is in the final stages of the FAA STC certification process and plans to offer the new-production helicopter for a base price of $1.8 million. The company said it anticipates receiving certification and beginning deliveries in 2025. Skyryse said SkyOS is designed to put “the pilot fully in command while freeing them from mundane, error-prone chores.”

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