The first question friends asked when I mentioned that I signed up to learn to fly helicopters was “Why?” Then later, once they saw I was serious, they would ask how many hours it took me to solo in the helicopter.

The second question isn’t really pertinent because I never soloed. I signed up for the commercial rotorcraft add-on rating at FAA Part 141 training provider Pureflight Aviation Training at Chehalem Airpark in Oregon. Pureflight’s commercial add-on program doesn’t include any solo time, which was fine by me. Soloing in a helicopter isn’t a big goal, but getting “rotorcraft” on my FAA pilot certificate definitely was.

Right on the heels of BJT’s visit to West Palm Beach International Airport to inspect an ultra-long-range VistaJet Bombardier Global 7500 came word from the FAA that former President Donald Trump’s Boeing 757, after landing on Sunday, at the same airport around 1:20 a.m., was taxiing when it struck a parked VistaJet aircraft.

“Aicraft taxiing and winglet struck the rear elevator of a parked VistaJet,” the FAA notice reads. “The incident occurred in an area of the airport where the FAA does not direct aircraft,” according to a statement from the FAA. The notice identified the Boeing’s registration number as N757AF, the same number emblazoned on the side of Trump’s airplane.

Private aircraft departing EBACE 2022 had the option to refuel with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), thanks to a deal signed by Jet Aviation with French fuel producer TotalEnergies.

At its Geneva Airport FBO, Jet Aviation imported a supply of 30 percent blended SAF, which provided an approximately 24 percent decrease in life cycle carbon emissions compared with the same volume of conventional jet-A. While this marked the first time SAF had been available in Geneva, this was the second time the company had offered it in Switzerland.

As another FAA reauthorization bill made its way through the legislature, the decades-old debate over cockpit video recorders reared its head once again. While the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has had cockpit cameras on its “Most Wanted” list since 2003, Congress and the FAA still refused to implement a mandate.

When the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee introduced its version of the FAA reauthorization bill in June 2023, it included a provision that would require all aircraft flying under Part 121 rules to be equipped with both a cockpit voice recorder and a cockpit video recorder, each capable of recording at least 25 hours of data. Under that provision, airlines would have seven years to install crash-proof video recorders in their fleets, and the FAA would have three years to draft requirements for the devices.

Furthering its commitment to duffers, NetJets has announced its exclusive partnership with the Royal and Ancient Golf Club as its official private jet provider for the Open, which will take place at Royal Troon, Scotland, from July 14 to 21.

The multiyear agreement allows NetJets to extend invitations to the prestigious event to their owners—the individuals and businesses who are clients of NetJets' private jet ownership model.

The Nexus eVTOL aircraft is coming together at Textron eAviation’s Wichita headquarters as the company prepares to begin flight testing its hybrid-electric Nuuva V300 cargo drone.

Having certified the world’s first all-electric trainer airplane, the Velis Electro, the Textron Inc. business unit is working to solidify its foothold in the electric aviation industry, building on the company’s decades of experience in aircraft development and manufacturing.

Pratt & Whitney Canada's PW545D engine received Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA) approval late last week, a key step toward service entry on Textron Aviation's Cessna Citation Ascend in 2025. The latest member in the 2,900- to 4,500-pound-thrust PW500 turbofan engine family, the PW545D incorporates an advanced mixer and offers improved efficiencies in the compressor and turbines, which the engine-maker said will reduce fuel burn and noise, as well as lower operating temperature.

As with some of its PW500 siblings, the PW545D will be equipped with Fadec, enabling the integration of autothrottle on the Ascend. The two-spool engine is designed with an enhanced three-stage compressor and is driven by a single-stage cooled high-pressure turbine module.

Citation Ascend Business Jet Progresses with FAA Certification Testing

Air Charter Firm Wheels Up Continues To Bleed Red Ink

AINsight: Personal Liability of Aircraft LLC Owners

FAA Pilot Certificates Pick Up Steam in April

Gulfstream G700 Business Jet Lands European Approval from EASA

Hands On: Flying Honeywell’s FMS Guided Visual Approach Procedures