Solairus Aviation is acquiring Clay Lacy Aviation’s aircraft management and charter divisions, which would push the former’s managed fleet beyond 500 aircraft. According to Solairus, this deal—announced today and set to close next month—will make it the world’s largest business aircraft management provider.

Brian Kirkdoffer, chair of Clay Lacy’s board, said the deal will allow Clay Lacy to sharpen its focus on its remaining FBO, maintenance, and real estate operations. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“With this transaction, Solairus solidifies its position as the leading pure-play aircraft management company in the world,” said Solairus founder and CEO Dan Drohan. “It is about people, relationships, trust, and service.” The combined company will be “better equipped to enhance the client experience while maintaining the high-touch, personalized management services that have been the hallmark of Solairus and Clay Lacy,” he added.

The deal stemmed from overlapping values between the two companies around safety and culture, Kirkdoffer said. “We know that we’re putting our valued clients in good hands with Solairus.”

Solairus currently manages roughly 360 aircraft from more than 100 bases across North America, while Clay Lacy manages about 140 aircraft. Once the deal closes, Solairus will run the combined operation out of its Petaluma, California headquarters, as well as offices in Los Angeles and New York.

The excitement around EAA AirVenture Oshkosh starts weeks before the annual summer extravaganza and persists throughout the week-long show, held July 20 to 26 this year. Although I have been to more than 20 Oshkoshes (sorry, but no one calls it AirVenture), for the first time I stayed for the entire event, and it was well worth it.

My trip to Oshkosh was somewhat complicated because I was helping out at AIN’s Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit (CALS) in Alexandria, Virginia, a few days before the show. I had to leave CALS on the second day to travel to New Jersey, where I was meeting my friend Craig Barnett (the Scheme Designers guy) and flying with him in his Cirrus SR22 to Oshkosh on the Friday before Oshkosh opened. All went smoothly, with a pleasant ride on Amtrak’s Acela train to Newark, an overnight at Craig’s house, and an early departure on Friday morning.

Smoke from the fires in Canada blanketed the East Coast all the way to Oshkosh and further west. Our first leg from Caldwell (KCDW), New Jersey, to Fort Wayne (KFWA), Indiana, on an IFR flight plan was not bad, although visibility at our fuel stop was about a half mile in smoke. The kind folks at Fort Wayne Aero Center fueled up the Cirrus while we grabbed some refreshments, then it was off to Oshkosh.

The discovery of a drone loaded with explosives at Leipzig-Halle Airport (EDDP) in Germany on Tuesday night signals new levels of risk for aircraft operators, according to security experts. With German authorities still investigating how the small quadcopter got close to Ukrainian cargo aircraft, analysts say the incident bears all the hallmarks of Russian efforts to destabilize Europe, as seen in earlier incidents in Poland, Lithuania, and Denmark.

According to Rhys Jones, an analysis output manager with Osprey Flight Solutions, the Leipzig incident is consistent with Russian tactics in which various facilities have been targeted with explosives. The use of a small quadcopter with limited range and payload strongly suggests the planned attack was initiated close to the German airport.

The Osprey team is supporting operators to recalibrate their approach to security, urging them to ensure they know how to assess shifting risk and respond to it. “If a pilot spots something [such as a drone at an airport], do they know who to report it to? Is the operator using CCTV effectively, and are they using intelligence-led steps [to plan operations]?” Jones asked.

Further, the shifting security environment could affect the cost and scope of aviation insurance. “Underwriters are now assuming that hybrid warfare is having a significant impact on the operational risk,” advised Dyami Security Intelligence founder Eric Schouten.

Aviation has a bright-line rule for alcohol: no drinking within eight hours before flying, the well-known “bottle to throttle” standard. For cannabis, no such number exists, and the FAA is now trying to find one, or something close to it. “Toke to yoke,” if you will.

The agency’s Office of Aerospace Medicine is sponsoring a project, run through the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, built around a critical question: after someone uses cannabis, how much time has to pass before they’re no longer impaired?

This year’s federal cannabis rescheduling, which moved certain marijuana products from Schedule I to Schedule III, is prompting the urgency because it creates a “dual-status regulatory environment,” the FAA said. Cannabis is now less restricted at the federal and, in many cases, state level, but DOT drug testing and FAA medical certification rules for pilots and air traffic controllers haven’t changed. This mismatch risks normalizing THC use among pilots, complicating disclosure, and leaving regulators without a clear impairment standard.

Citing the timeline pressure, the agency is asking the National Academies to convene a four-part series of closed “Meeting of Experts” sessions in 2026 and 2027 to interpret evidence that, in some cases, is decades old. The FAA hopes these expert sessions will translate that body of evidence into screening, certification, and return-to-duty guidance.

Australia-based AstroAero is developing the single-engine A200C SkyExpress, an airplane designed to carry standard cargo containers for freight-feeding operations. The company's plans call for certification under FAA Part 23 regulations, single-pilot operations, and low operating costs compared to other cargo aircraft.

Powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67T turboprop engine, the unpressurized A200C will have a maximum takeoff weight of 14,500 pounds and be able to carry up to 3,800 pounds of fuel and 5,500 pounds of cargo, up to a maximum altitude of 25,000 feet. The rear-loading cargo ramp’s door aperture measures 65 inches wide by 71 inches high and it features self-leveling support legs, which eliminate the need for a tail stand during loading. 

Although the A200C concept brings to mind the unsuccessful Ayres LM200 Loadmaster—a design proposed in the late 1990s—they are different airplanes. The LM200 would have carried 9,000 pounds of freight, powered by twin Rolls-Royce/Honeywell CTP800 engines coupled to a single gearbox and propeller. The A200C is far simpler and will have a relatively low operating cost, according to AstroAero.

The company has been working on the A200C project for a few years, with a full-scale mockup built three years ago. It said the design has been validated, and work on the T1 prototype is underway and expected to take eight months to complete. 

The Duncan Aviation Family Trust has established an endowed professorship at Western Michigan University’s (WMU) College of Aviation, creating a permanent faculty position focused on technical operations education, research, and curriculum development.

“Duncan Aviation understands the strength of this industry depends on how well we prepare the next generation of technical operations professionals,” said WMU College of Aviation dean Raymond Thompson. “This professorship will strengthen our ability to deliver the kind of education that connects directly to the needs of the field.”

Named the J. Robert Duncan Endowed Professorship of Technical Operations in honor of Duncan Aviation chairman emeritus Robert Duncan, the position will support academic pathways at WMU, including a technical leadership track within the existing aviation technical operations bachelor’s program. It will also support a technical leadership certificate and a future graduate program in maintenance leadership.

“WMU’s aviation program is recognized internationally for its leadership in aviation education and serves as an essential element in Duncan Aviation’s talent pipeline,” said Andy Richards, COO of Duncan Aviation’s Michigan operations. “As the industry expands in scope and complexity, WMU has consistently demonstrated a steadfast commitment to excellence.”

Duncan Aviation and WMU have maintained a formal partnership since 2008, when Duncan established an aviation maintenance internship program for WMU students. A maintenance scholarship followed in 2014. Both organizations have a presence at Battle Creek Executive Airport (KBTL).

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