Catalina Aircraft To Design Flying Boat in Vero Beach

Catalina Aircraft is building an Engineering and Technology Center (ETC) in Vero Beach, Florida, to house design activities for its clean-sheet Spar amphibious aircraft and to provide space for other aerospace and technology start-ups.

The ETC will feature computer resources for digital-twin development and systems engineering, a scale wind tunnel, wave tank for hydrodynamic testing, and 3D printing and materials labs. Creating the ETC will shorten development cycles for the Catalina team and the Spar twin turboprop and help tenants with their own programs, with facilities that would be too expensive for them to build separately.

Catalina’s Spar will be certified under FAA Part 25 transport-category regulations, and is designed as a multimission airplane. Plans call for easily switching from one mission to another, including aerial firefighting, transport, patrol, humanitarian support, and search and rescue, “reducing the need for multiple specialized fleets,” according to the company.

To make the Spar more attractive to civil and government operators, Catalina Aircraft will use a modular open systems approach architecture for avionics and missions systems design. This aligns the Spar design with U.S. Department of Defense system acquisition strategies, based on “modular designs, clearly defined major system interfaces, and widely supported, consensus-based open standards,” the company explained.

AINsight: Your Team Is Always Recruiting

Years ago, I was sitting in the lobby of a Marriott hotel near one of the New York-area business aviation airports. I honestly cannot say whether it was Morristown or Teterboro, but what I remember clearly is the large group of crewmembers gathered nearby.

They were talking shop, laughing, and enjoying one another’s company, but what caught my attention was the absence of complaining. They spoke with the easy familiarity of people who trusted their teammates and liked the work they were doing.

Eventually, I walked over and introduced myself. I learned that they were two crews from the same major tech company, and their pride in the flight operation came through as we talked.

Had I been a pilot considering a career move, I would have wanted to know more about that department.

No one at that table thought they were recruiting, yet they showed me something a job advertisement could never prove: these people enjoyed working together. That impression has stayed with me because it was unplanned and completely believable. They were representing their employer when they thought no one was paying attention.

Recruiting isn’t something a department switches on when a vacancy appears. It’s reflected every day in how the team works, leads, and treats one another. So, if your next recruiting conversation begins after someone’s resignation, you may already be too late.

Asia’s Bizav Show Anticipates Growth for 2027 Event

Organizers of the Business Aviation Asia Forum & Expo (BAAFEx) anticipate that the 2027 show in Singapore will feature up to 50% more exhibitors and attendees than the inaugural event in 2025. Experia Events this week confirmed that it expects to host 75 participating companies and more than 3,000 industry professionals at the Changi Exhibition Centre from March 22 to 24.

According to managing director Leck Chet Lam, the second biennial BAAFEx will feature greater breadth in the scope of the business aviation industry represented at the show, including a new focus on helicopters and eVTOL aircraft. “We also expect to go into more depth as well in each sector, so, for example, with maintenance, repair and overhaul [exhibitors], these will cover engines, airframes, equipment, and cabins.”

As of August 21, some 20 companies had committed to exhibit, including Boeing Business Jets, Lufthansa Technik, AEG Fuels, and aircraft management and charter group Amber Aviation. The show is also expected to feature Gama Aviation, Asia Flight Services, FCG Ops, Hadid International, Gogo, Viasat, and IFOS Aviation Services India.

India, where, according to Experia, business aviation is achieving the strongest growth in the Asia-Pacific region, will be a key new topic for the BAAFEx conference program. As in February 2025, the agenda will also cover issues relevant to the industry across Southeast Asia and China.

Klatt Works Adds Gulfstream as Approved SAVED Supplier

Gulfstream Aerospace is the first aircraft manufacturer to become an approved supplier for the Klatt Works Smoke Assured Vision Enhanced Display (SAVED) system. SAVED is a see-through head-up display (HUD) built into the oxygen mask to help pilots view flight data and enhanced vision system video during a smoke-filled cockpit emergency.

As an approved supplier, Gulfstream can offer installation of the SAVED system at its service centers. Other approved providers include Duncan Aviation and Altus Aerospace.

The G550 is the first Gulfstream jet approved under the SAVED supplemental type certificate (STC). Klatt Works is working on STCs for the G450 and G650, followed by the G500 and G600. Klatt also plans to seek approvals from other countries’ regulators.

Flight simulation training providers are installing the system to help pilots learn how SAVED works, according to Klatt Works.

“Having an aircraft manufacturer offer SAVED is a milestone for us and for the operators we serve,” said Klatt Works CEO Nate Klatt. “Gulfstream’s service centers reach operators worldwide, and making SAVED available through those channels streamlines acquisition and installation for Gulfstream customers who want this capability on their aircraft. We are pleased to welcome Gulfstream to the SAVED authorized provider network.”

Cessna 441 Crash Kills USACE Workers in Alaska

A twin-engine Cessna 441 Conquest II crashed while approaching Cape Newenham Long-Range Radar Station Airport (PAEH) in western Alaska on Thursday with eight people aboard, the FAA confirmed in a post on X, adding that the aircraft had departed Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (PANC) bound for Cape Newenham.

The aircraft—N128EZ—was operated by Security Aviation on a charter for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the agency’s Alaska District said in a statement. “We have received confirmation that the two USACE employees onboard were fatalities,” the statement said. As of Friday morning, officials had not confirmed the fate of the others aboard the aircraft, although news reports said all on board did not survive.

Flight-tracking data show the aircraft’s last recorded position at approximately 11:45 a.m. local time, following a gap in ADS-B coverage; the FAA said the accident occurred around 12:15 p.m. Data show the aircraft had entered a holding pattern east of the airport before beginning its approach shortly after 11 a.m.

Automated weather observations at the airport showed a quarter-mile visibility in fog roughly as the aircraft entered its holding pattern. Conditions improved by 11:29 a.m., with visibility reaching 10 miles as the aircraft began its approach, before fog returned and visibility dropped back to a quarter-mile by 11:49 a.m., four minutes after the aircraft’s last recorded position at 11:45 a.m.

Merlin Clears Cert Hurdle for AI in the Cockpit

New Zealand’s civil aviation authority has settled on how Merlin must prove that its AI systems are safe, representing a significant milestone on the path to certification. The Boston-based company recently announced that it reached the Stage of Involvement (SOI) 3 milestone with the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (CAANZ) for two components of its Merlin Pilot autonomous flight system: the flight control computer and the automated communication system.

Reaching SOI 3 means the regulator has reviewed and accepted the testing evidence for those two components, one stage short of final compliance. The CAANZ worked in coordination with the FAA under a bilateral agreement; the two agencies jointly approved Merlin’s certification basis in 2021.

Separately, Merlin said it closed an issue paper covering machine-learning-based natural language processing within the CAANZ certification program—the capability that lets Merlin Pilot hold a voice conversation with air traffic control.

“This is significant as we’re not building experimental AI, but rather aviation-grade autonomy that performs full phase autonomy from takeoff to touchdown,” said Merlin chief technology officer Tim Burns.

The New Zealand program runs under Part 23, the rule covering smaller airplanes, and Merlin’s certification testbed is a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan. The company has flown commercial cargo in the country since early 2024 and received an experimental airworthiness certificate in 2025, clearing Merlin to begin certification flight testing.

Photo of the Week

Backlit. Richard Depinay captured this shot of the tail of a Textron Aviation Cessna Citation Longitude, lit by a bright sun in the background. The forecast? According to Richard: “Partly cloudy with a chance of good flying.” Certainly looks that way. Thanks for sharing, Richard!

Keep them coming. If you’d like to submit an entry for Photo of the Week, email a high-resolution horizontal image (at least 2000 x 1200 pixels), along with your name, contact information, social media names, and info about it (including brief description, location, etc.) to photos@ainonline.com. Tail numbers can be removed upon request. Those submitting photos give AIN implied consent to publish them in its publications and social media channels