Western Aircraft became the first authorized Pilatus sales center to deliver 300 new-production PC-12 turboprop singles, a milestone reached at its Boise, Idaho head office with the handover of S/N 3107, a PC-12 Pro variant.

In addition, the Greenwich AeroGroup company handed over its 30th new-production PC-24 at the same ceremony, which also marked 30 years since Western Aircraft became an authorized Pilatus sales and service center. No other Pilatus sales center has reached these three milestones, according to the manufacturer. Western Aircraft added the PC-24 twinjet to its lineup in 2018.

Pilatus Group CEO Markus Bucher spoke at the Boise event. “Over the past 30 years, we’ve built a partnership founded on trust and shared values—a passion for aviation, a commitment to excellence, and a shared drive to provide every PC-12 and PC-24 customer with the best possible experience and support,” he said.

Western Aircraft was founded in 1957. Its Boise facility also provides product support for the Swiss-made aircraft, with Pilatus-trained specialists performing maintenance and repair work.

Affinity Aviation Group (AAG), the UK-based company specializing in aircraft sales and charter, has begun a strategic collaboration with flight-training provider AeronautX. “With AeronautX investing heavily in the future of business aviation training, this is an opportunity to build a relationship with a like-minded organization that shares our commitment to expertise, quality, and long-term growth,” said AAG founding CEO Andrew Hoy.

Affinity made a significant investment in AeronautX UK, which recently opened an office within AAG’s headquarters at London-area Farnborough Airport. AeronautX is preparing to open its pilot training academy near Amsterdam Schiphol Airport early next year.

“This new partnership with Affinity Aviation Group and our presence at Farnborough Airport are key to AeronautX's growing UK operations,” explained AeronautX founder and CEO Jörg Oberhofer. “Our new training center opens in Q1 2027 with Bombardier Challenger 350/3500 and Challenger 650 full-flight simulators, all of which will be UK CAA certified. This builds on the base training approvals AeronautX already holds for Embraer and Gulfstream aircraft.”

Following the rebranding of ground handling provider Universal Aviation to Affinity Aviation last week at NBAA-BACE, AAG released a statement: “We are aware that developments in the wider marketplace with similarities in company naming may create potential confusion. We would therefore like to reassure our clients and partners that our business remains independent.”

SmartSky, the company that launched an air-to-ground (ATG) airborne connectivity network in the U.S. to compete with Gogo, plans to evaluate options for relief after the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware set aside a $22.7 million past-damages award for Gogo’s infringement of SmartSky patents. The court also denied SmartSky’s requests for enhanced damages.

According to SmartSky, “The court upheld the jury’s findings that Gogo infringed four SmartSky patents and that the infringement was willful. Gogo failed in its attempts to invalidate SmartSky’s patents. The court also rejected Gogo’s inequitable conduct defense.”

With two key patents remaining in force until 2033 and 2035, SmartSky said it plans to “continue to protect that intellectual property. The rulings on infringement, willfulness, validity, and inequitable conduct reinforce SmartSky’s patent rights in important aspects of air-to-ground network technology, and SmartSky intends to pursue all appropriate avenues to protect those rights.”

The SmartSky ATG network shut down on Aug. 16, 2024, but has since been revived by Apcela, the company that built the network of ATG towers in the U.S. for SmartSky.

Cirrus Aircraft has broken ground on a run-up center to test engines and calibrate fuel systems for its SR-series and TRAC10 pistons, as well as the Vision Jet, year-round in an enclosed, climate-controlled building in Duluth, Minnesota. The OEM hopes to complete the build by next October.

Cirrus is investing more than $8 million in the 15,000-sq-ft run-up center, where technicians will check how engine systems function and perform, in addition to calibrating fuel systems, before aircraft certification and delivery.

Technicians will test and tune running engines in two calibration stalls, while a climate-controlled control room will support data analysis and remote adjustments. An eight-foot exhaust collector is part of the air-handling system that ventilates the stalls, while sound-control measures limit noise. Two more stalls, dedicated to fueling and defueling, will support fuel calibration in a space designed for flammable fluids, complete with fire protection.

“Engine run-ups and fuel system calibration are essential processes across aircraft manufacturing,” said Cirrus CEO Zean Nielsen. “This modern facility will allow us to streamline these critical operations, improve efficiency, and provide our team members with a dedicated environment to perform this work.”

Cirrus occupies more than 1.3 million sq ft, much of it in Duluth, where it has built more than 12,000 SR-series and Vision Jet aircraft, according to company president of innovation and operations Patrick Waddick.

Duncan Aviation transforms a wildly creative Ripley’s Believe It or Not! concept into a 17-color flying work of art.

Garmin has added more guided visual approaches to its database of visual procedures for challenging airports, now including some in Mexico. The company also released new features on the Garmin Pilot app and Garmin Pilot Web, notably SmartCharts airport diagrams.

The guided visual approaches are designed in collaboration with Hughes Aerospace and now serve 56 airports and 77 procedures. The 12 new approaches cover eight airports: Albuquerque, New Mexico (KABQ); Hayden, Colorado (KHDN); Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (MMSL); and others.

Pilots flying with WAAS-equipped Garmin avionics capable of radius-to-fix legs can use the guided visual approaches. The capable avionics include GTN and GTN Xi navigators and select Garmin integrated flight decks. These approaches give pilots lateral and vertical guidance to the runway end, and they can be flown coupled to the autopilot. Approach charts are georeferenced so pilots can see their own-ship position on the chart while flying the procedure.

Garmin has released new features on the Garmin Pilot app and Garmin Pilot Web, including composite radar coverage for Mexico, additional composite radar coverage in Canada, and a new forecast cloud layer with information on cloud tops, bases, and coverage. Starting today, SmartCharts airport diagrams with depictions of graphical notams will be available on Garmin Pilot Web. These provide color-coded overlays showing runway, taxiway, and ramp closures on the airport diagrams.

Electra’s EL2 Ultra Short hybrid-electric demonstrator aircraft has landed at and taken off from the Manhattan Downtown Skyport. The flights yesterday morning were part of the company’s “Life Beyond Runways” series of public displays to make the case for the nine-passenger EL9 model it aims to bring into commercial service from 2030.

The two-seat EL2 accessed the heliport’s 62-foot-by-62-foot landing pad to demonstrate Electra’s blown-lift technology that enables the larger EL9 to support regional air services to locations other than airports. Electra has conducted a series of demonstration flights in various other U.S. locations to promote its Direct Aviation concept, including Virginia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

According to Electra, the EL9 could operate from heliports and also from non-aviation sites such as barges, fields, and parking lots. The Downtown Skyport is operated by vertiport developer Skyports Infrastructure, which has active sites open in the U.S. and the UK, and is developing other locations in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.

“Today we made aviation history in downtown Manhattan by landing a fixed-wing aircraft on a heliport,” Electra CEO Marc Allen said. “This same capability will fundamentally transform how people travel in our nation by making it faster and easier to get them to their destinations.”

The EL9 is expected to operate on routes of between 50 and 500 miles. Its powertrain includes electric motors and a Safran TG600 turbogenerator.

The private jet terminal at Sweden’s Bromma Stockholm Airport (ESSB) has again been the target of environmental action. On October 10, climate change activists from international pressure group Extinction Rebellion and sister organization Scientist Rebellion gained unauthorized access to Grafair’s FBO terminal and apron, temporarily closing the facility.

Extinction Rebellion Sverige said the demonstration was part of its planned October schedule of disruption. The airport protest was specifically timed to coincide with the week of the 10th anniversary of Sweden’s ratification of the Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change. The group confirmed on social media that its members had gained access to the private area of the airport and the FBO, where they staged a sit-in.

Images published by the group itself show its members using ladders to scale a perimeter fence before sitting next to a Cessna Citation Latitude on the ramp. Five activists were arrested the same day on suspicion of airport sabotage. A second group, which entered the terminal and refused to leave, was charged with disorderly conduct. There was no impact on airline operations, which are conducted from another area of the airport.

While the pressure group stated its belief that “not acting against private aviation is an example of criminal passivity,” it reiterated that it also held “democratic discussions” as part of its October activity.

John White, a leader in business aviation and a general aviation advocate for more than 50 years, died October 16. White held an ATP certificate with nine aircraft type ratings and logged more than 17,000 flight hours. He also held an A&P mechanic certificate and a commercial glider pilot certificate.

White’s early career in aviation included advancing from pilot and mechanic to director of aviation at Union Pacific Resources, where he worked for more than 25 years. Valero Energy hired him for its flight department in 2004; he later served as the company’s v-p of aviation until 2016, when he retired.

He was appointed to NBAA’s board of directors in 2010 and also served on the Texas Aviation Advisory Committee. NBAA acting COO Dan Hubbard remarked on White’s commitment to the industry: “His leadership and advocacy for our industry helped strengthen our community and ensure its voice was heard.”

Steve Hadley, NBAA senior director of regional programs, said, “John was not only a respected aviation professional, but also a valued friend and someone our aviation community could always count on when we needed a strong and steadfast voice. He never hesitated to step forward, and his enthusiasm, generosity, and friendship will be greatly missed.”