Number 22 – 21 March 2024

“Pilots are a rare kind of human. They leave the ordinary surface of the world, to purify their soul in the sky and they come down to earth, only after receiving the communion of the infinite.” Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra

Heinkel He-274

(Information from Wikipedia)

The Heinkel He 274 was a German heavy bomber purpose-designed for high-altitude bombing with pressurised crew accommodation during WW II. Due to the Allied advance through Northwest Europe, the prototypes were abandoned at the French factory where they were being built. They were completed after the war by the French and used for high-altitude research.

The first proposal for what would become the He 274 started with six airframe orders for what had been known as the He 177H, which were requested from Heinkel as early as mid-October 1941, all to have four engines in stretched production He 177A-3 fuselages. The main production version had been lengthened by 160 cm aft of the wing’s trailing edge for better stability and also used for the A-5 subtype, mated to longer span, four-engined wings. Due to the busy Heinkel factory design offices and aircraft manufacturing facilities, this new ‘He 274’ high-altitude bomber was to have its prototypes built in France by the Societe des Usines Farman (Farman Brothers) in Suresnes. Two He 274 prototypes were ordered built in France by the Farman Brothers and four pre-production prototypes by the Heinkel’s Heinkel-Nord headquarters at its Rostock-Marienehe (today’s Rostock-Schmarl) facility. Farman at Suresnes, began their prototype development.

Work on the requested half-dozen He 274 prototype airframes was leveraged off Heinkel aircraft production at AIA Breguet, Toulouse where French factories produced Heinkel components and Junkers aviation engines. French production facilities at Toulouse for Heinkel aircraft were severely damaged by Royal Air Force (RAF) air raids on the night of 5/6 March 1944 and again by the US Eighth Air Force on 25 June 1944. This frustrated completion of the French prototypes, as the design work in Germany and Austria had begun by February 1943, on what had emerged as the Heinkel entry in the trans-Atlantic Amerikabomber strategic heavy bomber design competition, the Heinkel He 277.

Abandoned prototypes

Construction of the two prototypes, the He 274 V1 and V2 did not commence until 1943. They were to have been built in France by SAUF at Suresnes, France, but the prototypes were not completed in time. The He 274 V1 was being readied for flight testing at Suresnes in July 1944 when the approach of Allied forces necessitated the evacuation of Heinkel personnel working on the project. Minor difficulties had delayed the flight testing and transfer of the aircraft to Germany and orders were therefore given to destroy the virtually completed prototype. Only minor damage was actually done to the airframe of the He 274 V1 and repairs were begun after the Allied occupation.

The He 274 V1 was repaired by Ateliers Aéronautiques de Suresnes (AAS) and used by the Armée de l’Air (French Air Force) for several years as a high-altitude research plane. It was renamed the AAS 01A. The He 274 V2 was eventually completed as the AAS 01B, completed with the alternate choice of Heinkel-Hirth 2291 turbochargers, in place of the TK 11 units used by the He 274 V1’s engines.

Eventually the V2 flew exactly two years (on 27 December 1947) after the AAS 01A. By this time, the AAS organisation had been absorbed into the French SNCASO (Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du sud-ouest, or commonly, Sud-Ouest) aviation conglomerate. Both of the AAS 01 completed and airworthy versions of the He 274 were eventually broken up in late 1953, after serving as ‘mother ships’ for aerial launching, in the manner of a composite or parasite aircraft, of a number of early French advanced jet and rocket test aircraft like the unpowered Sud-Ouest SO.4000 M.1, almost always launched from a strut-braced, above-fuselage position. The Leduc 0.10 and Leduc 0.16 also each had their first aerial tests from atop the pair of surviving He 274 prototypes. The slightly less powerful, French designed four-engined SNCASE SE.161 Languedoc airliner design took over this ‘mother ship’ role later in the 1950s, for further air launch duties with French high-speed aerodynamic research prototypes.

Those persons that correctly identified this week’s mystery aircraft:
Andre Visser, John Skinner, Wouter van der Waal, Ari Levien, Bruce Prescott, Rennie van Zyl, Erwin Stam, Jeffrey Knickelbein, Clint Futter, Gregory Yatt, Kevin Farr, Michael Schoeman, Steve Dewsbery, Peter Rossouw, Piet Steyn, Jan Sime, Charlie Hugo, Magiel Esterhuysen, Colin Austen, Righardt du Plessis, Ahmed Bassa, Peter Gilbert, Andrew Peace, Pierre Brittz, Hilton Carroll, Rex Tweedie, Jaco Volschenk, Bruce Margolius, Andre Breytenbach, Karl Jensen, Selwyn Kimber, Anne Doig, Michael Girton, Johan Venter, John Moen, Dave Lloyd, Sergio Antao, Danie Viljoen, Greg Pullin, Brian Ross, Aiden O’Mahony: 41 correct entries.

Shamiso Mosaka: South African TV star removed from CemAir plane for ‘unruly’ behaviour

It was reported that South African TV personality Shamiso Mosaka was removed from a flight from  King Shaka Zulu International Airport, Durban to Johannesburg over her ‘unruly’ behaviour. On Monday CemAir said that the flight had been delayed by 90 minutes because of the influencer’s refusal to follow ‘safety regulations’. Cemair stated that the crew had already started the engines and had to stop them to attend to the matter. Apparently, she even tried to rally support from other passengers to corroborate that she was not being a nuisance.

The influencer has over 140,000 followers on Instagram and is a presenter on the MTV Base South Africa music channel. The video has been widely shared on social media, with many rallying behind Ms Mosaka. In the video the influencer is asked to leave the flight by police officers but refuses to do so until they promise to book her another flight. The airline crew refused this request. Ms Mosaka then says she feels the incident is racially motivated as she claims the cabin crew have failed to adequately explain what she has done wrong. CemAir Chief Financial Officer Laura van der Molen said there was no ‘racial profiling’. She said that Ms Mosaka had ‘refused to adhere to the regulations of the airline and unfortunately had to be forcibly removed from the flight’. CemAir says the incident has been referred to the South African police and they will deal with the matter. The airline says it ‘will support the police in their further investigation and potential prosecution of the matter’.

Editor responds
When it comes to airline passenger safety, what right has this ‘so called’ influencer got to disrupt a scheduled flight? I applaud Cemair’s crew for managing this situation ‘by the book’ and having Ms Mosaka removed by the SAPS so as not to endanger the passengers and crew any further. At the same time I trust the regulator will deal with this unfortunate matter with the strongest measures and prosecute this women in the strongest terms. No person has the right to disrupt any flight anywhere in the world and a clear message needs to be sent to all persons that this behaviour is unforgivable. At the same time all local South African airlines should take note of this person’s name and ban her from flying on their airlines for at least a year.

My information source told me that initially two male police officers boarded the CemAir Dash 8 400 and since this was a female, they were advised to let female officers escort her off the plane. However, she broke away from the SAPS officers, re-entered the aircraft and stormed the flight deck shouting racist insults at the crew. As a direct result of this further disturbance and irrational behaviour, I have heard from a reliable source that she spent the night in custody and only got bail on Tuesday. Hopefully this is true so that she can now talk to her audience about what it is like to be incrassated in a cell for the night as a guest of the state.

Congratulations to all for completing the C208 rating. We at Simuflight love these enthusiastic bigger groups.

Congratulations to all for completing the C208 rating.

SACAA notification

Information to CARCom members on the prospect of the automation of Regulation Development Process. This e-mail serves to inform the CARCom members that the SACAA is taking an initiative to Automate the Regulation Development Process.

The purpose of the automation is, among other things, to:

• Provide seamless collaboration and traceability of proposals and regulation development activity schedule approved by CARCom
• Provide a system that can be used by the external and internal stakeholders when  submitting these proposals
• Provide a system that will receive and distribute proposals to stakeholders, such as subcommittees for processing
• Provide a system to eliminate manual work and enhance traceability and efficiency without introducing unnecessary risk.

We anticipate the process for the appointment of service provider to be undertaken during the 2024 / 2025 financial year and the project to be launched during 2025 / 2026 financial year. The project plan will incorporate industry communication and change management plan. We will keep CARCom posted of further development and beg your indulgence when contacted in order to bring this initiative into fruition.

Warm regards

Pregoria N. Mabaso

Manager: Regulation Development

Legal and Aviation Compliance

Tel: 011 545 1231 Cell: 063 721 9064 E-mail: MabasoP@caa.co.za

Armscor seeking helicopter to carry troops for SAPS

Apparently Armscor has issued a tender for a ‘helicopter to carry troops’ for the South African Police Service (SAPS). The tender calls for the helicopter to be to be delivered to the South African Police Air Wing Heliport in Pretoria West, must be supplied by either the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or an OEM-authorised supplier. The tender stated the helicopter needs to be a twin turbine design (850 hp per engine) certified for single pilot visual flight rules (VFR) and instrument flight rules (IFR) operations by day and night. It needs to be in the 3 180 to 5 670 kg weight class able to transport one pilot and at least eight passengers for three hours with a 20-minute reserve.

Performance specifications include a maximum speed of 130 knots (240 km/h), fast cruise of at least 120 knots (222 km/h), maximum range of at least 350 nautical miles (648 km) and minimum useful load of 2 200 lb (997 kg). Service ceiling should be in excess of 12 500 feet (3 810 metres). Since the helicopter will be required to operate in dusty and corrosive conditions, it will need to be fitted with sand or barrier filters. Other requirements include a rotor brake, oil and gearbox chip detectors, jettisonable front doors, removeable or foldable cabin seats, night vision goggle compatible cockpit instrumentation, skid landing gear, provision for a search light, cargo sling hook, fast roping equipment and hoist attachment. The closing date for this helicopter was on 5 March 2024.

SAPS Air Wing helicopter fleet

Presently the SAPS Air Wing operates 16 AS350/H125 helicopters. Airbus says its H125 is ‘a multi-mission workhorse’ with manoeuvrability, excellent visibility and low in-cabin vibration levels. The rotary wing aircraft has a flat floor that can be quickly and easily reconfigured for missions including aerial work, firefighting, law enforcement, rescue, air ambulance, passenger transport and others. Other rotorcraft in the SAPS fleet include six R-44 Raven IIs, two MD500s and a single BK 117.

22 & 23 March
Stellenbosch airshow – Fashkosh
Contact Anton Theart E-mail: gm@stelfly.co.za Cell: 079 873 4567

Djibouti to receive two special mission C208s

Following a contract award to Textron Aviation, the Djibouti Air Force will be receiving two Cessna Grand Caravan EX turboprop aircraft for special mission use, including border patrols. On 13 March Textron Aviation announced the contract had been placed by US Army Contracting Command. “The two special missions Cessna Grand Caravan EX aircraft will be intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipped to ensure the border sovereignty of the country of Djibouti,” said Bob Gibbs, vice president, Special Mission Sales for Textron Aviation.

The acquisition is the third delivery order under a recently established indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract that allows up to $100 million for the acquisition of Textron Aviation aircraft over a five-year period. “This multiyear contract allows the US Army Security Assistance Command to rapidly procure Commercial off the shelf (COTS) aircraft and modifications from Textron Aviation for our Foreign Military Sale allies and partner nations. We are honoured to assist in advancing US national security and foreign policy interests by providing our solutions under the IDIQ and we look forward to further cooperation with the US Army,” Gibbs said. The United State has supplied Caravan aircraft to a number of African nations for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance duties. For example, in March 2022, Textron Aviation revealed it had been awarded a contract by ATI Engineering Services for four Cessna Grand Caravan EX aircraft for the Tunisian Air Force, with ATI to modify and equip the aircraft with an electro-optical / infra-red sensor, operator console, tactical radio, video data link and night vision compatible lighting.

Cessna Caravans have been a popular choice of ISR aircraft amongst African countries, acquired either as donations from the United States or purchased outright. The US military’s Africa Command partners who already possess Grand Caravan EX aircraft include Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Kenya and Uganda.

EASA EAD 2024-0074-E

EASA orders grounding of Blackshape S.p.A. BS 115, BK 160, BK 160-200 and BK 160TR aeroplanes, all serial numbers (s/n).

European safety regulators have ordered the grounding of Blackshape S.p.A aircraft. The measure follows two fatal accidents that have been reported with BS 115 aeroplanes. While the investigations are still ongoing to determine the exact cause(s) of the two accidents, a structural failure of the wing has been determined as possible contributing factor to the second accident. Based on all available information, EASA considers that further actions may be necessary to ensure the continued airworthiness of BS 115 aeroplanes. EASA orders that from the effective date of this AD, the aeroplanes may not be operated. Blackshape S.p.A is an Italian maker of full carbon fibre structure, retractable, Lycoming IO-320-D1B powered training aircraft equipped with Garmin EFIS G3x Touch and GNC255A NAV/COM.

Antonov An-26 destroyed in fire after crash landing in South Sudan

An Antonov An-26 cargo plane operated by the South Sudan People’s Defence Force (SSPDF)  crashed while landing at Yida Airstrip in Ruweng, South Sudan. According to Radio Tamazuj, the Director General of Juba International Airport (JUB), Kuol Kur, said that the Antonov An-26 departed JUB at 06h18 local time on 19 March 2024, for Yida Airstrip.  The aircraft was due to land shortly before 08h00 but crashed under difficult conditions in the area at the time. “The reason was that there was poor visibility in Yida and the whole of the Upper Nile area so now we altered the flight to Upper Nile today until the weather could clear,” Kur told Radio Tamazuj.

According to Kur all four crew members and a soldier onboard the aircraft survived the crash with two suffering from minor injuries. However, there are conflicting reports that there were as many as seven people onboard at the time of the incident. A witness in the local area indicated that there were no military personnel or firefighters to help extinguish the blaze following the crash, so the aircraft was destroyed. “Today the weather was not good and there was very poor visibility. The plane approached the airstrip badly and did not land properly. It landed on the side of the airstrip and is now burning and the civil defence force is not here to put out the fire,” the witness said. 

A Piper Seminole training aircraft went “Biff Boom Bang” on the runway at George (FAGG) today (Tuesday 19 March ‘24). Difficult to tell if it was a gear-up (unlikely) or a landing which exceeded the physical limits of the gear structure (likely) or a mechanical failure (unlikely).

The aircraft blocked the runway for less than an hour; emergency services and local engineering services did a fantastic job of removing the aircraft from the runway. At least one inbound commercial flight held overhead until the runway was available again for landing.

Delta pilot jailed for alcohol incident; he expects to get his job back after he comes out!

A tipsy Delta Airlines pilot who tried to board his flight with a half empty bottle of Jägermeister in his carry on will spend the next 10 months in a Scottish prison but he expects to be back on the flight deck after he gets out of jail. The New York Times is reporting Sheriff Alison Stirling, who sentenced Lawrence B. Russell in Sheriff Court on Tuesday, noted that Russell has been supported through rehab by the airline and is still getting half pay while on disability leave. After jail, she said, he plans to apply to get his medical back (he can do that on 16 June this year) and go back to the airline. “Your employer has been very supportive,” Sheriff Stirling said during sentencing. Delta did not comment to the Times on whether Russell has a future with the airline.

Russell (63) was to fly a Boeing 767 from Edinburgh to JFK on 16 June 2023. When he went through security, agents found liquid in his bag, the half bottle of Jägermeister and a full one and sniffed alcohol on his breath. Russell, from Fulton County, Georgia, was prevented from boarding the flight and arrested. He later admitted to drinking the night before and blew .049 on a breath test, just under the .05 driving limit, but more than double the .020 limit for pilots. After the episode, he was diagnosed with severe alcohol use disorder and went through a recovery programme in Georgia. Sheriff Stirling acknowledged all that but still sent him to prison.

Boeing issues a safety advisory after LATAM Airlines incident

On Friday 15 March, Boeing issued a safety advisory asking airlines to inspect pilot seat switches on the 787 Dreamliner aircraft following a recent LATAM Airlines incident in which a sudden plunge injured some 50 crew members and passengers. Boeing described the advisory as ‘precautionary’ noting that airlines carry out the inspection during scheduled maintenance checks on the 787. According to the Washington Post, the inspection involves checking to see whether part of the seat switches have worked loose. Under certain circumstances the safety cap over a loose switch can jam it ‘resulting in unintended seat movement.’ The seat can move forward enough to force the occupant’s body up against the yoke, resulting in the aircraft pitching down. United Airlines and American Airlines are the two main US operators of the Dreamliner with fleets of 71 and 59, respectively.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, a stewardess serving a meal in the cockpit inadvertently hit a switch on the back of the seat pushing the pilot into the controls on the aircraft. The WSJ said the information was sourced from anonymous US industry officials briefed on initial investigation findings. Chile’s aviation authority has sent investigators to New Zealand to lead the investigation on the LATAM Airlines incident. As of now, no findings have been released.

Older 737 loses fuselage panel on west coast flight

United Airlines said it’s working with various authorities to determine why most of a fuselage panel on the underside of a Boeing 737-800 tore loose on a short flight from San Francisco to Medford, Oregon, on Friday 15 March. The damaged panel, which according to a photo obtained by the Rogue Valley Times appears to have been in the gear well area of the 25-year-old plane, was discovered after the plane landed in Medford. It was outside the pressure vessel. United said there was no indication during the flight that anything was wrong so the flight was carried out normally. There were 139 passengers and six crew.

The panel appears to have been held by about two dozen bolts. In the photo, the bolts appear to be in place and it seems like the panel tore loose from the mounts. A small portion remained attached and the ragged edge of that piece suggests the remainder was torn loose. The aircraft has been grounded. “After the aircraft was parked at the gate, it was discovered to be missing an external panel,” United said in a statement. “We’ll conduct a thorough examination of the plane and perform all the needed repairs before it returns to service.”

Student pilot faces Federal charges after alleged cockpit breach incident

A 19-year-old student pilot is facing federal charges after allegedly repeatedly attempting to enter the cockpit of an Alaska Airlines flight on 3 March. According to CBS News, based on court records, Nathan Jones left his seat multiple times during Flight 322 from San Diego, California, to Dulles, Virginia, making three separate efforts to access the cockpit door. An affidavit filed by federal air marshal Thomas G. Pattinson noted that off-duty law enforcement officers helped flight attendants restrain Jones in flex cuffs and sat on either side of him for the remainder of the flight. To prevent further disruption, access to the flight deck was restricted for the duration of the flight and flight attendants used a beverage cart to barricade entry to the cockpit, according to the affidavit.

When questioned on his intentions, Jones told flight crew he was ‘testing them.’ Upon landing Jones consented to a search, where law enforcement found several notebooks containing instructions on aircraft operation including take-off, mid-flight and landing procedures, in addition to a student pilot certificate in his wallet. Jones was charged with interference of a flight crew

Mi-8 helicopter destroyed in apparent drone attack near Tiraspol

On 17 March a video emerged of an alleged drone attack against a Mil Mi-8 helicopter that was on the ground at an airfield near Tiraspol, in the separatist-held, internationally unrecognised territory of Transnistria, in Moldavia. Footage shows the helicopter being struck by an object with an explosion ensuing. Other images that appeared on social media show the alleged wreckage of the helicopter in the aftermath of the attack.

Drone attacks have become a daily occurrence in the war between Russia and Ukraine. However, this attack has caught the attention of military and political analysts since it has taken place in a territory with the potential to become another flashpoint of this conflict. While the authorship of the attack remains unknown, the Moldovan government has already denied having anything to do with it and has labelled it as a provocation. Moldova affirms, in fact, that the helicopter in question had been out of service for a long time.

This is in line with what some analysts pointed out on social media, noting that images from before the attack showed the helicopter in an apparent state of disrepair already before the explosion took place. Some voices have raised the possibility that the attack may have been staged in order to increase political tensions at a time when the Moldovan government is trying to curtail Russian influence in the country. In recent weeks tension has escalated between Russia and Moldova, with the latter accusing the former of planning destabilising acts on the wake of the country’s EU accession candidacy. In February 2024, Transnistrian separatists requested Russia, which keeps troops in the territory, for ‘protection’. This was followed, a few days later, by Russia defying Moldovan sovereignty by opening polling stations in the territory.

US Air Force C-17s join in on Gaza aid airdrops

On 17 March two US Air Force C-17s dropped more than 28,800 meals and 34,500 bottles of water over northern Gaza, first two-ship USAF C-17 aid airdrop over the enclave, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said. A US C-17 also conducted an airdrop with C-130s on 13 and 15 March as the US has bolstered its airlift presence in the region assigned to Air Forces Central (AFCENT). According to CENTCOM, the US has conducted nearly daily airdrops and 13 since the US began aid airdrops into Gaza on 2 March. 

In recent weeks, the Biden administration and international groups have pressed to do more about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which is governed by Hamas and has been besieged and bombed by Israel during its war with the military group after its 7 October attack on Israel. United Nations officials have warned that hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are at risk of famine.

The US is going to increasingly significant lengths to get food and other humanitarian aid into Gaza. Recently, a flotilla of U Army ships left port in Virginia, where they will cross the Atlantic and build a complex, makeshift port off the coast of Gaza. Some 1,000 US troops will construct a floating pier and a roughly 1,800-foot-long causeway attached to the shore, called Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS). Vessels and barges will transport the aid from the pier to the causeway. From the causeway, vehicles will then deliver the aid into Gaza. But that process will not happen for roughly 60 days, the Pentagon said last week. In the interim, the US is conducting airdrops and pushing Israel to allow more land corridors of aid into Gaza by truck. C-130s can carry roughly a truckload of aid, while C-17s have a much larger cargo capacity.

Since AFCENT started conducting airdrops over Gaza, it has conducted some joint sorties with the Royal Jordanian Air Force, including during the first US mission. AFCENT and Jordan carried out their latest joint mission on 16 March. A growing coalition of countries are conducting airdrops, but many aid groups say the drops are insufficient to feed the hundreds of thousands of people in need. In addition to the limited amount of aid aircraft can carry, airdrops can also be dangerous for those on the ground. A C-17 that appeared to belong to the United Arab Emirates airdropped aid that reportedly killed five people when a parachute failed to deploy last week. CENTCOM said the US was not involved in the incident.

FAA launches new controller alert tool to keep planes on proper runways

On Thursday the FAA announced that it is launching a new surface safety tool called Approach Runway Verification at air traffic control towers around the country to improve airport safety. The new tool is already installed at several towers around the United States and is one of three surface situational awareness solutions that make up the FAA’s surface safety portfolio. ARV provides controllers with visual and audible alerts if an approaching aircraft lines up to land on the wrong airport surface or the wrong airport. When aircraft approach the airport, the controller will issue a landing clearance to a specific runway. The pilot may believe they are aligned with the right runway but could inadvertently be lined up with an adjacent runway or taxiway. The new ARV tool will alert the controller if the aircraft has not aligned with the runway surface as instructed.

This tool is part of a trio from the FAA’s safety portfolio, including the Runway Incursion Device and the Surface Awareness Initiative. The technologies employed are agile, efficient and cost-effective. RID serves as a memory aid for controllers, providing additional situational awareness of occupied or closed runways. RID provides an audible and visual alert to the controllers when a runway is not available for the departing or landing aircraft. SAI uses cost-effective and commercially available technologies that display surface traffic to controllers at airports that do not have a surface surveillance tool. ARV is currently deployed at several airports across the country and the FAA will deploy the tool at other facilities throughout the rest of 2024 and into 2025.

By rapidly deploying these new technologies, the FAA is taking action to improve safety and eliminate serious close calls after the Safety Call to Action and the release of the Independent National Airspace System Safety Review Team report in 2023. Thus far, the FAA has increased ATC hiring, surpassing the goal of hiring 1,500 new controllers in 2023 and hiring 1,800 in 2024; improving the Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative to hire more candidates to begin facility training right after graduation; deploying upgraded tower simulator systems in 95 facilities across the country by the end of 2025 and investing millions of dollars for runway lighting and surface improvements at airports.

Garmin expands StormOptix weather radar compatibility

On Tuesday Garmin announced that the GWX 8000 StormOptix Weather Radar with Auto Mode will soon be approved for display and control through the GTN Xi navigators and TXi flight displays. This will expand the interface potential beyond the previously approved Garmin integrated flight decks. By using the GWX 8000, pilots can eliminate the requirement to manually adjust the radar, which allows for a comprehensive weather depiction with simplified operation. With 3D volumetric scanning capability, the GWX 8000 will reduce the pilot workload and depict weather with four times the colours of a traditional weather radar. The system will also provide hail and lightning prediction, turbulence detection and advanced ground clutter suppression.

The GWX 8000 features StormOptix, which is an advanced automation technology that allows pilots to activate the weather radar in-flight, without the need to configure the radar’s settings. The StormOptix Auto Mode will merge 3D volumetric scanning with advanced ground clutter suppression to automatically adjust the tilt and gain of the radar system, thus creating a more representative depiction of the weather-related flight hazards near and along the aircraft flight path. The high-definition colour palette will provide improved colour contouring to help the pilot better interpret the severity of an individual storm cell or multiple storm cells in an area. This bolstered colour palette uses 16 colours, four times more than what is typically found in other weather radars. Additional colours will provide a clearer picture for operations around significant weather, improving safety by giving the pilot more clarity on where the most severe weather is, and simplifying navigation through serious weather conditions.

GWX 8000 provides its owners and operators with the technology to detect specific atmospheric conditions that can lead to hail and lightning development within a cell. For a better and more comfortable passenger experience, turbulence detection will help pilots to identify turbulent conditions more easily in flight, allowing them to recognise the air containing moisture or particulates. The Weather Attenuated Colo Highlight technology will help pilots identify shadowing effects of cell activity and highlight the areas in which radar returns are weakened or attenuated by intense precipitation, giving the pilot an improved sense of confidence when navigating weather threats.

The weather radar system is among the lightest in its class at just 12.9 pounds for the 14-inch version, bringing in additional weight savings when compared to other weather radar systems on the market. The GWX 8000 is available in 10-, 12- and 14-inch models to meet the specific demands of several aircraft configurations. In manual mode, with at least two GWX 8000-compatible displays like the GTN Xi and TXI, a pilot can look at individual tilts and returns on their side of the cockpit to increase situational awareness.

The GWX 8000 StormOptix weather radar with Auto Mode is expected to be available in Q2 2024 for aircraft equipped with GTN Xi navigators and / or TXi flight displays. The aircraft equipped with the GWX 75 radar can have the systems upgraded to the GWX 8000 with the purchase of a software enhancement for their GTN Xi and / or TXi series systems.

California Aeronautical University purchases 15 Cessna Skyhawk aircraft

On 18 March Textron Aviation announced an agreement with California Aeronautical University for the purchase of 15 Cessna Skyhawk aircraft with deliveries beginning in 2027. The new aircraft will be added to their current fleet and will be used at the various Western United States locations including Bakersfield, CA, San Diego, CA, Ventura, CA and Mesa, AZ. “For more than six decades, the Skyhawk has been at the forefront of innovation, empowering aspiring pilots and setting new standards in flight training,” said Chris Crow, vice president, Piston Sales. “We are delighted to continue inspiring the journey of flight by providing California Aeronautical University students access to the most produced single-engine aircraft globally.”

California Aeronautical University’s existing fleet of Textron Aviation aircraft includes Cessna Skyhawks and Beechcraft Barons. The additional aircraft will offer more resources expected to be needed with continued growth and help maintain an optimal student-to-aircraft ratio at the University, enabling students to begin flying in their first term and maintaining consistent aircraft availability throughout the entire duration of their training.

Mysterious drones swarmed Langley AFB for weeks

Langley Air Force Base, located in one of the most strategic areas of the United States, across the Chesapeake Bay from the sprawling Naval Station Norfolk and the open Atlantic, was at the epicentre of waves of mysterious drone incursions that occurred throughout December. These incidents have been investigated and what is known is they were so troubling and persistent that they prompted bringing in advanced assets from around the US government, including one of NASA’s WB-57F high-flying research planes. Now the US Air Force has confirmed that they did indeed occur and provided details on the timeframe and diversity of drones involved. This spate of bizarre drone incursions deeply underscores the still-growing threats that uncrewed aerial systems present on and off traditional battlefields and to military and critical civilian infrastructure.

“The installation first observed uncrewed aerial systems activities the evening of 6 December 2023 and experienced multiple incursions throughout the month of December. The number of UASs fluctuated and they ranged in size / configuration,” a spokesperson for Langley Air Force Base said. “None of the incursions appeared to exhibit hostile intent but anything flying in our restricted airspace can pose a threat to flight safety. The FAA was made aware of the UAS incursions.”

Langley Air Force Base is formally part of Joint Base Langley-Eustis, an amalgamation that also includes the US Army’s Fort Eustis. Both facilities are situated around Newport News and Hampton Roads in southeastern Virginia. Langley, one of a select few bases hosting F-22 Raptor stealth fighters, is particularly important for supporting NORAD and NORTHCOM’s missions to defend the US homeland, including protecting the nation’s capital in Washington, D.C. The Newport News area is also home to critical US Navy and commercial shipyard facilities. The aforementioned Naval Station Norfolk, the largest naval base on the East Coast and home to roughly half of America’s carrier fleet, is located just to the southeast. A host of other military installations are also dotted throughout the broader area, including Naval Air Station Oceana, the Navy’s master tactical jet base on the East Coast and Dam Neck, Navy Special Warfare’s East Coast headquarters.

Whether any other facilities in the area experienced drone incursions around the same time is unclear, although the mysterious drone incursions extended beyond Langley. The situation prompted a serious response and caused significant reverberations throughout the US military. Also remember that it is the Air Force’s job to protect American airspace, not the Navy’s. Having a base tasked with that mission, and its airspace getting penetrated for weeks on end is clearly not the best look, especially after major lapses in domain awareness and air defence capabilities were recently spotlighted by the Chinese Spy Balloon saga.

ALTIUS-700M hits all targets in successful test of largest loitering munition on the market

ALTIUS-700M brings unmatched payload capacity to the loitering munitions market, combining multi domain launch, proven collaborative autonomy and category-leading range with a larger, penetrating warhead to kill or disable armoured targets and infrastructure. In September, Anduril Industries executed the first end-to-end live fire test for ALTIUS-700M at Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah and demonstrated flawless system performance with direct hits across six missions.

The September event in Utah was the first opportunity for Anduril engineers to test the ALTIUS-700M with a live warhead. Following previous trials of subsystems and inert system testing, the system was integrated and fully tested for the first time from launch to successful delivery of effects on target. Alongside Department of Defence partners, the ALTIUS-700M team successfully completed all test objectives and proved that the system was accurate and effective against the chosen target set.

ALTIUS is a family of modular, highly configurable and multi-platform launched effects designed for expeditionary deployment by air, ground, or maritime forces for a variety of missions. ALTIUS can be configured to perform intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting (ISR&T); communications relay; cyber warfare; or kinetic strike. With industry-leading loitering time, extended range and modular and open hardware and software architectures, ALTIUS is a comprehensive family of launched effects designed to collaborate to enable simultaneous mission execution to achieve complex mission objectives. ALTIUS has demonstrated its category-leading performance across deployments ranging from hurricane data collection to the battlefields of Ukraine, as well as through a series of test events, demonstrations and exercises.

ALTIUS-700M brings category-leading payload capacity to the loitering munitions market. With a munition payload capacity of up to 33 pounds, comparable to an AGM-114 Hellfire missile 700M delivers highly precise, devastating strikes on large and armoured targets, including tanks, vehicles, vessels and infrastructure. With significant payload mass, high terminal velocity and optional delayed fuse payload configurations, 700M can easily penetrate target walls to deliver maximum effect on armoured targets. ALTIUS-700M offers up to 100 miles of range and 75 minutes of flight time, providing war fighters with longer standoff distance and increased loitering time on-station to locate targets and deliver kinetic effects.

ALTIUS-700M builds on the success of the broader ALTIUS family of systems. ALTIUS-M (600M and 700M) leverage a mature common software baseline and open system architecture to integrate with a range of payloads and mission software suites. By combining advanced autonomy capabilities with a simplified user interface, a single operator is able to control multiple ALTIUS simultaneously, with each asset tasked with a unique mission based on its individual payload capability. 700M ensures that the operator maintains decisive control over tasking and terminal execution, delivering devastating effects at extreme ranges without the constraints of laser target designation or the repercussions of fire and forget.

Anduril has invested more than $60M into a new 180,000 square foot production facility in Atlanta, Georgia to scale manufacturing of ALTIUS. Anduril has already designed, manufactured and delivered hundreds of ALTIUS variants to US Government customers over the past six years. With unmatched payload capacity, best-in-class range and advanced autonomy to execute coordinated strikes, ALTIUS-700M is the most lethal tactical loitering munition available today.

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