There’s something at Spirit requiring HELP!!! 

Below is a very confusing article about Spirit Airlines grounding of an unspecified number of its a320 aircraft for required maintenance. The specific model type (ceo or neo) and engines on these aircraft are also not mentioned. The report indicates that their grounding is to inspect “cracking around fasteners that attach pressure panels to beams…

Biden-Xi announce expanded aviation relationships—” not so fast” as to aircraft certification 
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Biden-Xi announce expanded aviation relationships—” not so fast” as to aircraft certification 

Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met recently (see below article) and they discussed expanding air service between the US and the PRC. The article mentions that US ambassador Nicholas Burns was present and conducted some of the talks at his home. Curiously, there was no mention of Sec. Buttigieg whose department authorizes international transportation,…

BIG Engineering Advances in eVTOL testing may = caution in certification timeline 
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BIG Engineering Advances in eVTOL testing may = caution in certification timeline 

An erudite author has written a detailed analysis of the role that (i) the world’s most sophisticated wind tunnel and (ii) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are playing in the aeronautical development of the next generation of eVTOLs. Not so WOW, one might say in response to a wind tunnel, but CFD will add to the…

Administrator Whitaker- Mr. Poole has great reasons for you to interject your technical experience into Remote Air Traffic Control Technology 
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Administrator Whitaker- Mr. Poole has great reasons for you to interject your technical experience into Remote Air Traffic Control Technology 

Mr. Administrator, your experience with Next Gen and your work with automated aerial aircraft should provide adequate expertise to intervene into the FAA ATO’s Remote ACTC technical obstacles, as described by Robert Poole, Reason Foundation Director of Transportation Policy and Fellow. Below are citations to two of Mr. Poole’s analyses that conclude this advancement will…

SURPRISE: HOW NATIVE ENGLIGH SPEAKERS COMMUNICATE WITH ATC IS A PROBLEM 
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SURPRISE: HOW NATIVE ENGLIGH SPEAKERS COMMUNICATE WITH ATC IS A PROBLEM 

EASA’s Director of Safety Promotion has an incredibly informative conversation with an academic on COMMUNICATION and the requirement of English proficiency. It is quite possible that more than a few readers will soon click off because they assume that the problem identified is the poor diction of non-native English/ English-as-second-language speakers are at fault. “I…

EXCITING OVERTURE, Prestissimo, but will it make through the NOISE and past JUSTICE?
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EXCITING OVERTURE, Prestissimo, but will it make through the NOISE and past JUSTICE?

The below article about Boom’s Supersonic Overture excites all aviation aficionados. We remember the speed and convenience of the French-English Concorde, but   First the good news, Boom founder and CEO Blaske Scholl promises that the aircraft will attain speeds of MACH 1.7 OVER WATER and JUST UNDER MACH 1 OVER LAND!!!  SPEED  Here is an…

CANADA AND CHINA on CORSIA—what’s real and why? 
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CANADA AND CHINA on CORSIA—what’s real and why? 

The global goal for reducing aviation’s carbon emissions can only be achieved by a multinational shared strategy with measurable results. It is not enough for individual government to declare that “we’ll be better”- such a commitment MUST HAVE SPECIFIC DATES, PRECISE QUANTIFICATION, AND CLEARLY ARTICULATED/RELIABLE CO REDUCTION TACTICS. The world’s aviation community has met many times…

RTX’s response to GTF microscopic metal bits shows FOQA works around the world 
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RTX’s response to GTF microscopic metal bits shows FOQA works around the world 

Two reporters1 have written about RTX’s PW1100G Geared Turbofan Engines and the company’s determination that microscopic contaminants discovered in the powdered metal could expose the components to the risk of accumulating micro-cracks in advance of their specified service lives. The Popular Mechanics piece traces this remedial SAFETY ACTION reported by a Vietnamese airline about a DISC PROBLEM ON…

Lessons from Women in Aviation- past and present 
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Lessons from Women in Aviation- past and present 

Women in Aviation were featured recently by three different sources with an equal number of focuses. By merging these disparate perspectives, we are provided by important insights.   First, women have been in this sphere since 1903; Katharine Wright Haskell was an essential contributor to her Brothers’ First Flight. Thereafter, the attention on the gender…

What can Health Care learn from Aviation’s SMS ?
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What can Health Care learn from Aviation’s SMS ?

AVIATION SAFETY is the foremost thought for all who work in this demanding field. The introduction of Safety Management Systems into our work has refined the industry’s ability to address risks. Not all of our colleagues have found this new discipline to their liking—too much paperwork, time-consuming, damming records are among the complaints. These nattering…