Briefing

Entrepreneur Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, said in February he was close to starting work on a vertical-takeoff-and-landing electric jet as a practical alternative to conventional aircraft. In January, the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo hosted its 12th annual event in Sebring, Florida, and ran into some weather problems. Mooney unveiled the M20V Acclaim Ultra, a significant redesign of the companys best-selling Acclaim, at its Texas headquarters in February. General aviation sales declined 4.6 percent worldwide in 2015 compared to the year before, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association reported in February. The Singapore Airshow, held in February, featured the debut of the 400S Seaplane, by Viking, a Canadian company that has been building Twin Otters for several years.

The NTSB says general aviations loss-of-control accident rate is too high, and held a day-long Humans and Hardware forum on the issue in October, in Washington, D.C. As the FAA worked last year to develop new rules governing the use of small drones in the National Airspace System, a Google executive said the company plans to launch commercial drone home deliveries in 2017. NBAA called its 2015 convention, held in November in Las Vegas, enormously successful on a business and community level. A group of NASA engineers and private-sector partners working in California is creating an X-Plane demonstrator, based on a Tecnam 2006T, that they hope will prove the efficiency of using an array of small electric-powered propellers for general aviation aircraft. The nonprofit group working to get the B-29 Doc back in the air exceeded their Kickstarter goal, raising $159,151 from 1,007 backers, and said they now have the funds they need to complete the flight-test program. And Jet Pack Aviation, of Australia, introduced its lightweight jetpack with a flyby of the Statue of Liberty.

Recently, a reader asked about a puzzling approach at Chatham, MA (KCQX). The RNAV (GPS)-B is perfectly aligned with Runway 24 and the descent angle is a routine 3.05 degrees, yet it has only circling minimums. Approaches most often just have circling minimums if the alignment to the runway exceeds 30 degrees (for most procedure types) or the descent angle is greater than 3.77 degrees (for Category C and below). So, whats up at Chatham?

What's new in the world of avionics? Attitude indicators are now FAA approved. If you own a drone, get ready to have it registered. Virtual Air Traffic Control is coming to the States. Cargo overloading leads to crash killing nine people in Alaska. The NTSB holds a panel on loss of control, and more.

An autonomous landing system that Diamond Aircraft officials call an electronic parachute has been successfully tested in Austria, the company announced in September. Tested in a DA42 twin, the system uses fly-by-wire technology and has been in development for about three years. The aircraft, with two test pilots on board, flew the approach and landing to an uncontrolled field without any input from pilots in the cockpit or on the ground. The airplane touched down gently right on the centerline. CEO Christian Dries said the technology may be available as an option within a few years. An auto-takeoff feature also is in the works.

The FAA raised concerns this summer over the escalation of pilot reports of drone encounters, with 650 reports in the first half of the year, nearly three times as many as in all of 2014. Encounters occurred at altitudes up to 10,000 feet and were reported by aircraft from helicopters to airliners. Conflicts with firefighters also were on the rise. In August, the Transportation Departments Office of Inspector General said it would launch an audit to scrutinize the FAAs procedures for allowing drone operations in the national airspace.

EAA hosted one of its busiest Oshkosh shows ever in July, with record numbers for aircraft arrivals and campers. Near-perfect weather for the entire week kept the airplanes flying. The show hosted for the first time a B-52, and an Airbus A350 XWB from the test fleet was open for tours. All the usual daily airshows, forums, and events kept visitors busy nonstop. Aircraft designer Burt Rutan returned after an absence of several years to talk about his new SkiGull amphibian design, and Icon delivered their first A5 amphib LSA to EAAs Young Eagles. Yingling Aviation, based in Wichita, debuted a new remanufactured 172, and Vulcanair, from Italy, introduced a newly FAA-certified twin turboprop.

Its been a long road, but Icon announced in June that its A5 light sport amphibian met all FAA requirements and the company was ready to start serial production. The first customer delivery was scheduled to take place at EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh, with about 60 more deliveries expected within the next 12 months. The all-composite A5 offers a spin-resistant design, a cockpit inspired by luxury automobile styling, and folding wings to make it easy to transport by trailer or store in a garage. Its powered by a Rotax 912iS and sells for up to $250,000. The company first introduced its design in 2006.

More than 4400 comments were filed in response to the FAAs proposed rule for allowing small unmanned aircraft into the national airspace system, and the general aviation advocacy groups had their say. EAA, AOPA, and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association all said the FAA should lower the ceiling for small UAS operations to 400 feet, instead of the proposed 500 feet, to provide a bigger buffer between UAS and manned aircraft. Other suggestions included requiring UAS to automatically terminate flight if communications are lost, and ensuring that the operators of manned aircraft arent required to add new equipment as a result of UAS integration. The FAA will now review the comments before publishing a final rule, which is expected to take up to 18 months.

Aero Friedrichshafen, the biggest general-aviation event in Europe, opened in April with the delivery of an EASA type certificate to Diamond Aircraft for its twin-engine DA62. CEO Christian Dries said FAA certification should follow by early next year. Other news was the first flight of a four-seat C4 prototype from Flight Design, just a few days before the show, and Pipistrels introduction of the Alpha Electro battery-powered trainer, ready for sale. At Sun n Fun, in Lakeland, Florida, Piper debuted three new M-class models--the M350 piston and M500 and M600 turboprops--and Mooney brought a mockup of its new all-composite M10T three-seat trainer.

The first civilian tiltrotor aircraft is now in development and could reach the market by 2017, officials from AgustaWestland announced at Helicopter Association Internationals Heli-Expo held in Orlando, Florida, in March. The nine-passenger aircraft will be capable of vertical take-offs and landings, and the engines will then swivel for level flight at speeds up to 250 knots. Airbus Helicopters presented its new clean-sheet medium-class rotorcraft design, the H160, which features the biggest-ever shrouded tail rotor and an all-new biplane stabilizer design that the company says will enhance stability. Bell Helicopter also introduced a new model, the 407GXP, an upgrade of its popular 407GX with new Rolls-Royce engines.

Efforts from companies like Swift Fuel and GAMI to find a replacement for 100LL may get some more serious attention now that the EPA has released its advance notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the need to eliminate lead from fuel. Converting in-use aircraft/engines to operate on unleaded aviation gasoline would be a significant logistical challenge, and in some cases a technical challenge as well, the EPA said. The EPA also acknowledged that a joint effort with the FAA will be critical and has not set a date for the rulemaking, but said it would like to see leaded fuel phased out as early as 2017.