Gravel Bar Super Cub Hits Kayaker, A-10 Lands On A Michigan Highway And Record Numbers Announced For AirVenture 2021

Plus, a pair of tragic crashes, new wings for Jessica Cox and a cross-country race for electric planes.

Photo courtesy Michigan Department of Transportation.

A sightseeing plane, a de Havilland Beaver, crashed at Misty Fiords National Monument, killing the pilot and all five passengers aboard. The passengers were from a cruise ship that docked in Ketchikan. Visibility was low at the time of the crash. The NTSB is investigating.

EAA released the final tallies for Oshkosh AirVenture 2021, and it came close to being a record-breaking year, with 608,000 visitors, more than 10,000 fly-in airplanes and a record number of warbirds and vintage planes, as well.

Microsoft has announced the availability of Flight Simulator 2020 for the Xbox (and we totally want one). With the Xbox's dedicated architecture and subscription model, users will likely have an easier time getting great performance from the simulator and at a better cost, say gaming experts.

A Piper Cub crashed in Hartford, Wisconsin, last week while on a training flight. Killed in the crash was the instructor, Kylie Murray, a student at Auburn University in Alabama and a CFI at the flight school that was operating the J-3. A second occupant of the plane received serious injuries. The NTSB is investigating. A friend of the family is conducting a fundraiser for starting a scholarship in Kylie's name with Women in Aviation. You can donate here.

The Michigan Department of Transportation announced that the Michigan National Guard was landing its aircraft on a state highway (Michigan M-32, to be exact) west of Alpena, Michigan. A couple of the planes pictured were a C-146 (Dornier Do-328) and an A-10 Warthog.

Pilot Jessica Cox has teamed with Van's Aircraft for the creation of an RV-10 that Cox, who has no arms, can fly. Cox currently flies an Ercoupe, so this one will be a good deal faster. 

The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) has launched a cross-country (not transcontinental) race for electric aircraft.  The race, from Omaha, Nebraska, to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, will cover 1,000 nautical miles. The winner, based on cumulative flying (and not charging) time will be awarded the Pulitzer Trophy, which the NAA gave out in the early days of powered flight. The race will take place from May 16, 2022, and must be completed by May 19.  No word yet on prize money, if any.

A Super Cub taking off from a gravel bar on the Willamette River in Oregon struck a kayaker, who was seriously injured. The PA-18, outfitted with big tires, was being flown by an experienced pilot who was reported to have landed on that gravel bar many dozens of times before. The pilot returned to aid the kayaker and is cooperating with the investigation, according to reports.

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