100LL An Endangered Species, And Flying Minibike Sales Soar

Eviation's all-electric twin commuter plane Alice conducted taxi tests at Arlington Airport in Washington State, where it is undergoing development. The plane has new features since it last appeared publicly. These include a t-tail and what looks to be an all-new wing. The company says it might conduct first flight within the next several days.

Heroic LAPD officers rescued an injured pilot from his disabled Cessna 172, which had crash landed on railroad tracks near Whiteman Field, pulling him from the wreckage seconds before an LA Metro train destroyed the plane. No one was injured in the secondary crash.

Cirrus introduced the latest version of its SR22 single-engine airplane, which they claim is up to nine knots faster than its predecessor. The new models also feature a number of quality-of-life improvements, such as an optimized baggage compartment and updated lighting and paint

Garmin announced that it would make its SmartGlide utility available at no charge to owners of aircraft sporting the company's G3X Touch suite and G5 electronic flight displays.

Pipistrel named Right Rudder Aviation of Inverness, Florida, (north of Tampa and west-northwest of Orlando) as its U.S. distributor. The Slovenian manufacturer will work with Right Rudder to create a U.S. dealer network to distribute its slowly emerging Panthera high-performance single, which is undergoing Part 23 certification work.

Jetson announced that it has taken 3,000 orders for its Jetson One flying electric mini bike (we admit it!that's our term!). The single seat flying ultralight requires no pilot certificate and no certification. The company plans to deliver 100 of the aerial vehicles in 2022.

The three scariest words in aviation, the Environmental Protection Agency, began looking into the issue of lead in aviation gasoline, a process that will likely, observers say, lead to the agency banning the fuel. 100LL remains the only leaded fuel in the industrialized world.

The FA published 1,400 NOTAMS about the presence of and possible interference of 5G cellular telephone installations. The next-gen network will initially go into 46 markets. Occupying the C-band of the radio spectrum, 5G, critics say, is likely to cause interference with radar altimeters, a critical component for many transport category aircraft, and it could cause the disruption of GPS, as well.

A JetStream 41 on approach to land hit a bird, causing a propeller blade to separate and slice through the passenger cabin, coming to rest on the floor in front of a passenger seat on the opposite side of the cabin. The commuter plane was on approach to a South Africa diamond mining area airport when the incident occurred. No one was injured.