FlightSense Flight Schools 🤖, iPad Beginner Guide 📱, California ADS-B Taxes 🎛️
FlightSense Expands Platform To Flight School Operations (2 minute read)
FlightSense — an AI-powered training platform founded in 2024 by commercial pilot and CFI Taylor Horsager, and already used by more than 700 pilots — has expanded from student recordkeeping into whole-school operations. The new release adds an organization-wide scheduling calendar with conflict detection, an aircraft dispatch go/no-go release that checks instructor and student compliance, open squawks and live weather before the airplane leaves the ramp, maintenance and airworthiness-directive tracking with a “Do Not Fly” squawk severity that blocks the next dispatch, invoicing generated straight from a completed flight, and currency alerts for expiring medicals and flight reviews. It all sits on top of the platform’s existing voice-powered lesson debriefing, ACS progress tracking and an AI assistant trained on FAA documentation, with the Part 141 training record as the anchor. The new capabilities are available today on the web and iOS at FlightSense.ai.
Beginner’s guide to flying with an iPad—how to get started (2 minute read)
iPad Pilot News has pulled its beginner EFB material into a single four-step path: video primers, choosing the iPad and the apps, essential operating tips, and mounting plus backup power. Step 2 covers whether pilots should buy an iPad with built-in GPS, which ForeFlight subscription plan fits, and the top Apple Watch features for pilots; Step 3 collects the pre-flight settings check, Control Center customization, battery optimization, what to do when the iPad gets too hot or too cold, app troubleshooting techniques, an annual iPad maintenance checklist, and the top 10 mistakes iPad pilots make. First-run links for both ForeFlight and Garmin Pilot are included for anyone setting up either app from scratch.
California Pilots Challenge Use of ADS-B Data for Aircraft Taxes (2 minute read)
Los Angeles County Assessor Jeffrey Prang is using ADS-B tracking data to identify privately owned aircraft that went unreported for property tax, and the county said in March that new software had already surfaced enough unassessed aircraft to generate about $38 million including prior years. An Aero Law Group analysis published in July counted nearly 1,000 assessment notices sent to owners around the country, some based outside the county, with assessments apparently keyed to how often an aircraft operated in the Los Angeles area under California’s “habitually situated” personal-property rule. The California Pilots Association called it a “Big Brother” repurposing of a federally mandated safety system, while Prang argued in a Wall Street Journal letter that restricting access to public data would shift the burden to other taxpayers. Legislation has now been proposed in Congress to bar state and local governments from using federally collected aircraft tracking data for tax purposes.
FAA Orders Rotax Gearbox Inspections (1 minute read)
The FAA issued an airworthiness directive Thursday covering certain Rotax 912- and 914-series engines after a recently manufactured propeller gearbox was found missing an oil spray nozzle and the screws that secure the propeller shaft bearing — parts Rotax determined were never installed during production, and whose absence could allow bearing movement, oil loss and an in-flight shutdown. The AD takes effect Aug. 28 and is expected to affect about 180 engines on U.S.-registered aircraft, with affected gearboxes called out by serial number in Rotax Alert Service Bulletin ASB-2026-001R00. Engines with fewer than 25 hours time in service must be inspected before further flight and engines at 25 hours or more within five hours; any gearbox found missing the parts must be replaced before further flight. The FAA estimates about $170 for the inspection and roughly $5,900 for a gearbox replacement.
Introducing YARI V6X: A Modular Flight Controller Platform for Small Unmanned Vehicles (6 minute read)
YARI has launched the V6X, an FMUv6X and Pixhawk Autopilot Bus–compatible flight controller aimed at teams building copters, planes, VTOLs, rovers and underwater ROVs without leaving the PX4 and ArduPilot ecosystems. The hardware pairs an STM32H743 running up to 480 MHz with a three-unit IIM-42653 IMU array, redundant isolated sensor domains with independent power control, active IMU heating, custom vibration-isolation material and a CNC-machined aluminum enclosure, plus Ethernet for MAVLink links to companion computers and ground stations. V6X board support is already merged into ArduPilot master, and the documentation site carries firmware for Copter, Plane, Rover and Sub, PX4 variants, bootloaders, CAD models and the datasheet. The board also cleared NABL-accredited EMC and environmental testing, including CISPR 32 conducted and radiated emissions, IEC 61000-4-2 ESD immunity, IEC 61000-4-3 radiated immunity, and IEC 60068 vibration, shock and damp-heat methods.
FAA Issues Fly-By-Wire Special Conditions for the Skyryse-Modified Robinson R66 (5 minute read)
The FAA has adopted special conditions (No. 25-895-SC, Docket FAA-2025-5245, 91 FR 52002) for the Robinson R66 as modified by Skyryse’s SkyOS, which replaces the helicopter’s mechanical cyclic and collective with a digital fly-by-wire flight control system. Because 14 CFR 27.695 dates to 1964 and assumes the pilot gets tactile feedback through pushrods, the agency found part 27 carries no adequate standard for the design and is requiring a display of the commanded positions of the primary flight controls along with the operating state of the FBW system. Skyryse applied for the supplemental type certificate on April 10, 2023 against the R66’s Type Certificate R00015LA — a 2,700-pound single-engine, single-pilot, day/night VFR normal-category rotorcraft — and SkyOS leaves the engine, main rotor, tail rotor and physical control travel limits unchanged. The FAA adopted the conditions as proposed after the April 21, 2026 notice (91 FR 21268) drew a single unexplained objection.
FAA Updates Cockpit-Control Guidance for Touchscreens, Voice Commands (3 minute read)
Draft Advisory Circular 20-175A would replace the FAA’s 2011 guidance on certifying software-based cockpit controls and applies to aircraft certified under Parts 23, 25, 27 and 29, with comments open through Sept. 24. The largest change is to speech recognition: the FAA wants command-success rate used as the yardstick rather than word-recognition rate — it offers the example of a system that correctly recognizes 93% of spoken words while successfully executing only 65% of commands — sets no minimum figure but says low-scoring systems should be limited to less-critical functions, and requires that a manual control path always remain available and take precedence over voice. For touchscreens the draft asks manufacturers to demonstrate acceptable workload, error rates and task-completion times, support hand stabilization in turbulence, limit gestures to one or two fingers, avoid wrist rotation, and keep working after exposure to skin oils, perspiration, sunlight, cleaners and spilled coffee. A new chapter addresses powered-lift and eVTOL cockpits; already-approved installed avionics would not have to change.
What If The Airplane Won’t Let You Lose Control? (3 minute read)
General Aviation News publisher Ben Sclair looks at Skytron, a small developer team building a clean-sheet four-seat twin whose pitch is full envelope protection that “won’t let you stall, spin, or fly into terrain” — aimed at the piloting mistakes the company says cause 80% of accidents. The design leans on three flight control computers, redundant sensors and data paths, and multiple independent power supplies, with fly-by-wire and autonomy treated as the starting point rather than an add-on: “You cannot build this by taking a 1970s cockpit and taping AI onto the panel,” says co-founder Greg Mercer. Skytron has selected the turbocharged 160-hp Rotax 916iS specifically for its FADEC, and is pursuing the MOSAIC certification pathway that opened in July.
Flight Gear battery kits get a smart charging upgrade (2 minute read)
Sporty’s has swapped the cables in its Flight Gear Smart Battery Pack Kits for magnetic charging cables with built-in digital displays, so both the pack and each cable report charging wattage, battery status, temperature and remaining capacity in real time. The kits come in a 10,000 mAh version at $79.95 and a 27,600 mAh MAX at $149.95; the MAX will recharge an iPad mini roughly four and a half times or run a Starlink Mini for more than two hours, and it supports pass-through charging so connected devices keep charging while the pack itself is plugged in. The bundle includes two USB-C to USB-C cables rated to 100 watts and one USB-A to USB-C rated to 60 watts, with magnets that let each cable coil itself flat in a flight bag.
FAA Still Billions Short of Funding Needed for ATC Data Automation (6 minute read)
Thales has entered the race for the FAA’s Common Automation Platform with TopSky-America, a cloud-based, AI-powered system that would merge ERAM’s high-altitude traffic management with STARS terminal sequencing, weather and conflict alerting into a single controller interface. Money is the open question: Congress has allocated $12.5 billion toward the Brand New Air Traffic Control System against a $31.5 billion DOT request, AOPA’s Modern Skies Coalition asked for another $20 billion in July, and it pegs CAP alone at $10 billion — Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said this week he “would love $20, but we’ll take $10.” Thales, Collins Aerospace with a version of AutoTrac, Leidos, Frequentis and Indra are the five shortlisted bidders. Thales is promising U.S.-based software development and hundreds of new jobs after losing the FAA’s SMART predictive traffic-management award to Air Space Intelligence, which beat Thales and Palantir in an evaluation where each bidder built a digital twin of the National Airspace System.
eVTOL Paramedic Beats Ambulance by 20 Minutes (2 minute read)
Hyde County, North Carolina says paramedic Quinn Reece has now flown a single-seat Pivotal BlackFly on two live 911 calls — one a diabetic emergency, one cardiac — reaching one patient roughly 20 minutes ahead of the ground ambulance and starting advanced life support before other crews arrived. Reece flew directly to GPS coordinates near each scene carrying a cardiac monitor, airway supplies and a primary response bag, acting as both pilot and sole ALS provider. Hyde County EMS, Code Blue Resources and Pivotal wrote the operating procedures together and completed more than 300 training sorties before the first live mission, and the county now plans to evaluate the aircraft for law enforcement, fire and emergency-management work. The partners describe the missions as the first U.S. deployment of an eVTOL for routine emergency medical response.
Researchers Demonstrate 60-Second 737 Avionics Attack (3 minute read)
Researchers from UC San Diego and Oberlin College presented a proof-of-concept hardware implant at the USENIX Security Symposium that taps an unused maintenance connector inside the 737’s Electronics and Equipment bay — their paper estimates 15 seconds to open the access hatch, about 30 to install the device and 15 to close up. The implant sits on the ARINC 429 buses between the flight management computer and the multipurpose control display unit, and on a testbed built from authentic 737 components it altered flight-plan information and the values used for weight, balance and takeoff calculations while suppressing some of those changes on the pilot’s display. The team says the findings apply to 737 NG and MAX models, more than 95% of the active fleet, and that it first disclosed to Boeing in 2020; Boeing says existing “layers of protection” in the system design and operating environment substantially limit real-world feasibility. Proposed defenses include removing or blocking the connector, adding detection software, increasing electrical isolation, and eventually authenticating avionics data communications.
FAA Gives AT&T $74.3 Million Start On New ATC Network (2 minute read)
The FAA has funded an initial $74.3 million task order with AT&T to begin network design, engineering, testing and transition planning for FAA Enterprise Network Services, an undefinitized contract the agency expects could run as long as 15 years and ultimately reach several billion dollars. FENS would carry critical and essential operational services plus administrative systems such as email and payroll across roughly 4,500 FAA facilities, replacing an FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure network the agency says can no longer adequately support National Airspace System operations. The FAA made the award directly under waiver authority, saying another competition would take at least 22 months and prevent it from meeting the December 2028 operational deadline for the Brand New Air Traffic Control System; Verizon, originally selected for FENS in 2023, stays on providing core network functions. The wider replacement targets include 5,170 new high-speed network connections, 27,625 radios, 462 digital voice switches and 612 radars.
The Airplane Farm Announces MOSAIC eVTOL Aircraft (2 minute read)
A new Sparks, Nevada company founded this year has announced three eVTOL designs built around a patent-pending Electric PowerWing airframe: the Harvest, a personal powered-lift aimed at sport pilots with a projected 111 mph top speed and about 76 miles of continuous cruise range; the Storm, an aerobatic machine listed at 250 mph and a +8/-4 G design load limit; and the BarnCat, a carbon-fiber twin-engine tail-sitter tactical aircraft at 275 mph that can also operate without a crew aboard. The company says prototype construction and initial testing are underway, and that its team’s earlier work includes the MXS aerobatic racer, ViperJet, Javelin and TwinJet. All three are being developed against ASTM F3840-26, the standard the FAA accepted in July as a means of compliance for light-sport category powered-lift aircraft under the MOSAIC framework.
We Fly: Stepping Up in Style With Daher Aircraft TBM 980 (2 minute read)
FLYING’s pilot report frames the TBM 980 as the step-up airplane for owners coming out of high-performance piston singles, with 330-ktas cruise and a 4,000-fpm climb to 31,000 feet set against the two-hour-versus-five-and-a-half-hour trip math the writer runs in his 1992 Commander 114B. The cockpit is Garmin’s G3000 Prime with three 14-inch touchscreens, and the report highlights how much a cleaner preflight and a FADEC-controlled start take off the single pilot’s plate. The tradeoff is expense and training, which the piece argues is simply the price of admission for ambitious long-distance owner-flown missions.
