Garmin GFC 600 🎛️, AI Flight Briefing 🤖, FAA AI Traffic 📋
Garmin Adds GFC 600 Autopilot STCs For Air Tractor, Piper Matrix (2 minute read)
Garmin received FAA Supplemental Type Certification for its GFC 600 digital autopilot in the Air Tractor AT-802/AT-802A and the Piper Matrix PA-46R-350T, both available immediately through authorized dealers. The system brings altitude preselect, indicated-airspeed hold, VNAV, yaw damping, and a dedicated LVL button that returns the aircraft to straight-and-level. Garmin says Cessna 310P/Q certification is expected in July and will add Smart Rudder Bias, which uses engine data from a G600 TXi display to apply rudder assistance during a one-engine-inoperative event.
Can AI Brief Your Next Flight? (6 minute read)
iPad Pilot News evaluates whether the newest AI tools are reliable enough to join a regular preflight workflow, covering route planning, weather, NOTAM summaries, and aircraft-specific guidance. The piece highlights PilotGPT, an aviation-specific assistant that combines aviation knowledge with weather information, airport data, aircraft documentation, and flight-planning tools to answer natural-language questions. The takeaway: large language models excel at gathering and synthesizing the scattered sources a typical briefing requires, freeing pilots to spend more time on the actual go/no-go decision.
FAA's AI-Powered Air Traffic Management System Could Debut in September (3 minute read)
The FAA's Strategic Management of Airspace Routing Trajectories (SMART) platform is on track for its first operational demonstration in September, initially focused on en route airspace at 24,000 feet and above. FAA technical pilot Steve Fulton described SMART as sharpening trajectory-based-operations predictions with AI and cloud computing to deconflict aircraft and update arrival times before the flying day begins. NATCA president Nick Daniels stressed that humans, not the software, will still separate aircraft; Palantir, Thales, and Air Space Intelligence are the three firms competing for the contract.
NTSB: GPS Jamming Active Before C90 Accident (3 minute read)
The NTSB's preliminary report on the fatal May 14 Beech C90 air-ambulance crash near Lincoln, New Mexico, found the crew lost GPS shortly after departing Roswell on a Part 135 flight to Ruidoso, killing both pilots and two flight nurses. A controller asked the military to halt a nearby jamming operation after the GPS report, and three other aircraft in the area also reported losing GPS during the same window. Investigators noted Spidertracks GPS altitudes ran about 600 feet higher than ADS-B returns, which showed large gaps.
Flybox SkySense AS Air Data Instrument Now Available in U.S. (2 minute read)
Fielden Aero, the U.S. distributor for Flybox Avionics, has begun U.S. sales of the SkySense AS, a compact air-data instrument aimed at ultralight, light-sport, experimental, and homebuilt aircraft. The ultra-thin round display offers indicated airspeed, vertical speed, an altimeter (tape or drum format), and true airspeed with an optional probe, and ships in both 2-¼ inch (57mm) and 3-⅛ inch (80mm) sizes. It adds an anti-glare auto-dimming TFT screen, a 280° smart scale, CAN bus connectivity for integration with compatible avionics, and a continuous self-diagnostic monitor.
Bye Aerospace Unveils Supplier Network Ahead of eFlyer 2 First Flight (2 minute read)
Denver-based Bye Aerospace introduced the global partner network supporting its two-seat, all-electric eFlyer 2 trainer as the program approaches first flight. CEO Rod Zastrow framed the supplier reveal as evidence of a low-risk development approach and growing confidence in electric aviation, calling the milestone the product of years of focused work to turn the eFlyer 2 from concept into a flight-ready, FAA-certified-track aircraft. The announcement positions the program among the most-watched efforts to bring a certified electric trainer to the GA training market.
Manna Secures SAIL III Operational Authorisation from UK CAA (3 minute read)
Manna Air Delivery has become one of the first drone-delivery operators to earn a SAIL III Operational Authorisation from the UK Civil Aviation Authority, among the most advanced uncrewed-operations approvals granted in the UK. Issued under the SORA framework with regulatory support from Avtrain, SAIL III is reserved for higher-risk operations and demands extensive safety, technical, and organisational evidence. The approval builds on Manna's 2021 Irish Aviation Authority Light UAS Operator Certificate—a European first—and its expansion into markets including Finland.
