Glide2 EFB App 📱, iOS 26.5 Update 📱, Shark 600 Cert 🎛️
Glide2 app review: planning the impossible turn before takeoff (3 minute read)
Eric Radtke reviews Glide2, a free App Store tool that estimates the minimum altitude needed to return to the runway after an engine failure on departure. The app accepts a long list of variables — engine-failure altitude, bank angle, pilot reaction time, climb rate, headwind component, weight, density altitude, runway length — and then breaks out altitude loss for 180- and 360-degree turns plus an adjustable safety correction factor. Profiles require glide ratio and best-glide speed (Radtke built one for a Cessna 172S using ForeFlight's glide-ratio method); developer labels it for educational use only.
iOS Update Green Light program: iOS and iPadOS 26.5 (1 minute read)
Bret Koebbe flags Apple's release of iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5, which bundle a large set of security fixes alongside suggested places in Maps, RCS encryption, improved Apple keyboard and mouse pairing, and EU Live Activities updates. As with every release, Sporty's recommends waiting until ForeFlight, Garmin Pilot, and accessory makers confirm compatibility before installing on cockpit hardware. Comments on the post already show Garmin Pilot cleared and an earlier ForeFlight overheating note from the V26 OSe cycle as compatibility data points.
Shark 600 Earns First Turbulence-Cancelling Certification (2 minute read)
Shark.Aero received Austrian certification of Turbulence Solutions' Turbulence Cancelling System (TCS) for the Shark 600, capping a seven-year development cycle led by founder András Gálffy. The flight-control system reduces turbulence impact by roughly 80% and effectively raises the Shark's 12.94 lb/ft² wing loading to 61.45 lb/ft² — comparable to an aircraft five times heavier. TCS is now an option on all new Shark 600 and Shark 600 T (Turbo Shark) airframes, with Shark calling it particularly relevant for pilots flying in mountainous terrain.
FAA Announces Strict Airspace Restrictions for FIFA World Cup 2026 (8 minute read)
At the request of DHS and DOJ, the FAA will issue 49 USC 99.7 Special Security Instruction TFRs around 11 FIFA World Cup stadiums — including SoFi (LA), Levi's (Santa Clara), Lumen Field (Seattle), AT&T (Arlington), NRG (Houston), Mercedes-Benz (Atlanta), Gillette (Foxborough), Hard Rock (Miami), Arrowhead (KC), MetLife (East Rutherford), and Lincoln Financial (Philadelphia) — with a 3 NMR / 3,000 ft AGL no-fly bubble on match dates from June 12 through July 19, 2026. UAS operations are barred within 1 NMR / 1,000 ft AGL of 12 affiliated fan venues unless pre-approved via the FAA System Operations Support Center (202-267-8276). Violators may face certificate suspension, criminal charges under 49 USC 46307, or deadly-force action against the aircraft.
Iridium to Acquire Aireon, Advancing its Strategy to Lead the Future of Aviation Safety (7 minute read)
Iridium Communications (Nasdaq: IRDM) signed a definitive agreement to fully acquire Aireon, the EASA-certified space-based ADS-B operator whose payload rides on the Iridium constellation and currently tracks an average of 190,000 flights per day with 100% global coverage. ANSP investors NAV CANADA and NATS — which together manage the North Atlantic Tracks — will extend their data services agreements through 2035 with provisions for cooperative development of space-based VHF voice communications. The combined platform consolidates surveillance, satcom safety voice, PNT (including GPS jamming/spoofing detection), and operational data on one network; AirNav Ireland, ENAV, and Naviair are also Aireon legacy investors.
The Benadryl Danger: New NTSB Data Shows Half of Fatal Crashes Involve Drugs (3 minute read)
NTSB's new safety research report on toxicology results from fatally-injured U.S. civil aviation pilots from 2018–2022 found 52.8% tested positive for at least one drug and 27.7% for two or more — continuing the upward trend logged in the 1990–2012 and 2013–2017 studies. Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) remained the most-detected sedating antihistamine, with potentially-impairing drugs hitting 28.6% and illicit drugs rising to 7.4% driven by delta-9-THC as 24 states plus DC have now legalized recreational marijuana (FAA still bars it federally as Schedule I). Prevalence was lower among Part 135 operators, pilots with active medicals, and ATP/commercial holders than among Part 91 GA pilots with private/sport/student or no certificate.
United Airlines Ventures Backs Startup Enhanced Radar (6 minute read)
Enhanced Radar — the company behind the viral ATC app — closed a $7M round led by Initialized Capital with United Airlines Ventures, Y Combinator, Decisive Point, and ForeFlight co-founder Tyler Weihs participating. CEO Eric Button (a PC-12 and G280 pilot) says the firm's primary business is an enterprise AI platform that transcribes millions of daily ATC transmissions with hardware now installed at 80 North American airports, up from 71 in February. Its Y4 model claims >98% transcription accuracy on choppy audio, rushed speech, and frequency congestion, and the company is eyeing tools for the FAA's ~14,000 controllers as a hedge against the chronic 3,000+ controller shortage.
Navigating the Sporty's PJ2 GPS: A Simple Guide (4 minute read)
Doug Ranly walks through the GPS side of Sporty's PJ2 handheld backup radio, which stores up to 100 waypoints either captured from the radio's current location or entered as decimal lat/long (pull these from ForeFlight or Garmin Pilot's airport pages). Pilots can assign 3-character names (KLAX, HOME) and set a single Home Waypoint that doubles as the Panic Button — hold the #2 key for 3 seconds and the PJ2 auto-tunes 121.5, displays your lat/long for SAR, and gives direct track/bearing/distance back to your home airport. The PJ2 calculates track using True North, so pilots must enter local magnetic variation under MENU > GPS > Input Mag Var to match panel and EFB readouts.
New Boeing Field VFR Routes Live for World Cup Soccer Traffic (5 minute read)
The FAA pushed live new visual arrival and departure routes for King County International Airport-Boeing Field (KBFI) on Thursday May 14, ahead of Seattle's six FIFA World Cup matches running June 15 – July 6. The four-page chart covers both north and south flow for KBFI's parallels (14R/32L at 10,007×200 ft and 14L/32R at 3,709×100 ft on tower frequencies 120.6 and 118.30), using landmarks like the Tukwila Family Fun Center go-cart track as fixes. Airport spokesperson Cameron Satterfield said the routes are the product of months of FAA coordination with KSEA, KRNT, pilots, and stakeholders to balance noise, safety, and the heavy GA, Boeing-production, freight, and charter traffic mix.
DOT Invests Over $800M to Replace Old ATC Facilities (5 minute read)
DOT and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford announced a $835.8M tranche of the $12.5B "down payment" from Congress to replace aging towers and TRACONs and upgrade contract towers. More than $750M covers full replacements of eight tower/TRACON sites — Grand Forks (ND), Lawton (OK), Pocatello (ID), Tamiami (FL), Sacramento and San Jose (CA), plus consolidated tower-TRACONs at Charleston and Greer (SC) — with $86M for FCT upgrades at 41 airports across 24 states and individual grants for Wiley Post (KPWA, $10M), Missoula (KMSO, $1M), and Marana (KAVQ, $800K). The package is part of the Brand New ATC System effort to build the first new ARTCC since the 1960s (current ARTCCs average 61 years old), alongside RTX/Indra replacing up to 612 surveillance radars and Rohde & Schwarz USA replacing 450+ voice switches.
FAA to Outfit All Its Airport Vehicles With Transponders (3 minute read)
The FAA will use $16.5M from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to install Vehicle Movement Area Transmitters (VMATs) on roughly 1,900 agency vehicles operating at the 44 U.S. airports already running ASDE-X or ASSC surface surveillance, plus the 220 airports that have or will receive Surface Awareness Initiative (SAI) systems. The move responds to the March 22 fatal collision between an Air Canada CRJ landing on Runway 4 and an unequipped firefighting truck at KLGA, which NTSB is still investigating. More than 50 airports have already asked about federal grant funding to equip their own ground vehicles with the same technology.
