Go/No-Go Risk App 📱, Airhart Fly-by-Wire 🎛️, ATCpal AI Controller 🤖
Go/No-Go Offers Preflight Risk Analysis For General Aviation Pilots (2 minute read)
Log Scan Pro's new Go/No-Go service looks at one specific proposed flight. It checks live METARs and TAFs, NOTAMs, terrain and obstacles along the whole route, planned altitude, fuel and reserves, daylight and civil twilight, and circadian factors for the departure time. It then returns a written risk assessment with a GO, CAUTION, or NO-GO verdict. The design goal is to catch hazards that come from several data points that each look harmless alone, and to check the route as well as the departure and destination airports. There's no subscription: the first three reports are free, after that each report costs $4.95, and you don't have to move your logbook to Log Scan Pro to use it.
For Airhart Avionics, It's Flying Simplified (10 minute read)
Our August 28 brief covered Airhart's $49,900 context-aware panel. This hands-on FLYING visit covers the rest of the roadmap. Phase 1 pairs dual 14-inch displays and redundant processors with Rotax engine integration, an optional Garmin GPS 175 for IFR, Starlink over-the-air updates, "Airhart Aware" magenta trend vectors for bank and pitch, and an LLM that transcribes ATC so headings, altitudes, and frequencies load with one gesture. Phase 2, Airhart Assist, replaces the yoke, rudder pedals, and throttle with a sidestick and a speed lever. The pilot commands speed, heading, and vertical speed, and the system adds power in turns, limits bank to 45 degrees, corrects for crosswind, and flares automatically. United Airlines Ventures has invested, and Draco Aircraft is lined up as an OEM partner.
New App Helps Student Pilots Beat Mic Fright (1 minute read)
In ATCpal, student pilots make radio calls out loud to an AI controller. The app grades their phraseology against a fixed answer key built from the AIM, AC 90-66, and the Pilot/Controller Glossary. The grading is a deterministic check against that key, not an AI judgment call. The app supports FAA or ICAO phraseology and includes cross-country flights, a checkride exam, more than 30 written guides, and a classroom dashboard for flight schools. It's free to try, then $9.99 a month on the annual plan or $12.99 month-to-month, and students invited by their school pay $6.99.
iPad charging tips for pilots—it's all about the watts (10 minute read)
A practical refresher on why watts now matter more than amps. A USB-C Power Delivery charger of 30W or more suits most iPads, and Apple's M5 iPad Pro reaches 50% in about 30 minutes on a 60W adapter. Before buying a cockpit charger, check whether your cigarette-lighter outlet runs on a 12V or 24/28V system. Choose a USB-C to USB-C cable (up to 100W) over Lightning cables, which top out at 12–20W. In flight, GPS, Bluetooth ADS-B links, cellular, and screen brightness can draw more power than a weak charger supplies, so the battery percentage may not rise even while the iPad is plugged in.
Radiant Introduces Updated Direct-Vane Angle of Attack (2 minute read)
Radiant Technology's updated AOA system measures angle of attack with a balanced, ball-bearing-supported vane that follows the local airflow, like the sensors on airliners and business jets, instead of inferring it from differential pressure. That means no pressure ports, no pneumatic lines, and no in-flight calibration: you mount the vane and set cruise and stall reference positions. The display shows AOA as numbers that change color through the green, yellow, and red zones, plus a 16-segment bar graph that widens near stall, and it can be reflected onto the windshield for STOL work and slow flight. It's for experimental and ultralight aircraft only, priced at $499.95 through Nov. 30, 2026 and $599.95 after that.
EASA Prepares for More AI in the Cockpit (2 minute read)
At its AI Days conference in Cologne, EASA gave an update on RMT.0742, its rulemaking task for AI across regulated aviation. The first proposal, covering AI assurance, human factors, and ethics, closed comments in March, and a second proposal will apply that framework to specific aviation domains. The agency's June concept paper also added reinforcement learning, symbolic AI, and "Level 3" advanced automation. EASA's first AI Olympics picked 10 finalists from 50 entries. They include Kairós Aeroespacial's FOR-DEC AI, a cockpit decision aid designed to show the crew its reasoning, and Xcert AI, which helps engineers with certification compliance.
Rotax Orders Turbo Part Replacement Before Next Flight (2 minute read)
A Sept. 3 Rotax mandatory service bulletin requires replacing turbocharger valve housing P/N 956492 on certain 915 i and 916 i series engines before the next flight. End-of-line testing found cracks and too-thin walls from a supplier defect, and leaking oil could reach hot exhaust parts and cause smoke or an engine-compartment fire. Owners must check engine and turbocharger serial numbers against the bulletin's lists and review the logbook, and spare turbo assemblies (P/N 893102) must be fixed before installation. The work requires technicians with the iRMT heavy-maintenance qualification, and Rotax is offering labor credit through its authorized distributors.
Elroy Air's Chaparral flies pilot-free under FAA oversight (3 minute read)
Elroy Air says its hybrid-electric Chaparral VTOL flew the first fully autonomous, uncrewed flights authorized under the FAA's eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP). The weeklong campaign ran in late August at Louisiana's Houma-Terrebonne Airport under air traffic control oversight. Working with LIFTOff Louisiana and Bristow Group, the aircraft carried packages, medical supplies, spare parts, food, and water containers. Chaparral is designed to carry more than 500 lb of cargo up to 450 miles without a runway or charging infrastructure. Kratos will be the exclusive U.S. manufacturer in Sacramento, with the first production aircraft due before the end of 2026.
Bye eFlyer 2 Gets FAA Special Airworthiness Certificate (3 minute read)
The FAA inspected the all-electric, two-seat eFlyer 2 at Centennial Airport (KAPA), including its airframe, electric propulsion system, and instruments, then issued a Special Airworthiness Certificate that clears Bye Aerospace to start phased flight testing. The structure was finished in July after propulsion validation on a truck-mounted test rig nicknamed "The Beast," and chief test pilot Elliot Seguin has been rehearsing normal and emergency procedures in the simulator. Orders for the eFlyer 2 and four-seat eFlyer 4 top 1,000 aircraft, with training customers including Skyborne Academy, Spartan College, and KLM Academy.
Wayfarer Tests Retractable Electric Propellers on Cessna 182 (1 minute read)
Wayfarer Aircraft has finished flight testing Waylift, a distributed electric propulsion system. Propellers along the wing blow air over it during takeoff and landing, then retract into the wing for cruise. On a one-third-scale Cessna 182, the system produced four times the lift of the unmodified airplane and needed 40% less thrust than typical pylon-mounted systems for the same lift. Embry-Riddle flew an instrumented full-scale 182 for comparison under a NASA Phase II award of about $900,000. Wayfarer is pitching Waylift as a short-field retrofit for existing aircraft.
FAA Proposes Easing Diabetes Medical Rules (2 minute read)
An FAA proposed rule published Sept. 4 would let pilots whose diabetes is controlled with non-insulin medications get first-, second-, or third-class medicals under the general standards, without going through Special Issuance. The current rule dates to 1959. The FAA estimates about 3,000 certificates a year could be issued at the time of the exam, with another 1,200 Special Issuance cases moving to AME-managed certification. In 50 of 51 fatal accidents it reviewed involving pilots on these drugs, it found diabetes unlikely to have contributed. Pilots on insulin would still need Special Issuance, and comments are open for 30 days after publication.
FAA Deploys 100th Surface Surveillance System in ATC Modernization Push (1 minute read)
The FAA has installed its 100th Surface Awareness Initiative (SAI) system, nearly half of the 220 towers it plans to equip. SAI uses ADS-B data from aircraft and ground vehicles to give controllers a live picture of the airport surface in low visibility or beyond the tower's line of sight. Recent sites include Ann Arbor, Billings, Gulfport-Biloxi, Greenville-Spartanburg, and Corpus Christi, with 44 more due by the end of 2026. The agency says Approach Runway Verification now runs at more than 260 facilities and the Runway Incursion Device at more than 56 towers.
