Model Airplanes

Congress is posed to pass a five-year Federal Aviation Authority (FAA)

Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2018 which represents substantive changes to how drones could be operated within the United States on both amateur and professional levels.

The drone industry’s biggest argument with the FAA Reauthorization the removal of 226 also known as the Special Rule for Model Aircraft. Implemented in the FAA Reauthorization of 2012, Section 336 has prevented rules or regulations from being applied to model airplanes or aircraft weighing 55 pounds or less.

While amateur flying is still a niche interest, the advent of drones has increased its popularity dramatically. In 2017, Section 336 was cited to overturn an FAA decision that would have required drone flyers to register their UAVs. The drone industry, eager for the type of regulation which would prove their industry’s safety to customers both personal and industrial, was disappointed with how Section 336 was used.

“The FAA’s innovative approach to drone registration was very reasonable, and registration provides for accountability and education to drone pilots,” DJI’s Vice President of Policy Legal Affairs, Brendan Schulman, told Recode last year. The Shenzhen-based DJI makes up approximately three-fourth of the world’s drone market. “I expect the legal issue that impedes this program will be addressed by cooperative work between the industry and policymakers.”

Among other things, the new bill requires operators of unmanned aircraft to have “passed an aeronautical knowledge and safety

Article source: https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/drones/a23511212/faa-reauthorization-2018-section-336-repeal-regulation/

Aircraft brokerage and consulting services provider Mente Group is seeing a significant bump in its preowned business this year, but company president and CEO Brian Proctor cautions that a few headwinds could slow the activity over the next year.

He estimated that the Dallas-based firm will have 40 preowned transactions this year, which is as much as a 30 percent year-over-year increase. “The number of transactions has definitely increased,” said Proctor, who also chairs the recently renamed International Aircraft Dealers Association, adding this is an industry-wide trend. “The market has been good for everyone.”

However, even as demand should stay strong, he sees a cooling of preowned sales beginning this quarter and extending through next year for a couple of “structural” reasons.

First, he noted that with the looming 2020 ADS-B deadline, maintenance, repair, and overhaul shops will be flooded with upgrade work. This will pinch the availability for pre-purchase evaluations for preowned aircraft sales, backing up timing of transactions.

The second issue is availability. “We’ve seen an incredible contraction in availability in late-model airplanes. So it’s going to be harder and harder to find good equipment to buy,” Proctor said, pointing to the Gulfstream G280 as an example. Recently, he said, there were only two available in the world.

On the upside, he added, the aircraft manufacturers will benefit. Mente already has had two cases recently where customers ultimately opted for new aircraft because they could not find a suitable preowned model on a timely basis.

But for now, Mente is enjoying a solid boost

Article source: https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2018-10-01/mente-group-sees-headwinds-ahead-preowned-market

You never know what you’ll find…

In the city, you can find just about anything sitting on the sidewalk. Books? Sometimes. Several photographs of the star of We Bought a Zoo? Once in a while. A complete DVD box set of Neon Genesis Evangelion? More often than you’d think.

I highly encourage dumpster diving. People throw out perfectly good stuff, especially in this city. Last year, I found a 14-inch wooden statue of Don Quixote, presumably abandoned by Sancho Panza. He watched over me for a year, before my friend Jenna sat on him and killed him.

It’s stuff like that: random things that you’d never buy, but you’d be more than happy to take home.

When I moved into my building, the first thing I saw was the trash piled up in the hallway — old furniture, thrown away by previous tenants who didn’t have room for their stuff. Among that garbage was a set of cool model airplanes and trains. Do I care about trains or planes? No! But those babies are in my window sill!

I’m not the only one blessed by the trash elves. My current roommate found a series of printed photos of

Article source: https://nyulocal.com/i-cant-stop-stealing-my-neighbor-s-garbage-e583fbdadf00