Also: Pilot And Technician Outlook, KS Aviation $$, Avelo Sued By Female Captain, MD-11s Returning to FedEx? At the Battle Creek, Michigan, facility of Waco Aircraft, employees reportedly finished a normal workday—then received emails telling them not to return. Roughly 60 people were affected (from a previous high of nearly 140). Production, already limited to a handful of hand-built aircraft each year, appears to have halted outright, though completed aircraft are reported onsite as well as an extensive parts supply. So… silence. After nearly 5 months of buildup, Van’s Aircraft has officially opened its order book for the tail kit of its new RV-15. The tail kit, coming in at $9,000, includes all stabilizer and control surface components. It is currently listed with an estimated lead time of 16 weeks. Deliveries were originally expected to start a little earlier, but were pushed back due to some weather-related delays affecting final flight testing of the horizontal stabilizer. The French manufacturer Elixir Aircraft has announced plans for the first deliveries to the U.S. market of three aircraft to Florida and Arizona then with plans to show them at Oshkosh. The aircraft will go eventually to Cirrus Aviation, a Florida-based flight school and Elixir Aircraft’s first U.S. customer. An early partner, Cirrus Aviation placed its order in 2020, following the European certification of the Elixir. They have ordered 10 aircraft. All this — and MORE in today’s episode of Airborne-Unlimited!!!
