Saturday, November 15, is a day dedicated to safety courses for ag pilots before kicking off the Ag Aviation Expo. Learn the essential skills needed to safely operate an aircraft in an environment of wires and obstructions and how to turn an ag plane safely.
The FAA has released an Airworthiness Concern Sheet (ACS) for certain GE Aviation Czech (GEAC), formerly Walter Engines, models including the H80 and M601D-11. This ACS is a request for information to operators of aircraft with these engines installed, specifically on use of lubricity improver additives (LIA) in fuel.
The FAA has issued a new Airworthiness Directive (AD 2025-17-11) for certain MD Helicopters Model 369 and 500 helicopters. The AD was prompted by multiple reports of cracked magnesium tail rotor (T/R) pedal support brackets.
Last week NAAA submitted comments to the EPA opposing the prohibition of aerial applications of three low-volatility formulations of dicamba on dicamba tolerant (DT) soybean and cotton varieties. The saga of DT crops began in 2016 when EPA first registered the newer low volatility dicamba products for over-the-top applications on DT crops. Since then, registration of these products for use on DT crops has been terminated twice by court action, the last time in early 2024.
The FAA has recently released its proposed Part 108 which would enable routine beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operating below 400 FT AGL. If adopted into a final rule as written, this would severely compromise the safety of manned aerial application operations. You can review the full Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and/or FAA’s Fact Sheet, but NAAA has read it cover to cover and there are two headline takeaways.
NAAA operator member Liam Zahm, of Zahm’s Aerial Enterprises in Marne, Michigan, was recently interviewed by Farm Progress on his perspective of applying chemicals with manned and unmanned equipment. At just 25 years old, he brings a young perspective on new technologies entering the industry.
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