Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

Editor-in-Chief

Matt Thurber

ForeFlight has made its flight plan drawer more useful with a resizing capability and added a graphical cabin layout to weight and balance planning, as well as other improvements.
The new flight plan drawer has a touch control at the bottom that allows the user to resize the drawer vertically. This provides much more space for complex flight plan creation. Resizing is also available in the navlog and profile sections, expanding the amount of information that can be viewed. This makes viewing a lengthy navlog simpler with no scrolling required.
In the profile view, two new overlays are available: headwind/tailwind and estimated groundspeed. These are depicted in the profile view so the pilot can instantly see the forecast wind at various altitudes or the resulting groundspeed for the planned direction of flight. This feature is available for Performance Plus subscribers.
Setting up of the new weight and balance graphical cabin layout must be done on the ForeFlight web access site and is available for ForeFlight Performance and up subscribers. Selecting an aircraft provides access to the weight and balance profile name, where there is a link to edit that profile.
After clicking on the edit link, a “get started” button pops up, asking whether the user wants to “display your interior during loading.” The orientation of seats is adjustable, but changing from forward- to rear-facing doesn’t affect the weight and balance calculation. Once completed, the new cabin layout is available by clicking the weight and balance tab in the flights section.
Other added features include VFR chart add-ons for Northern Africa and the Northern Middle East from Rogers Data, and Japan from Airman’s Information Service. Hazard altitude options are now available in the map settings hazards section, with new 100- and 500-foot options. ForeFlight has also added runway analysis support for the Cessna Citation 550B/Bravo and 560/V.

New developments and products in avionics, specifically about aircraft electronics in the cockpit.

ForeFlight Releases Flight Planning Improvements for Flight Bag App

Enhanced flight drawer and graphical weight and balance cabin layout are among the changes

ForeFlight's new flight plan drawer has a touch control at the bottom that allows the user to resize the drawer vertically. 

ForeFlight Releases Flight Planning Improvements

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Hanneke Weitering

News and information on safety procedures and concerns.

Results could inform development of Merlin's autonomous flight control system

Merlin and Quikjet Team on Pilot Fatigue Study

News and issues about aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), covering all segments of the aviation industry; and modifications for aircraft and engines. Subjects include product support of aircraft, engines and avionics, MRO company mergers, acquisitions, announcements and personnel, Airworthiness Directives, Supplemental Type Certificate approvals and other topics.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Upgrade changes round dials to larger arc-type gauges

Garmin Adds Engine Indicating for TPE331-10 Turbines

Sarah Rose

News and issues concerning general aviation, specifically airplanes and helicopters powered by piston and alternative engines (i.e., non-turbine powered aircraft). Subjects include aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

Company 'received overwhelming support from European operators'

Boost Systems Gets EASA Approval for Carrying Device

Chad Trautvetter

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

Added features include CPDLC, ADS-B In weather, and enhanced connectivity

Collins Unveils Pro Line 21 Upgrade for Cessna CJs, XLS+

Failure to upgrade could cause service interruptions

Universal FMS GPS Rollover Date Coming Due May 31

News and developments about aircraft engines, including turbofan, turboprop, turboshaft and piston.

New Garmin avionics and a Finoff Aviation engine upgrade modernize the Swiss  turboprop

Fargo Jet Completes PC-12 Avionics Modernization

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

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ForeFlight

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Company 'received overwhelming support from European operators'

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Mitigating the Effects of GNSS Jamming and Spoofing

Compromised navigation information is an ongoing problem

StandardAero To Begin StableLight Autopilot Installs

The autopilot is based on Thales' Compact Autopilot System for the Airbus H125

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