By Trevor Cohen Photos by Rayno Snyman and Trevor Cohen On a chilly, rainy Friday morning, May 1st, we departed from Johannesburg, heading towards the Lowveld. As we descended along the N4 escarpment, the sun emerged, prompting us to shed our layers upon arriving at FANS. Enjoying a toastie and a cold drink at the Lowveld Aero Club, while watching aircraft manoeuvre in the warm sun, was truly a privilege. After leaving the airport, we checked into our hotel, allowing suffic

Bell Textron has been selected by Near Earth Autonomy to provide a modified Bell 505 airframe for the U.S. Marine Corps’ Aerial Resupply Vehicle – Expeditionary Logistics (MARV-EL) Increment 2 programme. The initiative aims to develop a new generation of uncrewed aerial logistics platforms capable of supporting frontline operations in contested environments. Announced on April 30, 2026, the partnership will focus on prototyping a configuration to operate without a pilot while

“My strongest impression is the resilience of a community,” says US Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Seth Reeves, speaking several months after the terrible Texas floods that claimed lives in the Texas Hill Country. The floods were immense, showing the frightening power of nature. In the case of Kerrville, heavy rainfall in the early hours of 4 July 2025 transformed the normally lazy Guadalupe River into a rushing onslaught in less than an hour, bursting its banks and catc

Bell Textron has released initial operational data from its Nacelle Improvement (NI) Programme for the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, reporting reductions in maintenance requirements and improved readiness rates among modified U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) CV-22 aircraft. The company said the upgraded nacelle system has now accumulated more than 10,000 flight hours, providing an early indication of how the changes are performing in active service conditions. Bel

After a prolonged certification process, Enstrom Helicopter Corporation has received full regulatory clearance from both the Federal Aviation Administration and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, allowing the company to resume global deliveries of new-production helicopters. The milestone centres on the turbine-powered Enstrom 480B, which has now achieved full airworthiness certification under the latest safety requirements. The first newly built aircraft to meet thes

Bell Textron used the stage of FIDAE 2026 in Santiago, Chile, to highlight a strong commercial milestone for its light single-engine helicopter portfolio, announcing that the Bell 505 recorded its highest number of orders in Latin America during 2025. The achievement reflects the continued momentum of the Bell 505 across a region where operators increasingly require flexible, lower-operating-cost rotorcraft capable of serving a wide range of missions. From private transport a

Vietnam Helicopter Corporation (VNH) is reinforcing its position in Southeast Asia’s offshore aviation sector with an order for three Airbus H225 helicopters, a move that underlines both its confidence in the type and its intent to modernise for the next phase of offshore operations. Announced in Hanoi on 7 April 2026, the new aircraft will be operated by VNH’s subsidiaries, Southern Vietnam Helicopter Company (VNH South) and Northern Vietnam Helicopter Company (VNH North). T

By Rob Russell On Thursday, March 26th, the Air Mercy Service marked its 60th anniversary. A gala cocktail party was held at the organisation's hangar complex at Cape Town International Airport to commemorate the occasion. From its humble beginnings in March 1966, based at Youngsfield airfield, next to Kenilworth racecourse, the Organization evolved into an independent Trust in 1994. The AMS is a non-profit organisation with active operational bases in the Western Cape (Cape

Airbus has moved a step closer to proving the value of its high-speed Racer demonstrator, with the aircraft continuing to expand its flight envelope during a recent series of tests aimed at assessing performance, agility and operational flexibility. The aircraft, developed under Europe’s Clean Sky 2 research programme, is intended to explore whether a new generation of compound rotorcraft can combine the versatility of a helicopter with significantly higher speed and improved

Exercise Cold Response 26, a Norwegian-led multinational training event, has concluded following several weeks of operations across Norway, Sweden and Finland. The exercise brought together more than 25,000 military and civilian personnel from over a dozen NATO and partner nations, with a focus on improving interoperability, readiness and coordination in Arctic conditions. The training event incorporated air, land and maritime components, with air operations playing a central