The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) has begun a new chapter in its long history of supporting Antarctic operations with the first flight of its new C-130J Hercules to the icy continent on Nov. 26.
The Utah Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 211th Aviation Regiment, received the first four of 24 new Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters during a ceremony in West Jordan, Utah on Nov. 23.
The U.S. Navy has qualified its final two MH-53E Sea Dragon pilots. Lieutenants Keven Humphreys and Jack Griffin are now fully fledged, bringing to a close a remarkable 42-year chapter in the history of this mighty helicopter.
A Japanese court has ruled that the government must compensate residents living near the strategically important Atsugi Air Base for past noise pollution, but stopped short of halting flight operations. The Yokohama District Court handed down the ruling on Nov. 20, awarding approximately 5.9 billion yen (US$38 million) to roughly 8,700 plaintiffs who claimed that aircraft noise, particularly at night and in the early morning, had significantly impacted their lives.
The U.S. Marine Corps marked a new era in its embrace of unmanned aviation on Nov. 21 when a General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper flew for the first time from Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, North Carolina.