Airborne 01.23.26: $20M GA Plane Program, Suni Williams Retires, UAV No-Fly Zone

Also: Airlift Of PBY, Greece Suffers ATC Failure, IA Course, Breeze Pilots Sue

Greg Mercer made his money modernizing how people sell things online. Now, he’s using his fortune to attempt success in a far less forgiving industry: personal aviation. The Jungle Scout founder has created a clean-sheet, four-seat aircraft dubbed the Skytron. The design that followed is fully digital fly-by-wire with flight envelope protection. The aircraft is being engineered to actively prevent stalls, overspeeds, excessive bank angles, and other inputs that typically precede loss-of-control accidents. The goal isn’t to eliminate pilots, but to cap how wrong things can go. After more than two decades at NASA and enough time in space to outpace nearly every astronaut in the US alive, Sunita “Suni” Williams is moving into retirement. This means that both astronauts involved in the high-profile Boeing Starliner mission last year have formally ended their service with the agency. The FAA put a drone no-fly zone within 3,000 feet of "Department of Homeland Security facilities and mobile assets," according to NOTAM FDC 6/4375 posted by the government. The no-fly zone, in essence a TFR, is the same type that the U.S. uses to restrict consumer drones over military bases and Department of Energy (DOE) research centers and facilities. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-Unlimited!!!

Airborne 01.23.26 is chock full of info in this Daily News Episode, Friday, January 23rd, 2026... Presented by Aero-TV veteran videographer and Airborne Host Holland Lee. Holland is supported by ANN Chief Videographer Nathan Cremisino, as well as ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell. This episode covers:

Amazon Entrepreneur Takes a $20M Swing at Personal Aviation
NASA Astronaut Suni Williams Retires After a Troubled Final Mission
FAA Creates Drone No-Fly Zone For ICE
Airlift Of PBY To Museum Delayed
Greece Suffers Major Air Traffic Control Blackout
Inspection Authorization Training Course Offered for A&P Mechanics
Breeze Airways Pilots Sue Airline

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