India is expected to pick two finalists among the MiG- 35, Dassault Rafale, EADS Eurofighter, Gripen, Boeing F/A-18 and Lockheed Martin F-16. A commercial bidding process will follow, with final selection expected by the end of 2011.
Inmarsat's decision to go with Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS) for its Global Xpress deal marks a major step forward for the aerospace giant's goal to return in force to the commercial satellite business.The company will attempt to raise commercial satellite sales to 30% of the company’s space business within five years, up from 10% now.
Lockheed Martin's Medium Extended Air Defense System (Meads) is facing an existential threat on Capitol Hill. Senators are actively trying to end funding for the system and renegotiate the U.S. agreement to develop the missile with Italy and Germany. Rather than simply push back on the cuts, Lockheed Martin is making a run at the competition, arguing it will cost the government more in the long term to sustain Raytheon's Patriot missile system than to opt for Meads.
The next generation of unmanned aircraft could be today's systems, but linked in ways only now becoming possible, thereby enabling them to perform missions beyond their individual capabilities. Use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) has grown during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but as the conflict draws down, services are seeking ways to make better use of their existing assets, recognizing that prospects for new systems are receding as budgets tighten.
“Time For Change” (AW&ST July 12/25, p. 50) presents a truss-braced wing design as a potential option in the field of research for fuel-burn reduction.
Bahrain-based MENA Aerospace Enterprises' MAE Aircraft Management division has been awarded a certificate of registration for compliance with IS-BAO (International Standards for Business Aircraft Operations).
The FADEC-equipped -3AP is one of Williams most advanced versions of the FJ44 turbofan family, producing 3,050-lb. thrust for takeoff and weighing only 528 lb. Compared to earlier -3 engines, the -3AP incorporates many aerodynamic, weight reduction and durability improvements. The two-spool engine features a wide-chord fan, three axial-flow compressor stages, a single centrifugal high-pressure compressor powered by a single stage high-pressure turbine and a two-stage low pressure turbine that powers the axial compressor and fan.
Jet Aviation St. Louis has won an STC for a Wi-Fi installation in Learjet 40 and 45 series aircraft and plans to adapt the STC to other business jets, including the Bombardier Challenger 300 and 605, Bombardier Global series and Gulfstream V.
EBAA announced that Fabio Gamba will become CEO of the association, effective Sept. 1. He will take over the CEO role from Brian Humphries who remains president of the association. Gamba will run the business side of EBAA from the association's Brussels headquarters. He will also take on the role of actively liaising with EBAA members. Gamba was most recently the Deputy Secretary General of the Association of European Airlines (AEA). Gamba began his professional career at the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (CANSO).
First, thanks for the great article about shady charters. You have opened up cans of worms for many people, no doubt. Our Part 91 company has registered its two aircraft as a LLC company. Before I go to our corporate legal guys with the issues raised in your article, can you suggest any reference literature addressing that?
Dassault Falcon recently received certification for the Falcon 900LX from the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC). The 900LX joins the rest of the Falcon 900 family already certified in China. The Falcon 7X and the Falcon 2000 family are also CAAC-certified. The first Falcon 900LX will be delivered in China by year-end.
Leave the boundaries of the United States and you lose the locally available feed from FAA radar (known as ASDI, for Aircraft Situation Display to Industry) because, as everyone knows, radar stops at the horizon's edge. Once you head out over the water, you can continue to rely on air traffic management to provide position information via the traditional transoceanic longitudinal reporting points. But if you want more frequent near-real-time position and tracking info, you'll need to sign up for satellite tracking services.
Butler National Corp. — the Olathe, Kan.-based maintenance, repair and overhaul organization — has obtained an STC to modernize the J.E.T. FC-110 autopilot used in most Learjet 20 series airplanes.
A flying car from Scaled Composites? The company is exploring development options for a twin-fuselage, hybrid internal combustion/electric-powered air and read vehicle. The Model 367 BiPod is a two-seat, twin fuselage vehicle with removable wings, stabilizer and tail tips to enable swift conversion into a road vehicle. Seating one person per fuselage, the BiPod is currently configured to be driven like a car from the left-hand cockpit and flown as an aircraft from the right side.
I have been a charter operator here in South Florida since 1999, flying everything from single engine piston aircraft to business jets under Part 135. You identified the problem accurately, but there are two aspects you have overlooked.
New noses for the Twin Beech: A Royal Canadian Air Force Beech 18 is a flying test bed for the 500-hp Canadian P&W turbine (top, left). Volpar tricycle gear conversion by Capital Aviation, Springfield, Ill., of the Beech C-45H, delivered to Midland Investment of San Antonio (bottom, left).
Aviation Research Group/US reported that June U.S. flight activity showed a slight increase over May activity. ARGUS TRAQPak data indicate that June business aircraft activity was up 0.4% over May. By operational categories, the FAR Part 135 and Part 91 segments both posted a positive month, up 1.6% and 0.2%, respectively. The fractional segment was the only operational category to drop, down 1.5% from April. By aircraft category, only turboprops managed to stay positive from the previous month, up 4.2%.
Air Ledger is a new “cloud”-based package from Aero Management Solutions of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., designed to improve communication and relations between aircraft owners and managers. Version 1.0, launched in early June, enables owners to review financial data transparently without requiring a dedicated application but via simple Internet access allowing online review as well as submittal of invoices. The company says that with this scalable solution, owners can configure reports to their liking and that use of the system reduces risk of loss of records.
West Star Aviation recently performed its first Rockwell Collins Pro Line 4 to Pro Line 21 upgrade on a Dassault Falcon 2000. The enhancement is now available for Pro Line 4-equipped Falcon 2000 and 2000EX aircraft.
Embraer has joined the cockpit, center fuselage and aft fuselage sections of its new Legacy 500 midsize jet. The Legacy executive jets will be assembled at Embraer's facilities in São José dos Campos, Brazil. The company says this is a significant step toward beginning flight tests in the second half of this year.
I was disturbed to see that “Illegal Charter” cited Nick Sabatini [former FAA associate administrator for Aviation Safety] and Jim Ballough [former FAA director Flight Standards Service] as industry experts. Their testimony before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee [in 2008, regarding FAA's Customer Service Initiative] was an affront to all of the hard working FAA personnel who had to work for them and an embarrassment to the FAA as a whole.
One afternoon in the late 1990s, I was at United Air Lines' central maintenance facility. During a break in one of the presentations on marketing MRO services to other carriers, my minder whispered in my ear, “Wanna' see something really cool?” — a question for which any journalist has but one response.
While no determination has yet been made as to the probable cause of the crash of Air France Flight 447 into the South Atlantic two years ago, I have read that ice contamination of the Airbus A330's pitot tubes could be a factor. If that proves correct, all I can say is that circumstances confronting those pilots were likely to be confusing and frightening all the way to their doom. I know.
