Planenews Aviation News

Boeing 747-8 Freighter Successfully Completes First Flight.

gil — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:40:31 +0000

EVERETT, Wash. (PRNewswire-FirstCall): The Boeing (NYSE: (BA)) 747-8 Freighter successfully took to the sky for the first time today before more than 5,000 employees, customers, suppliers and community leaders. The flight begins a test program for the world's most efficient freighter.

UPS Starts Pilot Furlough Process.

gil — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:37:02 +0000

LOUISVILLE (BUSINESS WIRE): UPS (UPS) today announced plans to furlough at least 300 of its airline pilots, but at the same time continued its effort to find a solution with the pilots' union that would avert or mitigate the layoffs before they take effect. UPS employs about 2,800 pilots. UPS has been working with its union, the Independent Pilots Association, for the past year to identify ways to cut operating costs to avoid any pilot furloughs.

American Airlines to Charge $8 for Blankets.

gil — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:30:57 +0000

If you want a pillow and blanket in coach on American Airlines, it's going to cost you. The airline will charge $8 for a pillow and blanket in coach class for domestic trips and some international flights longer than two hours, beginning May 1. The international flights are to and from Canada, Mexico, Hawaii, the Caribbean and Central America. Spokeswoman Andrea Huguely said Monday it was an economic decision.

Iran Opens Drone Aircraft Production Lines.

gil — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:24:46 +0000

TEHRAN, (UPI): Iran has opened a pair of production lines for the manufacture of advanced drone aircraft, the country's defense minister said Monday. Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the drones would be capable of carrying out precise bombing missions, the state-run Press TV reported. "The two drones, named Raad and Nazir, are capable of carrying out surveillance, detection and even assaults with high precision," Vahidi said Monday.

Team K-MAX Demonstrates Successful Unmanned Helicopter Cargo Resupply to U.S. Marine Corps.

gil — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:41:14 +0000

DUGWAY, UT: Lockheed Martin Corporation [NYSE: (LMT)] and Kaman Aerospace Corporation, a subsidiary of Kaman Corporation [NASDAQ GS: (KAMN)] have successfully demonstrated to the U.S. Marine Corps the capability of the Unmanned K-MAX® helicopter to resupply troops by unmanned helicopter at forward operating bases in Afghanistan.

Body Found in Delta Airplane Wheel Well After Arriving in Tokyo from New York.

gil — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:28:58 +0000

TOKYO: Japanese authorities said Monday they are trying to identify a body found inside one of the landing gear compartments on a Delta Airlines plane flight that arrived in Tokyo from New York. The body of the apparent stowaway, identified only as that of a male with dark skin, was clad only in a long-sleeved, plaid shirt and jeans, police at the Narita International Airport said Monday.

Launch of NASA’s Shuttle Endeavour Sparks Early Monday Sunrise.

gil — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:26:10 +0000

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.: Space shuttle Endeavour lit up the predawn sky above Florida's Space Coast on Monday with a 4:14 a.m. EST launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The shuttle's last scheduled night launch began a 13-day flight to the International Space Station and the final year of shuttle operations.

Eurocopter Southeast Asia Signs Contract With Vinacopter Vinacopter Orders Four Helicopters to Develop Commercial Helicopter Market in Vietnam.

gil — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:46:30 +0000

Vinacopter has purchased four Eurocopter helicopters to serve as the launch fleet for its newly created subsidiary, HeliVietnam, a new commercial charter venture. The fleet, which will consist of one AS355NP, a new generation light twin engine helicopter, two high performance single engine AS350B3 aircraft and one twin engine EC135, will be used for tourism and VIP transport. Delivery of the AS355NP is scheduled for the first half of 2010 while the remainder of the fleet will be delivered in the second half of 2011.

Eurocopter South East Asia Announces First Sales Contract With Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

gil — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:41:16 +0000

Eurocopter Southeast Asia (ESEA), subsidiary of the world’s leading helicopter manufacturer, today announced its first sales contract with Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment (MNRE) for one EC135 aircraft. The sale follows the establishment of Eurocopter’s first branch office in Thailand in December last year.

Boeing Completes 747-8 Freighter Taxi Tests.

gil — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:26:56 +0000

EVERETT, Wash. (PRNewswire-FirstCall) Boeing (NYSE: BA) completed taxi tests on the first 747-8 Freighter today. With Chief Pilot Mark Feuerstein at the controls, the airplane reached a top seed of approximately 90 knots (103.5 mph, 166.6 kph).

New Airport Scanner Technology.

gil — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:23:57 +0000

WOBURN, MA.: Iscon Video Imaging is introducing two new airport passenger scanners with a patented Thermal-Boosted Infrared Detection System that only shows objects and clothing without any harmful radiation. It is currently being tested by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

18-ft Aircraft Chunk Lands in Parking Lot.

gil — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:37:38 +0000

DORAL, Fla. (UPI): An 18-foot piece of aircraft wing fell into a mall parking lot Friday morning without causing any significant damage, officials said. The piece came loose from an Atlas Air Cargo 747 that was descending to land at Miami International Airport after a flight from Santiago, Chile, The Miami Herald reported. It came down in Miami International Mall in Doral at about 11:30 a.m.

Matt on Travel: Airport Security.

gil — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:05:07 +0000

The subject of airport security has provided Matt Pritchett, The Telegraph's cartoonist, with plenty of inspiration during the last decade. Most recently, the possible introduction of full body scanners at British airports produced this effort. Read on to see more of Matt's most memorable offerings.

Administration FY 2011 Budget Drops Harmful User Fees.

gil — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:38:02 +0000

The Alliance for Aviation Across America recently applauded the Obama administration's decision to leave out harmful user fees from the Fiscal Year 2011 budget. These fees would have been extremely detrimental to small businesses, farmers, medical organizations, charities, and ranchers throughout America, and to an industry which employs 1.2 million Americans, and provides $150 billion dollar a year to the overall economy.

Engineers Aim to Make Air Travel Greener.

gil — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:02:32 +0000

ScienceDaily: Carbon emissions from air travel could be reduced thanks to a new collaboration between engineers from the Universities of Bath and Bristol and the aerospace industry.

France Hopeful Brazil Will Buy its Rafale Jets.

gil — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:59:30 +0000

PARIS (Reuters): France is confident that Brazil will choose French-made Rafale jets as its next generation fighter planes, trade minister Anne-Marie Idrac said on Friday.

Pilots Face Pressure to Fly.

gil — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:56:29 +0000

As a captain with a major U.S. airline, I would like to add my observations to the coverage of Colgan Flight 3407. Much has been said of the implied shortcomings of the flight crew. However, as reported in USA TODAY's story "Air tragedy could lead to better pilot training," there is more to this than a supposedly incompetent flight crew (News, Tuesday).

Last Ever Night Shuttle Launch Visible From Eastern United States.

gil — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:52:57 +0000

People in the eastern United States will get a great opportunity, weather permitting, to see the space shuttle Endeavour launched into orbit early on Sunday morning, Feb. 7. And it will also likely be the very last opportunity ever to see a space shuttle blast off at night.

Bombardier Sells Bombardier 415 Amphibious Firefighting Aircraft.

gil — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:49:48 +0000

Bombardier Aerospace announced the sale of Bombardier 415 amphibious aircraft to an undisclosed customer. The customer’s identity and the number of aircraft remain undisclosed for the time being. Based on current list price, the contract is valued at approximately $126 million US and includes training and technical support. Deliveries of the aircraft will begin during the fourth quarter of 2010 and will continue until 2012.

FAA Seeks Public Comment on Pilot Certification.

gil — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:30:20 +0000

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Call to Action to enhance airline safety following last year’s Colgan Air accident in Buffalo, NY, the FAA today asked for recommendations to improve pilot qualification and training requirements.

Hong Kong Airlines to Order Six A330-200s.

gil — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:59:54 +0000

Hong Kong Airlines has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Airbus for six A330-200 aircraft. The latest commitment will increase the number of A330s ordered by the airline to 23. Hong Kong Airlines intends to use the A330-200s to develop new services to destinations across the Asia-Pacific region, as well as to the Middle East and Europe.

Eurocopter and Spanish Ministry of the Interior Sign Contract for 12 EC135s to Be Assembled in Albacete.

gil — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:57:42 +0000

Eurocopter and the Spanish Ministry of the Interior have signed a contract for the purchase of twelve EC135 P2i helicopters. Spain's National Police Force will operate six of the new aircraft for law enforcement missions, while the remaining six will join the current fleet of the Spanish Guardia Civil. One of this latter group of helicopters will be configured for mountain rescue missions.

Egypt to Get Pratt and Whitney F-16 Engines.

gil — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:52:47 +0000

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (UPI): Egyptian defense authorities have selected Pratt & Whitney to deliver its aircraft engine technologies to support the Egyptian air force's F-16 aircraft. U.S. company Pratt & Whitney received an order to deliver its F100-PW-229 Engine Enhancement Package engine to support the Egyptian Peace Vector VII F-16 program.

Gates defends F-35, rejects increase in F/A-18s.

gil — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:49:06 +0000

WASHINGTON (Reuters): Top Pentagon leaders on Wednesday underscored their commitment to the Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT) F-35 fighter program and challenged some of the arguments Boeing Co (BA.N) is hoping could help it sell more of its F/A-18 fighters before production of the F-35 gets into full swing. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said recent data showed that a multiyear contract for new Boeing F/A-18 fighters would save only 6.5 percent in procurement costs, far short of a 10 percent threshold for signing such long-term agreements.

Spain Proposes A400M Aircraft Deal

gil — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:44:54 +0000

MADRID (Reuters): Spain has proposed that buyer nations of the Airbus A400 military transport plane pay 2.6 billion euros (1.63 billion pounds) of cost overruns on the delayed project, newspaper El Pais said on Thursday, citing a defence ministry letter. Airbus and parent EADS are holding urgent talks with seven NATO nations to prevent the 20 billion-euro A400M project collapsing under the weight of delays and cost overruns.

Moon Tourism by 2020, Entrepreneurs Predict.

gil — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:40:06 +0000

Leading space entrepreneurs said they are ready, willing and able to fill the U.S. spaceflight gap after NASA retires its space shuttles this year. They confidently predicted that commercial spaceships could fly both cargo and humans into low-Earth orbit for lower cost and by about 2014, or at least sooner than NASA's original plan based on the now-canceled Constellation program.

Flights of Adventure Book Release.

gil — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:23:29 +0000

Nashville, Indiana: NorlightsPress is pleased to announce the release of Flights of Adventure, an anthology of true adventure stories compiled by editors Ken Larson and Tom Holton.

WASPS to Receive Gold Medals from Congress.

gil — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:13:47 +0000

Author in newly released book, "Flights of Adventure," Marion Stegeman Hodgson to receive Congressional Gold Medal, March 10, 2010.

Boeing Unveils First 787 Dreamliner Interior on 3rd Flight-Test Airplane.

gil — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:35:22 +0000

EVERETT, Wash. (PRNewswire-FirstCall) Boeing (NYSE: (BA)) today publicly unveiled the first 787 Dreamliner to feature interior components. The third flight test airplane, ZA003, has a partial interior that provides a glimpse into the new flying experience the airplane will offer. Configured for flight-testing purposes, the interior includes instrumentation racks, flight-test equipment and workstations for engineers.

STOVL Jet Is Fifth Lockheed Martin F-35 To Enter Flight Testing.

gil — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:30:17 +0000

FORT WORTH, Texas: A Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35B Lightning II short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) stealth fighter today became the fifth F-35 to begin flight operations.