Planenews Aviation News Portal
Sat Jun 27 20:44:53 EDT 2009
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How NASA connects to its Moon Orbiters. - Flying to the moon is not easy feat but communicating with as well as relaying information to and from rocketing space probes  is the most critical part of the mission. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission launched June 18 is using modified General Dynamics Advanced Multi-Mode Transceivers that support data rates of up to 512 kbps to send health and status updates and receive command instructions from NASA. LRO will communicate at S-Band frequencies through the NASA Ground Network and Deep Space Network (DSN). The S band ranges between 2 GHz and 4 GHz and is the usual frequency for many satellites...

What's Your Weather? Americans See 300 Billion Forecasts Each Year. - One way or another nine out of 10 adult Americans get weather forecasts an average of more than three times each day, adding up to 300 billion forecasts each year. And not only that, most people were satisfied with weather forecasts and had fairly high confidence in forecasts with a lead time of one to two days, despite appearances to the contrary. If you lived in the oft-clouded-over Northeast this month, you pretty much hate the weather folks at this point, but that wasn’t part of the survey...

Waco Classic Introduces New Model. - Waco Classic President Peter F. Bowers got to thinking one day, “What’s changed about our product?” Little had changed with the luxury Waco Classic biplane, other than the introduction of glass cockpits and aircraft entertainment systems. So he developed a new model with a larger, 300-hp Jacobs R755-A2 radial engine. The 275-hp engine of the older model is still available...

FAA Administrator Calls For Commitment to Regional Airline Safety. - WASHINGTON, D.C.: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Randy Babbitt today announced an expedited review of flight and rest rules and called on U.S. airlines and unions to respond, by July 31, with specific commitments to strengthen safety at regional and major airlines by insisting that airlines obtain all available FAA pilot records, among other actions.

WhiteKnight Makes Public Landing at Phoenix Airport - Flightglobal has obtained exclusive pictures of Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnight Two mothership Eve at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway airport in Arizona after a speedbrake actuator failure diverted it from its New Mexico destination. On Friday 19 June the mothership was to overfly the ground breaking ceremony for Spaceport America, which is to be located 72km (45 miles) north of New Mexico’s Las Cruces city. The spaceport will be the world headquarters for the spaceline Virgin Galactic when it is operating commercially...

Lawmaker: Time to Put Osprey Out of its Misery. - The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee recommended Tuesday that the production of all MV-22 Ospreys be halted, saying that after more than two decades the hybrid aircraft still can’t complete the missions for which it was designed...

787 Delay Adds To Bottom Line Concerns At Boeing. - CHICAGO (Dow Jones): Boeing Co.’s (BA) announcement Tuesday of another holdup on its new 787 Dreamliner didn’t sit well with investors already wary of problems surrounding the company’s defense programs and pension-cost headwind. Shares of Boeing, which have sunk on worries about the 787 as well as the weak commercial aircraft market, traded recently at $43.46, down 7.5% for the day. That’s well off the year-high of $76.48.

United Airlines to Lay Off 600 Flight Attendants. - United Airlines said Monday that it plans to cut 600 additional flight attendant jobs, effective Aug. 31, as the carrier struggles with lower-than-anticipated attrition and a steep drop in air travel...

Its Boeing Jets Delayed, Virgin Atlantic Turns to Airbus. - LONDON (Reuters): Virgin Atlantic plans to take delivery of 10 Airbus A330-300 aircraft by 2012, allowing the airline to expand while awaiting delivery of Boeing’s long-delayed 787 Dreamliner...

Boeing Postpones 787 First Flight. - EVERETT, Wash. (PRNewswire-FirstCall): Boeing (NYSE: BA) today announced that first flight of the 787 Dreamliner will be postponed due to a need to reinforce an area within the side-of-body section of the aircraft.

Largest Registered Traveler Service, Clear, Craps Out. - The idea was good – help business travelers mostly zip through airport security checks. But those perks apparently weren’t enough as Clear, the largest of the registered travelers service with over 165,000 members shut down last night...

Kavlico Introduces Low Range, Low Cost Pressure Sensor for Aircraft and Ground A - Kavlico, a global business unit of Custom Sensors & Technologies (CST) has recently designed a low cost, stainless steel configuration pressure sensor for low pressure range measurements of 0–1 PSI through 0–350 PSI gage, absolute, or differential. The highly reliable pressure sensor has an MTBF of 300,000 hours at nominal operating temperature.

Pilot Dies Midflight, Jet Lands Safely. - Unbeknownst to the 247 passengers on Continental Flight 61, the captain, a 60-year-old veteran of the airline, had died over the Atlantic of a suspected heart attack. The co-pilot and a reserve pilot, who was in the cockpit to allow the regular pilots to rest, took over and finished the flight...

Cirrus Faces Expensive Lawsuits. - Cirrus Aircraft is facing two multimillion-dollar lawsuits. A jury has awarded a $14 million judgment against several parties, including Cirrus and the University of North Dakota, in an action that may yet be appealed. And L-3 Avionics seeks $21.7 million from Cirrus in a contract dispute...

Electric Plane Makes Maiden Flight. - Yuneec International’s E430 electric-powered aircraft made its first flights in China on Friday morning, June 12. After further flight testing is completed, the composite airplane will be shipped to the United States, where company officials hope to gain certification in the experimental category. Once that’s achieved, Yuneec plans to ship the aircraft to Oshkosh for EAA AirVenture 2009, where Yuneec hopes to show the aviation world a glimpse into the future of recreational aviation...

The Future of Military Aviation is Unmanned. - PARIS: On the edge of the airfield at Le Bourget, a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet jet fighter looms with imposing menace. In front of it sits a dinky Boeing ScanEagle, just 4 feet long with a 10-foot wingspan, with model-airplane looks, a little rotor turned by a two-stroke engine, and a flimsy plastic airframe...

Airbus: Possible $12.9B Orders From Paris Air Show. - LE BOURGET, France (Dow Jones): European commercial aircraft builder Airbus has racked up orders and commitments from airlines for 120 jets at the Paris Air Show this week, Chief Operating Officer-Customers John Leahy said Friday. The unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co NV (EADSY) is waiting for a final signature.

Paramount Airways to Buy Airbus Aircraft. - PARIS: India-based Paramount Airways has signed a memorandum of understanding to buy 10 Airbus A321 aircraft with an option for an additional 10, European aircraft maker Airbus said.

Wizz Air Commits to Buy 50 Airbus A320s. - Wizz Air, the largest Central and Eastern European low cost - low fare airline, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to buy 50 more A320s. This will take their total orders up to 132 aircraft. All Wizz Air aircraft will be configured in a comfortable single-class layout, seating up to 180 passengers. No choice of engine has been made yet...

Aigle Azur Orders its First Brand New Airbus A319. - The French private airline Aigle Azur has placed a firm order with Airbus for one new A319 aircraft. This is the first time the airline has purchased an aircraft directly from Airbus. The new A319 will be configured in a comfortable two-class layout and will be powered by CFM-56 engines from CFM International...

ZestAir Places Its First Order for A320. - Zest Airways Inc (ZestAir) of the Philippines has placed a firm order with Airbus for its first brand new single aisle A320. The aircraft will join an existing fleet of two A320s that the airline purchased in the open market in 2008...

Final Assembly Begins on First Boeing 787 Dreamliner for ANA. - EVERETT, Wash. (PRNewswire-FirstCall): Final assembly has begun on the first Boeing (NYSE: BA) 787 Dreamliner destined for delivery to launch customer ANA (All Nippon Airways) of Japan. ANA and Boeing launched the 787 program with a firm order for 50 of the all-new composite jetliner. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2010.

Dassault, French Pres: UAE Rafale Talks Progressing. - PARIS (Dow Jones): The French president’s office and French aerospace group Dassault Aviation SA (AM.FR) Friday said talks over the sale of 60 Rafale jet fighters to the government of the United Arab Emirates are progressing well. Adeal with the U.A.E. is crucial for the company’s prospects and the government’s export hopes. The French State has been Dassault Aviation’s only Rafale.

Sikorsky Cuts 2 Percent of Work Force. - STRATFORD, Conn.: Connecticut-based Sikorsky Aircraft says a slumping commercial aerospace market is the reason it had to cut its global work force by 2 percent this week...

DHS Inspector General: GA Operations Pose No Homeland Security Threat. - The current status of general aviation (GA) operations does not present a serious homeland security vulnerability requiring the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to increase regulatory oversight of the industry, according to a report released by The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) this week...

Gates Calls US Congress Move on F-22 Jet a 'Problem'. - WASHINGTON (AFP): Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday a move by US lawmakers to reject his advice and fund the production of a dozen more F-22 fighters was a "big problem." The US House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday passed an amendment extending production of the F-22 Raptor, a sophisticated stealth fighter aircraft the Pentagon has sought to scrub...

Pilots Set Light-Sport Aircraft Speed Record. - San Diego, California: They set out to prove that light-sport aircraft (LSA) are a viable mode of transportation for long distance flying. And 19 hours and 21 minutes later, including time for fuel steps, they did just that...

Satellite Glitch Rekindles GPS Worries. - News today that Air Force is investigating signal problems with its latest Global Positioning System satellite are likely to rekindle the flames of a congressional report last month that said the current GPS coverage may not be so ubiquitous in the future. The Air Force stated that routine early orbit checkout procedures determined that the signals from the Lockheed-built GPS IIR-2 (M), which was launched in March, were inconsistent with the performance of other GPS IIR-M satellites...

Pilots and Fatigue. - The crash near Buffalo of a commuter plane operated by Colgan Air earlier this year killed 50 people and revealed troubling gaps in the nation’s air-safety regulations. Federal officials need to rewrite the decades-old rules that govern how long pilots can fly before they rest...

EADS May Have String of U.S. Purchases Up to $500 Million Each. - (Bloomberg): European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. is seeking acquisitions in the U.S., limiting purchases to $500 million each as it builds business in the world’s largest military market, the chief of the North American division said...

Boeing, MCAP Announce Order for Two 737-800s. - LE BOURGET, France (PRNewswire-FirstCall): Boeing (NYSE: BA) and MC Aviation Partners (MCAP), a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corp., have finalized an order for two Next-Generation 737-800s valued at $153 million at list prices.

Boeing and Industry Study Shows Biofuels Perform Effectively as Jet Fuel. - LE BOURGET, France (PRNewswire-FirstCall): Boeing (NYSE: BA) and a team from across the aviation industry today released high-level elements of a study that shows that sustainable biofuels analyzed in a series of pioneering test flights performed favorably in comparison to petroleum-based fuel.

Fuel Leak Again Postpones Launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour. - CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.: NASA postponed the launch of space shuttle Endeavour’s STS-127 mission Wednesday because of a leak associated with the gaseous hydrogen venting system outside the shuttle’s external fuel tank.

Bell Boeing Team Awarded Contract for Next Phase of V-22 Osprey Support. - AMARILLO, Texas: The Bell Boeing Program Office announced today that it has been awarded Phase 1.5 of a two-phase Joint Performance Based Logistics (PBL) contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to support the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft for the Marine Corps (MV-22), and Air Force Special Operations Command (CV-22).

Boeing Creates Unmanned Airborne Systems Division. - PARIS: Boeing [NYSE: BA] today announced the formation of an Unmanned Airborne Systems (UAS) division within its defense and space business unit. The new division will lead the company’s sustained pursuit and execution of UAS business and the transition of new products from research to production.