Planenews Aviation News Portal
Wed Dec 17 17:06:12 EST 2008
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Commercial Spaceport in New Mexico Gets FAA Launch License. - New Mexico’s Spaceport America has reached a key milestone on its road to become the future home for Virgin Galactic’s suborbital space tourism spaceliner fleet and other launch firms. The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) announced Monday that it received a license for vertical and horizontal launches from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation (FAA/AST)...

Sydney Court Imprisons Bogus Aircraft Engineer. - SYDNEY, Australia: An Australian court sentenced a bogus aircraft engineer to nearly 3 1/2 years in prison Wednesday for endangering thousands of lives by conducting crucial safety checks on Qantas Airways aircraft without the qualifications...

Phenom 100 Earns FAA Certification. - Embraer announced on Dec. 15 that its Phenom 100 very light jet has earned FAA type certification. This follows its award of Brazilian certification last week. Introduced in 2005, the Phenom 100 was originally projected to have a maximum speed of 390 knots, a maximum range of 1,160 nm, and a landing distance of 3,000 feet at maximum landing weight...

FAA to Reinstate Testing Centers. - Some 60 testing centers will once again be allowed to administer written pilot knowledge exams after AOPA called on the FAA to reverse a policy change that revoked testing privileges from roughly 160 testing centers nationwide...

New Security Requirements Affect Pilots. - According to industry sources, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has issued a security directive that extends requirements for background checks to be performed on general aviation pilots based at airports served by airlines. Pilots who are based at air carrier airports and have not already had a background check and received an ID badge will have to do so next year in order to continue to have access to their airport. Based pilots who have already submitted to the checks will not be affected...

Su-24M (Fencer). - Information on the Su-24M (Fencer) from Ria Novosti, with nice graphics and specifications...

Google, X PRIZE Add 3 Teams to $30M Moon Race. - The X Prize Foundation and Google today brought the number of teams competing for its $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE to 15 by adding representatives of China, Germany, Denmark and Sweden to the roster of teams competing in the robot race to the moon.  The group said it will reveal a 16th member known currently as the “Mystery Team” tomorrow...

India to Deploy Aircraft Against Pirates. - NEW DELHI (AFP): India is to station a naval surveillance aircraft in the Gulf of Aden to boost its anti-piracy efforts in the region, a newspaper report on Sunday quoted a military officer as saying. The plans come after an Indian warship on patrol in the region captured 23 Somali and Yemeni pirates trying to hijack an Ethiopian flag-bearing merchant vessel...

China Moving to Merge China Eastern, Shanghai Airlines. - China Southern Airlines Group Chairman Liu Shaoyong was appointed as the new chairman of China Eastern Airlines parent China Eastern Air Holding Co. Friday, appearing to pave the way for the merger of CEA and Shanghai Airlines. In an effort to boost Shanghai’s status as an international aviation hub, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, CEA’s controlling shareholder, reached agreement with the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the Shanghai Municipal Government, SAL’s controlling shareholder, on the merger of the two Shanghai-based airlines, an industry insider told ATWOnline Friday...

Staff Back Aer Lingus Staying Independent, Says CEO. - DUBLIN (Reuters): Staff at Aer Lingus support the airline remaining independent despite the 750 million euro ($995 million) takeover bid by rival Ryanair, Chief Executive Dermot Mannion said on Sunday. Aer Lingus’s board has rejected Ryanair’s all-cash bid of 1.40 euros a share, saying it significantly undervalued the airline...

Can Commercial Jets Fly Upside Down? - Nothing philosophical this week. We’ll keep it real, so to speak, with some red-meat questions and answers from reader-submitted e-mails. A few of these concerns have been dealt with in this column before, but judging from how often I’m asked about them, it’s probably time to review...

First Ever Successful Autoland of the F-16 Fighting Falcon. - PALMDALE: Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., have successfully demonstrated an autonomous landing of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, marking the first time an F-16 has landed entirely under computer control...

Florida Midair Involved Training Aircraft. - A midair on Dec. 6 over the Florida Everglades involved a Cessna 172 and Piper PA-44 Seminole on training flights. The student and instructor in each aircraft were killed. The accident occurred in visual meteorological conditions in a common training area. The NTSB has not yet issued its preliminary report on the accident. "Although midair collisions are extremely rare, the high-traffic airspace in this area requires all pilots to exercise extreme vigilance," said Bruce Landsberg, executive director of the AOPA Air Safety Foundation...

Summit Highlights Large Aircraft Security Proposal. - During a Dec. 10 aviation security summit in Washington, D.C., with airport officials and representatives from the Transportation Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security, AOPA expressed members’ concerns about the proposed Large Aircraft Security Program...

Boeing Schedules 787 Dreamliner First Flight for Second Quarter 2009. - EVERETT, Wash.: Boeing [NYSE: BA] today announced an updated schedule for its all-new 787 Dreamliner program that moves the commercial jet’s first flight into the second quarter of 2009 and first delivery into the first quarter of 2010. The new schedule reflects the impact of disruption caused by the recent Machinists’ strike along with the requirement to replace certain fasteners in early production airplanes.

Pilots Outraged by Release of Cockpit Recordings. - BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP): The main pilots’ federation called for a ban on the public release of cockpit voice recordings from deadly crashes, saying Wednesday the final moments of accident victims should not be used for "public entertainment." The London-based International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations also denounced the publication in Vanity Fair magazine of audio clips of an executive jet and a Boeing 737 involved in a deadly collision over Brazil two years ago...

Embraer's Phenom 100 Executive Jet is Certified by Brazil's ANAC. - SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS, Brazil: (PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX): Embraer’s Phenom 100 entry level executive jet received its Type Certificate from Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Authority (Agencia Nacional de Aviacao Civil - ANAC), in a ceremony held today at Embraer headquarters, in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil...

Azerbaijan Airlines Places $40M GE Engine Order. - GE Aviation said Monday that Azerbaijan Airlines has ordered GE’s CF6-80C2 engines to power two Boeing 767-300ER aircraft it is purchasing. The order is worth $40 million at list price, the company said in a news release. Delivery of the engines will begin in 2010, the company said...

Virgin Atlantic Says in Talks With Lufthansa Over BMI. - (Bloomberg): Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., the trans-Atlantic carrier controlled by billionaire Richard Branson, said it’s in talks with Deutsche Lufthansa AG regarding the future of BMI, which the German carrier is buying. "These discussions may or may not lead to an agreement and a further announcement will be made in due course," Crawley, England-based Virgin said today in a statement. BMI is based in Castle Donington, England...

World's 1st Unisex Muslim Skydiving Center Opens in Iran. - TEHRAN (Xinhua): Iran has launched the "world’s first unisex Muslim skydiving center," Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported here Wednesday. Iran’s Aviation and Pilot Training Company, Paravaran Asseman, has recently opened the "world’s first unisex Muslim sky diving center" in Tehran "with female instructors," Fars said. The center, named "Shahab Skydiving Center," plans to operate all through winter and is preparing for an expansion of its operations in spring 2009...

Chart Availability Could be Compromised in 2009. - An FAA plan to cut costs could end up costing pilots. The agency wants to reduce the number of chart vendors to only those selling at least $5,000 worth of charts annually. Currently, businesses need to sell more than $500 worth each year to be a charting agent. The new threshold would take place Oct. 1, 2009...

China Tells Carriers to Cancel or Postpone 2009 Aircraft Deliveries. - SHANGHAI (AFP): China has asked domestic airlines to cancel or postpone aircraft deliveries due in 2009 as passenger numbers fall due to the global economic slowdown. The Civil Aviation Administration of China also urged the country’s carriers to retire more older planes and reiterated it would not approve any new airlines before 2010, according to a statement on the agency’s website...

Airbus Selects Goodrich Wheels and Carbon Brakes for A350 XWB Aircraft Family. - CHARLOTTE, N.C. (PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX): Goodrich Corporation has been selected by Airbus to supply wheels and carbon brakes for all variants of the A350 XWB family of aircraft. The selection is expected to generate more than $3 billion in revenue over the life of the program. The equipment will be provided by Goodrich’s Aircraft Wheels and Brakes team in Troy, Ohio...

EADS Receives Milestone Process Certification for Its Military Aircraft. - ARLINGTON, VA. (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX): EADS’ Military Transport Aircraft Division (MTAD) has been certified to Capability Maturity Model Integration Level 3 (CMMI 3) specifications, further validating the company’s commitment to and success in applying rigorous process improvement standards in its aircraft, systems and software for U.S. military and homeland defense requirements...

Airbus A380 Cabin May be Too Quiet. - NEEDS NOISE: Is the Airbus A380 too quiet? Yes, according to pilots for Emirates Airlines, who say they can’t get a good night’s sleep on the world’s biggest airplane because their sleeping quarters pick up too much noise from the passenger cabin, like crying babies. They would rather hear the plane’s four engines drowning out those sounds with white noise...

Eclipse's Training Center for Sale. - As Eclipse Aviation deals with its Nov. 25 Chap. 11 bankruptcy filing, the jet maker’s training center on Albuquerque’s Westside continues to look for buyers. The 41,000-square-foot building at 4100 Aerospace Pkwy. NW is on the market for $8.5 million...

Don't Get Caught by Treacherous Terrain. - When it comes to traveling for the holidays, there’s no better means than GA. You get to avoid long car rides and security lines, and you can set your own schedule. But if your holiday flying takes you along routes you rarely travel, especially through the mountains, be sure you’ve done your homework before taking off...

Planenews Fixes and Updates Weather Page. - I finally fixed the weather page (see middle-right of the home page) and updated the HamWeather software to the latest version. Now you can check your local weather on Planenews. If someone could tell me if it works fine with Internet Explorer, please use the comments to let me know (I don’t use Windows!), Thanks!

EADS North America Receives Order for 39 Additional UH-72A Lakota Helicopters. - ARLINGTON, VA (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX): EADS North America has received a contract from the U.S. Army for 39 additional UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopters, extending production under contract of the twin-engine rotary-wing aircraft through 2010...

Airbus Finalises Major Etihad Deal. - PARIS (Reuters): European planemaker Airbus (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported orders for 84 aircraft in November including completion of the largest civil aircraft deal of the year, a 51-plane order from Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways worth over $10 billion...

Continental Airlines to Test Biofuel on 737. - Continental Airlines said it will partner with Boeing Co. to test a 737-800 using biofuel in Houston on Jan. 7. No passengers will be on the flight, which the Houston airline (NYSE: CAL) said will be partially fueled by biofuel made from algae and jatropha plants. The fuel will be used in one of the Boeing Co.’s (NYSE: BA) plane’s two engines and will be a blend of traditional jet fuel and the biofuel...

Elvis Presley's 1962 Private Lockheed Jetstar to be Auctioned. - Elvis Presley was known to be an airplane enthusiast. In fact, he owned three jets during his lifetime, which included a Convair 880 Jet (the famous Lisa Marie) and two Lockheed Jet. After Elvis’ death all jets were sold, and today only Hound Dog II and the Lisa Marie have returned to Graceland. The 1962 Lockheed Jet that will be up for auction is one of only 204 aircrafts manufactured between 1957 and 1978 in a private project between Jetstar and Lockheed...

No Free Airplane Seats for Obese Passengers. - The disabled are not that way by choice; it is a legitimate charge on the rest of society that essential aides of such passengers travel at no charge. However, the decision to treat obese passengers the same way, also part of the Supreme Court ruling, is a whole different bag of groceries...

Sikorsky Wins $840 Million US Army Contract. - NEW YORK (Associated Press): Sikorsky Aerospace Services said Monday it signed an $840 million contract to provide the Army with technical and engineering help at the Corpus Christi Army Depot in Texas...

The 7 Dumbest Things Ever Done by Airport Security. - If there’s one holiday ritual we all know and hate, it’s that yearly trip to the airport, where the friendly security man awaits with his X-ray machine, his metal detector and possibly a well-lubed rubber glove. While none of us want to spend the holidays involved in a terrorist incident (unless you’re living in the Die Hard universe), you have to admit that sometimes security gets a little out of hand. And then there are horror stories like.....