John was editor of Aviation Week's ShowNews for nearly two decades. He retired in 2020. His background in business journalism before joining Aviation Week includes stints at Reuters, the American Banker daily banking newspaper and as business news editor at the Milwaukee Journal and the Cincinnati Enquirer.
A lifelong aviation enthusiast, John has been a private pilot for 34 years and won an award at EAA Oshkosh for his restoration of a vintage British Auster army spotter aircraft. He is currently building a 1920s Staaken Flitzer biplane from plans. John attended his first Farnborough Air Show in 1952, when just eight months old.
As aircraft become more electric, so, too does the complexity of integrating their systems and making sure they work together as planned under all scenarios. Now GE Aviation, better known for engines, has invested heavily in what may be the world’s first facility to do just that. GE Aviation is four months away from opening what it believes is the largest and most sophisticated electrical power research and development facility for future aircraft and UAVs.
A resurgence of interest in the updated Dornier 228 NG from commuter airlines has prompted RUAG Aviation to consider producing another batch of the twin-turboprop multirole aircraft. “We want to pre-sell the next batch before we go ahead with it, but then keep on selling for another batch afterward,” a company executive says.
PARIS — Italy’s Finmeccanica expects to return to profitability this year as the restructuring of the aerospace and defense conglomerate over the last 18 months begins to reap rewards. Progress was slowed by goodwill write-downs in 2012 on its U.S.-based DRS and Europe-based Selex ES defense electronics businesses, and the removal of top management in February amid allegations of corruption that the company strenuously denies.
