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.
Eurocopter is looking to replace the turbine engine in its light single EC120 with a diesel engine. The program is a priority at Eurocopter, said Yves Favennec, vice president for research and innovation at last week’s Heli-Expo. The diesel, he said, will have a 30-40 percent better fuel burn than the Turbomeca Arrius that now powers the EC120, with correspondingly fewer emissions. He could not provide a timetable, but said Eurocopter is working as fast as possible on the project.
Few observers expected major orders to be announced at this year’s Heli-Expo, but the event still brought people together from all around the world, pens in hand ready to sign contracts. And sign they did.
Eurocopter will fly two new commercial models of helicopter this year, probably in the third quarter, according to CEO Lutz Bertling. “We will have two first flights in Europe, and we hope to bring the helicopters to Heli-Expo in 2011,” he said. Bertling declined to give any more details.
