SNPL France ALPA, France's leading airline pilot union, says its members will not report to work Feb. 6-9 as part of a retaliatory initiative against a proposal to revise rules governing walkouts in the airline industry. Eric Diard, a right-wing member of parliament, is proposing that unions be required to give carriers notice 48 hr. before a walkout to make it easier for airlines to plan contingency flight schedules. The proposal also calls for alerting air passengers about cancellations no later than 24 hr. before departure dates.

AERONAUTICS/PROPULSION •The AeroVironment Nano Air Vehicle Team developed and unveiled a tiny remotely piloted air vehicle, the Nano Hummingbird. Looking and flying like a tiny bird, it is designed to record video with an onboard camera and send color video to a hand-held controller.

“Find the niche and fill it” is a venerable maxim and one Butler National

“Mr. President, congratulations. You're a tough adversary. No hard feelings, old pal. It's a great two-party system we have. We gave our best and you outdid us. As a matter of fact you stunned us. I never figured you could beat us that badly. I want to wish you all the success in the world.” Those words were spoken three decades ago by then-U.S. House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O'Neill, a liberal Massachusetts Democrat, to President Ronald Reagan, a conservative Republican, after the chief executive prevailed in a tough budget battle.

Russia's United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) has reported assembly of the first Ilyushin Il-476 flight prototype, a modernized version of the Il-76MD heavy transport aircraft. The prototype was shown publicly for the first time at the Aviastar-SP production facility in Ulyanovsk in mid-December. A UAC representative told Aviation Week the official rollout will be in early 2012, with first flight expected in the spring.

“Find the niche and fill it” is a venerable maxim and one Butler National

Back when two-way radios the size of bricks were the closest things to cell phones, and beepers the equivalent of texting, a 20-something manager of a General Motors chassis line in Montreal ducked out of work to run an errand. As luck would have it, a glitch shut down the auto line just as he reached the checkout counter. Suddenly, a gargantuan belt strapped around his waist came to life, with two beepers shrieking and flashing and the radio squawking.

“Find the niche and fill it” is a venerable maxim and one Butler National