The first Airbus A320 assembled in China completed its first flight, of 4 hr. 14 min., on May 18 from Tianjin International Airport. The aircraft, powered by International Aero Engines V2500s, is to be delivered next month to Dragon Aviation Leasing for operation by Sichuan Airlines. Assembly work was started in August by Tianjin-based Airbus Final Assembly Line China (FALC), a joint venture between the aircraft manufacturer, which holds a 51% stake, and a Chinese consortium (Tianjin Free Trade Zone and China Aviation Industry Corp.) with a 49% share.
As the U.S. Marine Corps moves ahead to field a gunship kit for its KC-130J refuelers, the Air Force’s strategy for its own gunship appears to have stumbled.
American Airlines is hoping tighter links with its Oneworld alliance partners will yield significant international market opportunities, as tough economic conditions and capacity cuts limit the carrier’s ability to expand its network. American intends to cut its international capacity by 2.5% this year and has not ruled out further reductions if bookings for the summer are worse than expected. However, it is still introducing a few new routes—including Madrid-Dallas on May 1—and may add more next year.
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport has appointed a new executive director to help revive waning traffic—John C. Mok, a 25-year airports veteran who spent six years as head of strategic planning for the Hong Kong Airport Authority. Mok acknowledges there are challenges ahead for the airport, which is down to 300 flights daily from peaks in the 600-plus range. The airport is also eager to institute flight service to Asia. Mok, formerly a planner for Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, will be making $235,000 a year plus benefits.
A USAF T-38 Talon crashed 9 mi. north of Edwards AFB, Calif., at about 1:15 p.m. PDT on May 21, according to news reports. No casualty information was available late that day EDT. The advanced jet trainer is a backbone aircraft for government pilots and astronauts and is a testbed for experimental equipment. Test pilots and flight test engineers are trained in T-38s at the Air Force’s Test Pilot School at Edwards.
Northrop Grumman’s teammates for the U.S. Air Force’s KC/KDC-10 Extender contractor logistics support bid have been announced. The company’s Technical Services division entered the competition in December 2007. Teammates include Timco Aviation Services, AAR, Chromalloy Gas Turbine and MTU Maintenance. The contract award is anticipated before the end of June, with the phase-in set to begin on July 1.
Chinese airlines will receive more state aid in the form of a 4.29-billion-yuan ($628-million) refund from the civil aviation administration. The money had initially been collected from airlines for an unspecified government fund, according to the Shanghai Daily, quoting the administration’s deputy director, Yang Guoqing. The contributions covered the year ending June 30. The airlines will also get relief from paying operating fees at small- and medium-size airports this year, with the administration picking up the tab.
Boeing’s 737-based airborne early warning and control aircraft has received its supplemental type certification (STC) from the FAA, marking the first time any of the company’s larger battle-management platforms has received this commercial approval rating. The STC, received on May 11, is an amendment to the 737-700 Increased Gross Weight certification and means the modified aircraft meets all FAA standard airworthiness requirements.
Boeing engineers continue to check out the Indostar II/Protostar II satellite after receiving initial signals following its May 16 launch on an International Launch Services Proton Breeze M vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The 9-hr., 15-min. launch mission placed the Boeing 601 HP spacecraft in the proper geostationary transfer orbit for reaching its operational position at 107.7 deg. E. Long. Protostar Ltd.
To maximize its firefighting capabilities in a very dry year, the Nevada Air National Guard has upgraded its 2,000-gal. SEI Torrentula Bambi Buckets with a power suction system on their four CH-47 Chinook helicopters. “We already use the SEI bambi bucket,” says SFC Don Gable, a flight engineer with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 189th Brigade. But years of drought are leaving traditional water sources far below normal capacity, making them less useful for traditional dip-fill tactics.
Inmarsat has picked European launch provider Arianespace to orbit its Alphasat I-XL communications satellite in 2012, using an Ariane 5 ECA from Arianespace’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Astrium will build the 6-metric-ton satellite based on its Alphabus platform. Alphasat I-XL will join Inmarsat’s 11 geostationary spacecraft offering mobile voice and data services across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Iran’s successful test May 20 of its Sejil-2 two-stage launch vehicle indicates “significant” advances in the nation’s advances in long-range rocketry, says a former senior defense official.
Alenia Aermacchi recently conducted the first three-aircraft formation flight of its M-346 trainer. The 60-min. foray was made by the two prototypes and the LRIP 00 (low-rate initial production aircraft), representative of the series production configuration. An M-311 aircraft acted as a camera ship. The Italian manufacturer is wrapping up the last M-346 development activities and is fitting out a hangar dedicated to the automated build-up and structural assembly lines for series production, which it estimates at a rate of 18-24 aircraft annually.
Counterinsurgency guru David Kilcullen has come in for a lot of attention lately calling for a moratorium on Hellfire missile strikes against terrorist targets inside Pakistan. Kilcullen, a retired Australian Army colonel who advised Gen. David Petraeus when Petraeus commanded U.S.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates struck a reassuring tone for Pentagon contractors during a visit to Capitol Hill last week. “Our nation must not do what we have done after previous times of conflict and slash defense spending,” he told House appropriators. “I can assure you that I will do everything in my power to prevent that from happening on my watch” (see p. 40).
A May 18 NTSB recommendation calls for American Airlines to determine why its Continuing Analysis and Surveillance System (CASS) program failed to identify factors that led to a Sept. 28, 2007, inflight engine fire during Flight 1400’s departure from Lambert St. Louis International Airport. When the DC-9’s nose landing gear failed to extend on a return to the field, the flight crew executed a go-around and lowered the gear using emergency procedures. All 143 people on board deplaned safety from the substantially damaged aircraft.
Flight Safety Foundation President William Voss says there is “no evidence whatsoever” that aircraft maintenance performed at non-U.S. stations is any less safe than that performed in the U.S.—“provided the repair stations and personnel are properly certificated and regulated.” His assertion comes in answer to repeated congressional concerns about safety and quality of maintenance at foreign repair stations.
Testing of a covertly developed all-composite, twin-engine amphibian is getting underway from Seattle’s Lake Washington, with the aim of securing FAA clearance for a flight to the 2009 Experimental Aircraft Assn. convention in Oshkosh, Wis., in mid-summer.
The U.S. Air Force chief of staff has declared a turning point in a cultural and operational evolution to unmanned aerial systems (UAS) from manned aircraft within the service. “This is an inflection point,” Gen. Norton Schwartz said in response to a question May 21 from Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a former Navy fighter pilot.
Aircraft orders this year are likely to come in even lower than the reduced goal set by Airbus, but the aircraft maker is cautious about cutting output too drastically lest it limit the ability to respond if the market improves quickly.
According to the latest Transportation Dept. Air Travel Consumer Report, 14 of the 21 flights that had tarmac delays of 4 hr. or more in March were all operated by Delta Air Lines from Atlanta. The nine flights with the most minutes on the tarmac were all Delta, ranging from just under 5 hr. to 5 hr., 45 min. The only Continental Airlines flight to make the list was also out of Atlanta, as was one of US Airways’ two flights on the list. No Delta flights had tarmac delays of 4 hr. or more in January or February. The Transportation Dept.
AgustaWestland will deliver the first of 16 Boeing ICH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters to the Italian army in 2013 under an almost €900-million contract signed on May 13. The contract includes an initial five years of logistical support and an option for an additional four helicopters. AgustaWestland will establish a final assembly line in Vergiate, near Milan, to which Boeing will provide fuselages and will be responsible for sales and production of CH-47s for Europe, including the U.K., as well as Egypt, Libya and Morocco.
Last year’s spike in oil prices has prompted some airlines to park Bombardier CRJ200 regional jets as they move to cut capacity and utilize aircraft with better fuel efficiency. Three companies are giving some of those CRJs a new life by converting them to business aviation use.
June 4—Business Aviation Security. Rosslyn, Va. June 10—Webinar: Capitalizing on Raw Material Aggregation. July 16—Demonstrating the Value of Corporate Aircraft Management Forum. New York. Aug. 5-6—Required Navigation Performance Management Forum. Dallas. Aug. 12-13—Program Risk Management Forum. Washington. Sept. 22—Green Europe. Hamburg, Germany. Sept. 22-24—MRO Europe Conference & Exhibition. Hamburg. Oct. 6-7—Human Capital and Talent Acquisition/Labor Management Forum. Chicago.
Thales says “the deteriorating economic environment is starting to impact certain businesses.” In particular, the company is experiencing financing problems for commercial space constellations—Thales Alenia Space is the supplier for Globalstar 2 and O3B—and the slowdown in commercial aerospace is reverberating through the company. Thales also says its first-half avionics earnings will be hit by cost overruns on several programs it would not identify. Thales has been affected by development problems on the A400M military airlifter and NH90 rotorcraft.
