With Boeing's support since 2002, Insitu has famously adapted the SeaScan unmanned air system from a tuna boat accessory into the ScanEagle, which has essentially invented an operational niche for a small tactical UAS (STUAS) for the US Navy and a Tier II platform for the US Marine Corps.
Bolivia appears set to become the first nation to acquire surplus Aero Vodochody L-159s from the Czech Republic, with its government having approved funds for an expected $57.8 million deal for six of the light combat and trainer aircraft. Continue reading...
Picture credit: oneworld
British Airways is to ground 16 aircraft for the upcoming winter season, to rein in capacity following the sharp decline in passenger demand.
The airline will ground eight Boeing 747-400s and eight 757-200s to cut capacity by 4% for winter 2009-10.
Northamptonshire's Silverstone race circuit is host international air sports event, the 25th FAI World Aerobatic Championships on 28 and 29 August.
The event, organised by Flying Aces in partnership with the British Aerobatic Association will feature along with the eighth round of the MSA British Touring Car Championship series.
AgustaWestland has clinched an order from Egypt's Petroleum Air Services for an AW139 helicopter plus an option for two more of the medium twins.
The deal marks the ... continue reading...
Sir Geoffrey de Havilland died 44 years ago today. Pictured is a De Havilland Mosquito on display at the RAF Museum, Hendon, London.
In 1942 Flight published a feature on the Mosquito in its "Aircraft types and their characteristics" series, in which the aircraft was described as the "RAF's latest, and probably fastest, light reconnaissance- bomber."
See today's Flight Blog for Flight's obituary on the late great aviation pioneer.
Also....the de Havilland Aircraft Centre recently celebrated its 50th anniversary making it the UK's oldest heritage collection.
"We prefer to say the first," says chairman Philip Birtles, who celebrated the landmark with a visit from the centre's Royal Petron, HRH The Duke of Gloucester.
The museum first opened on 15 May 1959 displaying the prototype DH98 Mosquito, a fitting exhibit is based at Salisbury Hall in London Colney where the "wooden wonder" was conceived and the prototypes were built. Series production took place at nearby Hatfield.
The museum, which now has three Mosquitoes along with other iconic DH aircraft and engine designs, is seeking funds to construct a permanent protection for its expanding collection and has lodged a Heritage Lottery Fund bid to assist with creating a Second World War experience named after famous RAF night fighter and DH test pilot, John Cunningham.
French start-up manufacturer Lisa Airplanes is planning to launch a six-seat turbine-powered version of its Akoya ultralight seaplane within the next five years boosted by demand from its growing international customer base for a larger stablemate.
Details of the new aircraft are sketchy, but Troillard says the new family member will have similar features to the Akoya, including a retractable landing gear and the ability to operate from land, water and snow.
On this day in 1988 Southwest Airlines unveiled a Boeing 737-300 painted in an unusual livery.
Southwest Airlines and the US State of Texas SeaWorld of Texas joined up to promote Texas as a major tourist attraction.
Southwest's website said: "Southwest becomes Sea World of Texas' official airline and creates "Shamu One," a Boeing 737 painted like Shamu the killer whale. Later in the year, Southwest becomes the official airline of SeaWorld of California."
This image shows three Shamu liveried 737s. Presumably the last is for the Orlando SeaWorld branch.
Aviatrix Amelia Earhart became the first woman to make solo flight across the North Atlantic, from Harbour Grace in Newfoundland to Derry in Northern Ireland. flying a Lockheed Vega.
Here's a video produced by Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
Naturally Flight recorded the event in its 27 May 1932 issue: "The first time in the History of Aeronautics the Atlantic has been conquered by a woman pilot, flying solo. This feat has been accomplished by Mrs. G. P. Putnam--or, as she is better known, Miss Amelia Earhart--who in 1928 flew as passenger from Newfoundland to South Wales in the Fokker seaplane Friendship, piloted by Wilmer Stultz.
"Miss Earhart--who has been nicknamed " Lady Lindy " on account of her likeness to Col. Charles Lindbergh, who made the first solo Atlantic flight exactly five years previous to her present feat--has also accomplished the crossing in the fastest time so far achieved."
Avidyne sent this image through of its Entegra Release 9 Integrated Flight Deck (IFD) system which was delivered and installed into a customer's Cirrus SR22 aircraft this week.
Dan Schwinn, Avidyne's president and CEO said: "Entegra owners now have access to all the benefits of the Release 9 upgrade and they only have to be without their aircraft for a short amount of time in order to get it."
It looks quite smart and a bit like an ultra-modern car's dashboard.
An Indonesian military Lockheed C-130 crashed in east Java today and latest reports say the death toll is 78.
Nostalgia plays no role in defence planning, so one of the last users, Turkey, can't be faulted for retiring its F-4s to make way for the fifth-generation Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter.
Continue reading...
The first Chinese-assembled Airbus A320 completed its first flight today at 14:56 local time.
Airbus says in a statement the aircraft took off from Tianjin airport at precisely 10:42 and landed back at the airport four hours and 14 minutes later at 14:56. Continue reading...
AirSpace user Berniec added this action shot of an RAF Boeing C-17 Globemaster which will also appear in tomorrow's edition of Flight International.
Bombardier is confident that a proposed multi-mission variant of its Q400 is set to propel the turboprop into use for specialised, non-airline missions.
Picture credit: Airbus Deutschland 2009
Airbus has revealed the first details of the A350 XWB's flight test programme, which will involve five aircraft flying about 3,000h.
The airframer intends to begin flight-testing a cabin-equipped aircraft early in the programme to understand the interior's behaviour in the carbonfibre fuselage.
Boeing has partnered with Greenpoint Technologies to offer sleeper berths and lounges for 747-8 VIP operators, announcing orders to outfit four aircraft.
AirSpace user Berniec added this action shot of an RAF Boeing C-17 Globemaster which will also appear in tomorrow's edition of Flight International.
Turkey has disbanded its first squadron of McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom strike aircraft, under a transition plan leading to its future operation of Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
Picture credit: Boeing
See more images in an Asian Skies blog post and a video of the first Boeing 787 roll out in ANA colours. Additional images can be seen in a gallery on AirSpace.
Picture credit: Billypix
EBACE 2009, Day 1. Here is a general view of the static display. Check our EBACE 09 page which has all the latest news, images, blogs, videos and follow Flightglobal journalists as they tweet their way round the show...
Here is this week's image of the week uploaded by user Joris van Boven. See more images in his gallery on AirSpace
Picture credit: Khrunichev Space Center
Fourteen years after the start of development, Russia's Angara rocket needs a cash injection of billions more roubles to deliver the planned 2011 first flights of its 1.2 and A5 versions.
Picture credit: Karem Aircraft
The AeroTrain development plan is focused on designing, analysing and testing the elements of the aircraft that are most different from the existing aircraft inventory," Karem says.
The TR53 would share a similar fuselage with the 737-600, with a 32m (106ft) length and 3.96m cross-section accommodating six-abreast seating.
The most visible difference involves the design of the propulsion and aerofoil. Instead of a pod-mounted turbofan on a straight low-wing, the TR53 would feature two, 16m-diameter tiltrotors on either side of the fuselage on a 34.5m-span high-wing with dihedral wingtips.
But that is not the TR53's only departure from conventional narrowbody technology. The primary structure for the fuselage and wing would be composite, a potential first in the narrowbody class. The aircraft also would have fly-by-wire controls.
The UK Royal Air Force's fleet of six Boeing C-17 airlifters, based at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, has reached the 50,000 flight hour milestone after eight years in service. Continue reading and see Max Kingsley Jones' video...
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Picture credit Rex Features/Jonathan Hordle
Britain's Royal Navy marked the centenary of its aviation with a celebratory flypast over HMS Illustrious on the River Thames today.
Forty naval aircraft led by four Merlin attack helicopters and including Sea Kings, Hawks and Jetstreams, flew directly over "Lusty" the strike carrier moored near Greenwich's Old Royal Naval College.
Prince Andrew, commodore-in-chief of the Navy met veterans of World War II, the Falklands War and the conflict in Afghanistan. HMS Illustrious will remained moored in London for the next few days.
The coming months are to be a period of celebration for the Royal Navy, with the UK's "senior service" marking the 100th anniversary of its first foray into aviation activities.
Continue reading Defence Editor Craig Hoyle's feature on a century of Royal Navy air power
Picture credit: Katsuhiko Tokunaga/Pilatus Aircraft
Pilatus PC-9 performed its maiden flight on this day 25 years ago. Here's how Flight reported the event and see also a general arrangement diagram in the feature.
Dassault Falcon's Falcon 2000LX received certification from the FAA last week. EASA certification was granted on 23 April 23rd. The first delivery of the aircraft is set for early May.
Links:
See our interactive business jet guide
Picture credit - Dassault Falcon
China has certified the Cessna Citation XLS for operations at elevations of up to 15,000ft (4,572m) after tests at
This image, uploaded to AirSpace by user Dragonlady shows a French Air Force Airbus A340 on finals to Birmingham Airport on 26 April 2009.
The TBM's core constituency - conceived as executives deploying aircraft as a business tool - is expected to expand, as corporate belt-tightening forces a move to smaller models, but Chabbert cautions that the pace of change could be slow.
"You don't change overnight things that take months or years to establish...but we see the trend. There is a trend of not being seen as the 'jet buyer' or 'jet user'."
Socata manufactures the TBM range of single-engined turboprops at its base in Tarbes, a south-western French town nestled amid perennially snow-capped Pyrenees mountains.
Prox Dynamics' 15g (0.59oz) 100mm (3.93in) rotorspan PD-100 Black Hornet helicopter prototype Hornet-3a made its maiden outdoor flight on 7 April in Asker, Norway. Continue reading...
AgustaWestland has formally unveiled a full-scale mock-up of its AW149 armed utility helicopter at the IDEF exhibition in Istanbul, Turkey. Continue reading....
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