Airbus is celebrating today after Russian carrier Transaero signed an MOU for four 700-seat A380s. It follows the airframer's first display of the superjumbo in Russia at the MAKS air show in August. Assuming the order is firmed up, here's how the aircraft will probably look.
Credit: Airbus
Pictured is the Airbus Military A400M Grizzly (or is it Atlas these days?) undergoing water ingestion tests recently as it nears civil certification.
Credit: Airbus Military
Following on from the news story the other day about launch customer All Nippon Airways lightly denting its brand new Boeing 787, here's the photographic evidence of the damage done. Like we said, it'll buff out.
Slight poetic licence there, and there seems to be no fearful symetry to behold in this picture, but the Eurocopter Tiger looks the part. At the moment Eurocopter is pushing them to the South Koreans for that country's likely AH-X contest, but there are rumours, meanwhile, that the German armed forces are looking to cut their order. Watch this space.
Credit: Eurocopter
Very much as the title of the post suggests: Airbus has mounted the first Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine to its A380 flying testbed as it gears up to launch the flight test campaign. With its 118-inch diameter fan, it's fair to describe the engine, which will power the A350, as "quite big really".
Credit: Airbus
To celebrate the delivery of China Southern's first Airbus A380, here's a shot of it taking to the skies earlier today.
Credit: Airbus
In a first for the Naval demonstrator programme, the X-47B UCAV flew with its gear up in cruise configuration on 30 September in a flight from Edwards AFB. Next step for Northrop Grumman is to transfer the aircraft to Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland prior to shore-based carrier suitability tests in 2012. At some future point it will then attempt to land on an aircraft carrier.
Credit: Northrop Grumman
It may be as cheesy as a bowl of fondue, but I can't help but like this wonderful photo of a flight of 10 Lockheed Martin C-130Js over Germany. According to the photo blurb it was during Europe's first full-spectrum training environment rotation, with the aircraft assigned to the 37th Airlift Squadron at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. So there.
Credit: US Air Force
Swiss heavyweight Comlux has snubbed the industry's big brands to become launch customer for the VIP version of Sukhoi's Superjet 100 airliner - just four months after the variant was announced at the Paris air show.
The order for two Sukhoi Business Jets, plus two options, was unveiled today by SuperJet International, the joint venture between Alenia Aeronautica and the Russian manufacturer, which is responsible for marketing the jet outside the former Soviet Union and Asia.
Given that commitments for Boeing's 747-8 Intercontinental have been rarer than hen's teeth - Korean and kings of the new aircraft type, Lufthansa, being the only airlines to order thus far - it's probably a welcome relief for Boeing that another carrier, Nigeria's Arik Air, has decided to join the party. OK, it's only for two aircraft (and not the potential five that Arik once promised) but orders is orders...
Credit: Boeing
We've had corporate/VIP jets, transport for the mining sector, MedEvac and now the latest use for a slightly shop-soiled four-engined jet is...firebombing. Canadian firm Tronos has converted the first of the type to tackle US forest fires.
Credit: Tronos
With all the bad publicity surrounding Lockheed Martin's F-35, here's a piece of good news illustrated in visual form: an F-35B successfully performing the first carrier landing of any of any JSF, touching down on the deck of the USS Wasp. All the F-35B has to do now is avoid cancellation...
Credit: US Navy
Featured for no other reason than it's a great photograph, here's a Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II from the US Air Force Weapons School at Nellis AFB, Nevada, dropping a Raytheon AGM-65 Maverick during a close-air support training mission over the Nevada Test and Training Range.
Credit: US Air Force
Something different for a change. ANA's low cost subsidiary Peach Aviation (which apparently is a hideously contrived accronym along the lines of Pan-Asian, Energetic, Affordable, Cute & Cool, Happy - which, to my mind at least, spells out PAEACCH) has revealed the uniforms to be worn by cabin crew when it starts operations in March next year. It's um.... quite pink.
Credit: Peach Aviation
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