Barbara Cockburn: January 2012 Archives

Our Image of the Day blog featured a shot of a Bahrain Air Airbus A320  displaying in the kingdom. The Sukhoi Su-27 tail in the foreground bears the Russian Knights team's livery.

On Ariel View, Arie Egozi noted that the Israeli air force has stepped up its joint exercises with NATO members' militaries.

Since the Gaza flotilla raid lost it a partner in Turkey, it has built "working relations" with Romania and Greece. "NATO is not mentioned... but it is clear that 'mutual interests' are in the background," wrote Egozi.

A post on space blog Hyperbola pondered whether the US Air Force would use Boeing's X-37B minishuttle to spy on China's Tiangong 1 station. Verdict? "Maybe - but not yet."

On The Green Wing, Kirsty McGregor delved into a report by law firm Holman Fenwick Willan to list precisely what the emissions trading system requires airlines to do between now and April 2013.

FlightBlogger reported from Miami, where he sampled Airbus simulator training and learned about the European airframer's digital fly-by-wire philosophy. He posted video that "shows the technology in action... in rather dramatic fashion".

On defence blog The DEW Line, Stephen Trimble noted Northrop's next-generation airliner concept, a response to a NASA request. "It's the first airliner optimised for radar cross section!" wrote Trimble.

"That's one way for airlines to get around slot restrictions at LHR."

Our Image of the Day blog featured a shot of Greek air force Northrop Grumman F-16s, Israeli air force Boeing F-15s and an Israeli Boeing 707 tanker flying in the Middle Eastern nation in November (above) (credit IAF Magazine).

Five Greek F-16s took part in a five-day exercise that included practice dogfights.

FlightBlogger marked the passing of Bob Smyth by posting video of a lecture the legendary Grumman test pilot gave at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in 2007.

From Nashville, Tennessee, Stephen Trimble updated his military blog The DEW Line with a clip of Alton Romig - the new chief of Lockheed Martin Skunk Works - fielding a question on the possibility of a sixth-generation fighter.

A stroll past the window display of Iran Air's London office inspired news editor Dominic Perry to add a photograph of a Boeing 727 bearing the carrier's 1970s livery to the Image of the Day blog.

Asian Skies had shots of the Taiwanese air force's newly arrived Martin B-26 Marauder.

And on Ariel View, Arie Egozi noted the Israeli civil aviation authority's decision not to allow virtual airlines, sealing the fate of El Al's charter subsidiary Sundor.

In his Movie Monday series, Jon "FlightBlogger" Ostrower highlighted a CSeries-themed interview that Bombardier's Chet Fuller gave to Canada's Business News Network.

"The conversation does not touch on the tactic of price as a weapon in a sales battle," wrote Ostrower. "Fuller continually emphasises the technical merits of the aircraft as its selling point."

On his military blog The DEW Line, Stephen Trimble invited visitors to predict airpower's winners and losers in 2012.

On Asian Skies, Greg Waldron assessed an Institute for National Strategic Studies report on China's quest for advanced military aviation technologies - and decided it "does a good job balancing the pros and cons of buying technology overseas, developing it at home, and acquiring it through espionage".