Flight International

UK Royal Family Chooses VIP S76 Sikorsky Helicopter

2009-11-06T08:51:59Z

Cutaway of the S76. (More cutaways here.)

From a Sikorsky statement:

Sikorsky Global Helicopters, a business unit of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., has delivered a new VIP S-76C++™ helicopter to the Royal Travel Office for use by the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. Sikorsky is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp.

Sikorsky has provided helicopters to support the Royal Family since the early 1950's, including the R4, S-51, S-55, S-58, S-58T, S-76B and the S-76C+ helicopters. The new S76C++ helicopter entered service in September.

"The new S76C++ helicopter will continue to provide the Royal Family with a high quality and efficient helicopter travel service," said Captain Christopher Pittaway, Manager and Chief Pilot of The Queen's Helicopter Flight. "It most closely meets the mission requirements by providing a quiet and comfortable cabin environment, low carbon footprint and best value for money. We have enjoyed excellent product support from Sikorsky over many years and I look forward to a continued relationship."

Carey Bond, President, Sikorsky Global Helicopters, said: "The S-76C++ helicopter has distinguished itself by its quality, safety, performance and style as an aircraft of choice for VVIP transport. We are honored that the Royal Family and so many others entrust their safety and comfort to us."

The S-76C++ helicopter features engine, air vehicle, interior and avionics upgrades. These include a more powerful Turbomeca Arriel 2S2 Engine, an inlet barrier filter to protect the engine against erosion and environmental contaminants, a new VIP interior, a new optional Health and Usage Monitoring System and a quiet main gearbox using Quiet Zone™ technology that significantly reduces interior noise levels without any weight maintenance penalties.

The S-76® helicopter serves a multi-mission role that includes offshore oil transport, VIP transport, including head of state, emergency medical transport, search and rescue and civil defense. The S-76C++ helicopter was initially certified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in January 2006. More recently, it was certified for unconstrained operations in extreme snowy conditions. The European Aviation Safety Agency certified the type design in July 2006, allowing for the export of the S-76C++ helicopter to all European Union countries.

Two New Flightglobal Twitter Accounts

2009-11-05T13:39:03Z

Attention Twitter users, we have two new accounts for you to follow.

For in-flight entertainment and connectivity news, follow @FG_IFEC

For aviation and the environment news, follow @FG_Environment

Thanks to the list function on Twitter, you can easily find and follow all of our accounts here.

Stefan's Phenom-enal journey - Orlando to Oxford

2009-11-05T09:19:47Z

Hi Stefan here.

FlairJet recently took delivery of its Phenom 100 which took off from Orlando. I was lucky enough to be invited to travel on the first UK 'G' registered Embraer Phenom 100 (G-SRBN).

We touched down at its new home at London Oxford Airport, at 15.28 (GMT) on 29 October. At the controls were Oxford-based FlairJet CEO and Capt David Fletcher and Capt Graham Rose.

We were met by the FlairJet team at the Oxfordjet FBO with champagne at the ready. I might have had more than my fair share.

The journey back began from Orlando where FlairJet attended the 62nd NBAA show and picked up the aircraft.

Last minute changes meant we needed to fly from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale in the Phenom 100, then from Miami to Sao Paulo by a scheduled TAM flight.

FlairJet formally accepted the aircraft from Embraer in Sao Jose dos Campos following the certification of airworthiness issued by the UK CAA. The delivery was completed in two stages with the Phenom 100 originally leaving Embraer's Brazilian facility for delivery to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

See the rest of our route below and click on the images of me.

It was truly a Phenom-enal journey(!) and although it wasn't the most direct route, it meant I got acquainted with FlairJet and its new aircraft.

Capt Fletcher said: "The aircraft handled brilliantly. It was a joy to fly, especially the spectacular approaches into the Caribbean, the Dutch Antilles of St Maarten and the fjords of Narsarsuaq, Greenland."

Total 'delivery' flying mileage was 7,730nm. Capt Fletcher, former pilot on Monarch Airlines' Airbus A320, compared flying the two aircraft: "In many ways, the Phenom is similar to the A320 with its intelligent flight management system and ease of operation, but it is much more fun to fly."

Flightglobal Business & General Aviation Editor Kate Sarsfield reports on the Phenom 100 delivery to FlairJet...

Does that '87 come with fries?

2009-11-05T09:15:04Z

From the third-quarter results of SAS Group today:

So what happened to the A330-200F's tail?

2009-11-04T23:20:36Z

Er...nothing, really. Airbus assures me that this isn't a made-in-Toulouse version of the 'tall vehicle, low bridge' gaffe, which would have been unfortunate timing given that the A330-200 freighter is scheduled to make its maiden flight tomorrow.

Although the appearance of the vertical fin in this photo, from the Skyliner site, has prompted one or two comments in web-world, a chap close to the programme says the working party had removed the Flight Test Installation end-cap for a minor modification. It's already back in place ready for 'le grand spectacle'.

Confessions from Cabin Crew

2009-11-04T11:48:41Z

The London Times has a great collection of tales from cabin crew.

"A lady boarded with the biggest hair and became quite on edge when she saw she had a window seat. She told me: 'I can't sit there, I've just had my hair done and have an important meeting when we get there. If anyone opens the window, it'll be ruined.'"

You can read the rest here. If you have stories of your own, please share in the comments section.

Germanwings and Ryanair Spout

2009-11-04T05:25:41Z

(AirSpace user APG Photography)

Germanwings CEO Thomas Winkelmann recently predicted Ryanair's demise, saying, "I think the Ryanair model is coming to an end. The more Ryanair flies to a destination, the more losses taken by the airport and the local tax payers wont stand for that."

Ryanair responded by saying, "We only reply to airlines that have a significant market share. Germanwings is the fly on the arse of the airline industry, so we're not going to bother."

Another day in the world of European LCCs.

Documentary About Frequent Flyer Mile Accumulators

2009-11-03T11:02:24Z

For an assignment at the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley, frequent flyer miler hoarder Gabriel Leigh decided to make a documentary about his fellow frequent flyer mile accumulators.

His result is a 20 minute look into the fascinating--or bewildering, depending on your point of view--world of frequent flyer programmes. As the occasional mileage runner, I could easily relate to the video. The highlight for me was hearing how one mileage runner found an $8 fare between two cities in Thailand and hired local Thais to fly the route multiple times a day for 6 weeks. The organizer (who I presume took control of his workforce's accounts) ended up with over a million frequent flyer miles--and an inquiry from the Drug Enforcement Agency about if he was actually flying drug mules around Thailand.

This is 20 minutes but exceptionally well put together and worth your time.

Frequent Flyer from Gabriel Leigh on Vimeo.

Capt Sullenberger awarded GAPAN Master's Medal

2009-11-03T10:47:32Z

The Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators (GAPAN) has awarded the Master's Medal to the crew of US Airways Flight 1549, for an exemplary exercise in ditching their Airbus A320 in the Hudson River near New York with no injury or loss of life.

The detailed citation on the crew's work that day, 15 January 2009, includes this statement: "The crew quickly cleared all the passengers: parents with children, an elderly woman, and dozens of people travelling on business. Capt Sullenberger then walked up and down the cabin, twice, to make sure everyone was out. He then took a final look at his sinking aircraft, grabbed the maintenance logbook and jumped onto a life-raft that was then filled with passengers."

The presentation took place at the Guildhall in the City of London on 29 October, and the medal was received on behalf of the crew by the aircraft commander, Capt Chesley Sullenberger, and two of his cabin crew, Donna Dent and Sheila Dail.

Not present for the ceremony were the flight's First Officer Jeff Skiles and Flight Attendant Doreen Welsh.

The awards were presented by the Guild's Master, Rear Admiral C Cooke-Priest, and the immediate Past Master Air Commodore R Peacock-Edwards.

GAPAN also presented Flight International with its Award for Aviation Journalism. The citation noted Flight's work in "charting the major events and developments in aviation and making sense of them to both the general public and to the professionals since its first issue was published 100 years ago on 2 January 1909, weeks after Cody's 'hop' at Farnborough."

It added: "Flight International's team of committed and knowledgeable journalists under the current editorship of Murdo Morrison, are trusted by the people they interview and in turn trusted by their readers to deliver factually accurate and balanced information and well-informed insights. They provide a valuable service to the general media of providing expert comment to explain the complexities of aviation to a public audience."

The Award was accepted on behalf of the Flight International team by Operations and Safety Editor David Learmount.

The Guild presented more than 20 Awards for outstanding services to aviation that evening. A list of the Award winners can be found on the GAPAN website.

LEARMOUNT: Why Sully succeeds

Related stories:

Hudson crash: A320's engines lost power simultaneously - including CNN video news report

Archive:

The Cody Flyer

Passenger Ejects Himself From Aircraft Mid-Flight

2009-11-03T10:13:09Z

Head over to our DEW Line blog to hear the story of a passenger who ejected himself from an aircraft mid-flight.

Ryanair: We'll Overtake British Airways

2009-11-03T06:37:24Z

Out of London this morning is Michael O'Leary's proclamation (no, not about needing a better deal from Boeing on more 737s, and no, not the BBC documentary was biased) that Ryanair could overtake British Airways as the largest domestic British carrier.

(It was at this point O'Leary qualified his statement, saying that would occur only if the carrier could obtain more favorable rates on new 737s.)

Ryanair's headline-grabbing tactics aside, Ryanair will very likely overtake BA. This decade has seen the shift of low-cost and secondary carriers overtake their legacy counterparts. In Australia, Virgin Blue (which is a "new world airline", not a LCC) offers more domestic flights than Qantas, the country's dearly-held carrier.

In America, LCCs like Southwest and jetBlue have become traveler's carrier of choice. In the next decade, we'll likely see this trend continue.

For once, Michael O'Leary wasn't all about hot air.

Former Pilot Lives in Brazil Airport

2009-11-03T06:20:34Z

No, it's not The Terminal, but a former airline pilot lived for two weeks in a Brazil airport until authorities removed the German man.

There are conflicting reports if the man was waiting for his girlfriend or had been broken up with. Either way, the man was apparently out of money and decided to stay at the airport.

While the man was no longer a pilot, this is a reminder of increasing public awareness that being a pilot--and working for an airline in general--is far, far gone from its golden days.

Our very own David Learmount recently said why you shouldn't marry a pilot. For further evidence, consider the cohort of airline pilots that live in a parking lot at LAX.

PICTURE: US Airways Flight 1549 crew receive Guild of Air Pilots & Air Navigators (GAPAN) Award

2009-10-30T14:07:59Z

Captain Chesley B (Sully) Sullenberger and some of his crew, (Donna Dent, Sheila Dail) who ensured the safety of all 150 passengers after the US Airways A320 Flight 1549, crash-landed in the Hudson River west of New York City after a departure from LaGuardia Airport.

Sully accepted the Master's Medal for "an outstanding aviation achievement" from Air Cdr Rick Peacock-Edwards , Immediate Past Master (GAPAN) last night at The Guild's Annual Trophies & Awards Banquet in London's Guildhall for his and his crew's actions back in January following a bird strike and double engine failure.

On This Day in 1998: John Glenn Returns to Space--Ego Trip?

2009-10-29T12:37:20Z

On 29 October 1998, John Glenn became the oldest person to enter space as STS95/Space Shuttle Discovery hosted him as a payload specialist.

You can read our original coverage here from the archives. A few months earlier we pondered whether his trip was for scientific purposes of just a "romantic ego trip". What did we reckon? Find out here.

Qantas Wins Dubious Honour

2009-10-29T12:21:57Z

Maybe there is such a thing as bad publicity.

The Age reports:

Qantas says it does not deserve "in any way" the "Shonky" award it received from Choice today, for what the consumer watchdog believes is the airline's "sky-high" surcharge on bookings made with a credit card.

The Shonky awards - now in their fourth year - aim to name and shame "dubious, dodgy and doubtful" products on the basis of their performance, pricing and marketing claims, Choice said.

Qantas charges each passenger $7.70 to purchase domestic tickets with a credit card, while international flights incur a $25 surcharge. Other Australian airlines (Jetstar, Tiger, and Virgin) charge credit card fees, but not as high as Qantas does.

Yes, credit card companies charge outlets whenever someone uses a credit card, but as the Shonky award identified, Qantas is going excessive.