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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 1696.PDF
HEADLINES AIR TRANSPORT DAVID LEARMOUNT / LONDON Eurocontrol drafts charging formula Concerns raised over shortage of time for consultation All users of European airspace will have to pay standardised charges to air navigation service providers (ANSP), according to draft rules and formulae published by Euro- control under the Single European Sky (SES) legislation. The deadline for industry com ment on the draft regulation - which has enraged the general avi ation community - is 17 Septem ber. This and other SES rules are being rushed through the consulta tion process by Eurocontrol on an SES timetable set by the European Commission. To manage the charging system, the sky would be divided into "charging volumes of airspace" (CVA), including en-route upper airspace, en-route lower airspace, terminal manoeuvring areas (TMA) and aerodrome control. Charges for en-route air navigation services (ANS) would be calculated accord ing to a formula that takes account of the distance flown in each CVA and the aircraft weight. Charges for aerodrome ANS would be made for each arrival or departure. ANSPs would have to notify Eurocontrol and the EC of charging rates, and they would have to make full public disclosure of all costs, breaking them down for individual CVAs. Cross-subsidisation would be banned, the intention being for costs of service provision in each CVA to be recovered. Governments of Eurocontrol member states would be free "to exempt certain categories of flights" from paying charges, but would be responsible for "transpar ently" paying the ANSP for the cost of providing services for the ex empted CVAs or operator categories. Eurocontrol's draft rules state: "The costs of en-route ANS made available to flights performed under visual flight rules (VFR) shall be recovered from airspace users by means of a charge per flight or of an annual charge." This has enraged Europe's aircraft owners and pilots associations, who claim that "services made available" are normally not used by VFR aircraft in uncontrolled airspace. For airlines, the charging formu lae contain factors similar to those used now. Virgin Atlantic wants charges related to the cost of service provision, noting that the size and weight of an aircraft do not affect the cost of providing en-route ANS. SEE GENERAL AVIATION P23 SPACEFLIGHT , Elevator challenge launched As the Ansari X-Prize competition to jump-start space tourism nears a climax, a new challenge has been launched to spur development of space elevator systems. The Spaceward Foundation has launched the Elevator: 2010 project to advance technology and raise awareness of systems that promise to lift payloads to orbit for a fraction of the cost of today's rockets. A space elevator is a thin but immensely strong ribbon suspended from orbit up which vehicles climb, powered by energy beamed from the ground, to place payloads into orbit. The baseline elevator envisioned by Spaceward has a 100,000km (62,000-mile)-long carbon-nanotube ribbon, 0.9m (3ft) wide and thinner than a sheet of paper, capable of supporting 20t climbers moving at 320km/h (200mph). Unlike the X-Prize, which offers $10 million to the first team that demonstrates reusable suborbital spaceflight, Elevator: 2010 intends to run annual competitions in climber technology, tether strength and power beaming, starting in June next year. Using a crane-mounted ribbon as the racetrack, a $50,000 prize will be awarded to the light-powered climber with the highest speed and payload, with $10,000 prizes for tether strength/weight and power beaming efficiency. The foundation also plans an X-Prize-like challenge worth up to $15 million. Briefing BA bales out of Qantas DISPOSAL British Airways has sold its 18.25% stake in Qantas, providing the UK carrier with A$1.1 billion ($760 million) to pay off debt and focus on European consolidation opportunities and freeing the Australian carrier to pursue Asian expansion. Trading in Qantas shares was halted on 8 September and resumed the next day on completion of the sale of 336 million shares, at A$3.28 per share, to Australian and international investors. The move ends a 10-year financial tie between the two carriers. Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon says the sale will have no effect on the carrier's commercial operations, with the BA-Qantas joint services agreement on routes between Australia and Europe to continue. Qantas, which is already embarking on Asian expansion through a low-cost Singapore-based airline, is now expected to pursue further moves in the region. Cirrus sales surge ORDERBOOK Cirrus Design is on track to sell 630 light aircraft this year, up from 542 originally projected, and had passed its 2003 delivery total of 469 aircraft by the beginning of September. Robinson Helicopters, meanwhile, produced 343 aircraft in the first half, up 54% over the same period last year - delivering nearly 80% of all helicopters produced in North America. Cessna has certificated its Garmin G1000-equipped T206H Turbo Stationair, its third piston-single with the new glass cockpit. Koor to acquire Tadiran stake AGREEMENT Israeli investment holding company Koor Industries is to acquire 32.5% of defence contractor Tadiran Communications for $141 million. Koor acquired the shares from Trefoil Israel Partner II (part of the Shamrock group) and FIMI Israel Mezzanine Fund. The transaction is due to be completed within the next 90 days subject to the approval by Israel's ministry of defence and anti-trust authority. DirecTV goes Boeing BROADCAST DirecTV has ordered three 702-series satellites from Boeing to provide US national and local high-definition television broadcast coverage. Two of the 15kW, 6,000kg (13,2001b) satellites, DirecTV 10 and 11, will be launched and one held as an on-ground spare. DirecTV has also ordered two Ariane 5 launches from Arianespace: one for broadband satellite Spaceway 2 in April 2005 and one for an unnamed direct-broadcast satellite. US general aviation pleads for funds COMPENSATION National Air Transportation Association president James Coyne has sent a letter to US Congress urging it to issue the $100 million funding that was authorised last year by the government's Vision 100 - Federal Aviation Administration reauthorisation act. The money was intended to provide financial assistance for general aviation businesses that have suffered as a result of the 11 September terrorist attacks. Coyne says general aviation businesses have faced hardship due to operational and airspace restrictions imposed in the days and weeks following the terrorist attacks. "While the airlines were allowed to operate within a few days of 11 September and received $5 billion in federal grants, general aviation's gradual return to the skies took several months and in some cases operations are still prevented," he says. Clarifications In of last week's feature on flight testing in the Atlas Impala training aircraft, graphs plotting rudder position and vertical bending moment were trans posed and the rudder deflection scale omitted Flight International, 7-13 September). The top graph should be titled "Rapid rudder reversal from steady sideslip" and the bottom graph "Rapid rudder input neutral to full right". In the same issue we incorrectly captioned the top picture on P37. It, of course, shows a Panavia Tornado F3. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 14-20 SEPTEMBER 2004 5
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