General Aviation/Helicopter News

Row over where ICAO should be located

Canada has been staunchly resisting pressure from Qatar to move the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) from Montreal to Doha, as said by a government official on Wednesday. Qatar proposed at a meeting with ICAO officials on Monday that organisation leave Montreal, where it has been based since it was created as a UN agency since 1947, an ICAO spokesman said.

Some news on the pending air traffic delays this summer

(Reuters)

FAA quelling fears, assures ATC to run normal by Sunday

The US Federal Aviation Administration has suspended all employee furloughs and that it expects the US air travel system to return to normal by Sunday evening Eastern Time. Congressman Bill Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and a Republican from Pennsylvania, said the FAA could have complied with the automatic budget cuts, known as sequester, in a way that avoided inconveniencing travellers.

(Reuters)

AgustaWestland says they will set up a final assembly line for its 4.5t AW169 helicopter at its facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. However, expect that the company's plant in Vergiate, Italy, will continue operating as the head assembly facility for the light twin. William Hunt, chief executive of AgustaWestland Philadelphia, says the first AW169 built at the new plant will be inducted into final assembly in May 2014 and should be delivered early in 2015. The plant will be producing as many as 20 of the type aircraft by 2017.

More on the Solar Impulse's journey across America...

http://news.yahoo.com/solar-plane-lands-ariz-1st-leg-major-trip-074043953.html

Automated approaches to rigs by the Sikorsky S-92 approved by the FAA

The push going harder for faster internet on commercial and private airline flights. At least this is what the FCC wants to do. The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday started dialogue on a proposal that would offer a new type of in-flight broadband service that in effect would promise United States passenger higher Wi-Fi internet speeds as well as improved connections.

IAG is 'encouraged' despite Q1 losses...

IAG's operating loss has extended if you compared 2012 Q1 figures to Q1 2013 figures. This quarter losses were around 278-million Euros compared to 249-million Euros for Q1 2012. "These results are encouraging with underlying revenue strength in strategic markets. However, while the first step towards restructuring Iberia has been taken, there is more work to be done," according to Willie Walsh, CEO of IAG.

EasyJet, Airbus and Nicarnica Aviation, is preparing for the final airborne test of a volcanic ash detection system called AVOID. The trial will involve two Airbus aircraft, one of which carries equipment to inject the ash into the atmosphere, creating a real ash cloud, and an A330 fitted with an AVOID wingtip pod to enable the crew to detect and avoid it at more than 30,000-feet. The experiment will be conducted when the Seviri and Calypso satellites are aligned so that images of the ash cloud can be captured from space, to gauge the accuracy and effectiveness of the AVOID technology.

According to the Department of Transportation, Contract Towers will remain opened

The Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced on Friday afternoon that the recently enacted Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013 will now allow the Federal Aviation Administration to transfer sufficient funds to ensure that 149 contract towers originally slated for closure in June remain in operation until at least the end of the fiscal year.

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association cites encouraging figures in Q1 report with turboprops leading the way. Leading the way for the first quarter of the year were turboprops. Completions and deliveries of single-engine units were up around 15 percent and twin deliveries up an impressive 78.9 percent.

Radar has long been the normal way of monitoring aircraft location. However, with range being limited, long-haul jets become undetectable when traveling over oceans and Polar Regions or large deserts. Scientists now believe that radar may supplemented or one day even be replaced by ADS-B, or Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast. ADS-B-equipped aircraft can monitor their position using GPS, and continuously report this information to Air Traffic Control and other aircraft via a data link transmitter.

Interestingly, there is a flying test bed, a former commercial aircraft that, flew a significant distance pretty much unmanned. A commercial aircraft design recently flew 800 kilometres without direct pilot input, in a pioneering sortie designed to demonstrate the viability of drone flights within civilian airspace. The flying test bed is a British Aerospace Jetstream.

Sierra Nevada company has now shipped the Dream Chaser orbital spacecraft to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center near Palmdale in California, for glide tests. The Dream Chaser craft departed the company's Sierra Nevada's factory near Denver, Colorado by truck, headed for NASA's Dryden centre. That particular facility is joint-located with flight test facilities at Edwards AFB (Airforce Base).

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Delta Air Lines' oil refinery isn't performing and producing the jet fuel quantity that it was expecting to target when it bought the plant for $280 million in May 2012. Modifications to maximise production will allow the Atlanta-based carrier to increase output to 40,000 barrels per day of jet fuel by early 2014, says Ed Bastian, president of Delta, at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2013 Global Transportation Conference on 15 May. This equates to 21.6% of the refinery's 185,000 barrel per day capacity. This is well below the up to 32% jet fuel yield target - about 59,000 barrels per day.

Indian and Chinese Airlines break EU Rules

The European Commission has identified Air India and Air China as two airlines that, due to non-compliance with measures designed to regulate air travel emissions, now face being fined and/or barred from all EU airports. Now, the two Indian and eight Chinese airlines are set to be fined 30,000 Euros and 2.4 million Euros, respectively.

Eurocopter EC225 grounding undermine Q1 Profits for Eurocopter

An ongoing problem with the gearbox in EC225 helicopters have left the type grounded while a fix is being found. That grounding has contributed to a declinein Q1 revenue and profit at the helicopter manufacturer.

Conner says: 787-10X launch anticipated later this year according to Boeing's tweet this morning.

Air Force 2 lands at the Piarco International Airport in Trinidad with the United States Vice President Joe Biden and family onboard.

Eurocopter signs deal for four helicopters with Japan police

Japan's National Police Agency has signed a contract with Eurocopter Japan for the delivery of two medium-class and two twin-engined light helicopters for respective Police divisions. The rotary aircraft will be deployed to Hyogo Prefectural Police, Hiroshima Prefectural Police, Osaka Prefectural Police and Fukuoka Prefectural Police as replacements. Osaka and Fukuoka will receive their EC135 P2e in 2014, while Hyogo Prefectural Police's EC155 B1 and Hiroshima Prefectural Police's are planned for delivery in 2015.