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NEWS

Qantas to resume limited A380 services
Qantas Airways will resume limited Airbus A380 services on 27 November, more than three weeks after an uncontained engine failure forced one of its aircraft to make an emergency landing. Australia's flag carrier, however, will continue the suspension of A380s on routes that regularly require the use of the maximum engine thrust. This, it adds, is an individual operational decision and not a directive by Airbus or Rolls-Royce.
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The Australian Transport Safety Bureau by Wednesday is expected to wind up its examination of the Qantas A380 Rolls-Royce Trent 972 engine that suffered the uncontained failure after take-off from Singapore Nov. 4. A preliminary report is expected Dec. 3.
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QF32 Discussion


Air Berlin pilots to strike
Pilots for German carrier Air Berlin plan to go on strike later this week, the pilots' union Cockpit announced on Monday. They had failed to reach an agreement in salary negotiations with the airline, the union said.
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Ryanair cancels 60 flights due to Portuguese strike
Ryanair has cancelled 60 flights ahead of a 24-hour strike by Portuguese air-traffic controllers which will close all Portuguese airspace on Wednesday. The cancellations hit those wishing to travel on Cork-Faro and Dublin-Faro return flights on Wednesday.
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Mexicana's new owner secures union concessions required for re-launch
Mexicana's unions have approved new contracts with the grounded carrier's new owners, moving Mexicana one step closer to potentially re-launching operations. PC Capital emerged earlier this month as a potential new investor in Mexicana and unveiled a new business plan envisioning a mid-December resumption of operations. The plan was contingent on significant concessions from Mexicana's three unions, which were quickly forged and have now been approved.
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Latest deal for 31 F-35s shows slight price decline
Lockheed Martin has finalised a nearly $3.5 billion contract to deliver 31 more F-35s at a slightly lower price than last year.The contract award, announced late on 19 November, is a key boost for Lockheed's F-35 production programme as top Department of Defense officials are scheduled to meet on 22 November to review possible new delays and cost overruns on the development side.
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On related news, questions raised over 2004 weight-saving decision to switch key F-35 structures from titanium to new aluminium alloy. Lockheed Martin has discovered fatigue cracks on an aluminium bulkhead inside a ground test aircraft for the short take-off and landing F-35B variant after 1,500h of durability testing.
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Discussion

Air China orders 10 A330s, 10 A350s
Air China confirmed it has ordered 10 Airbus A330s and 10 A350s and plans to use the aircraft to facilitate international expansion, according to a CA filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
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Aegean earns €24.1 million in third quarter
Aegean Airlines posted a €24.1 million ($33 million) net profit for the third quarter, just slightly below the €24.3 million it earned in the year-ago period, on a year-over-year 3% decline in revenue to €198.8 million and an 8% fall in passengers carried. The fall in boardings was caused by a notable 19% dive in domestic passengers to 948,812 while enplanements on international routes rose by 6% to 1.1 million.
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EC bans Afghan airlines from European airspace
The European Commission announced Monday it will ban aircraft operated by Afghan airlines from its airspace starting Wednesday. Several months ago, the EC demanded that Afghanistan develop its own Civil Aviation Authority in accordance with the international civil aviation standards established and controlled by ICAO. As the country has not complied with this demand, the EC said it will ban all Afghan carriers from its airspace from Wednesday, irrespective of the safety standards of the individual airlines.
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Other News

Lufthansa took delivery of its fourth Airbus A380. The carrier now operates 30 departures per week with the A380 on a thrice-weekly Frankfurt-Beijing route, five-times per week FRA-Johannesburg service, and daily flights to FRA–Tokyo Narita.

Spirit Aero Systems said it has completed the curing of one of the panels that make up the longest section of the A350 XWB's fuselage. The 19.7 m. long, 77 sq. m. center fuselage "crown" panel was cured at Spirit's Kinston, N.C. site. "In the coming weeks, the panel will undergo trimming, drilling and non-destructive inspection," Spirit noted.

Boeing announced it has implemented its Airplane Health Management system on 40 Air China Boeing 737s, its first Chinese customer for AHM. The contract, reached last year, will see the solution deployed on a total of 117 of the carrier's 737s, both in service and on order.

Separately, Boeing announced it delivered its 900th 777 since its entry into service in 1995. The aircraft, a 777-200LR, was delivered to Ethiopian Airlines and is the first of five the carrier ordered in 2009.

GECAS delivered the first of 11 converted Boeing 737SF freighters to TNT Airways, part of an order that includes nine 737-400s and two 737-300s. Conversions are being performed by Israel Aircraft Industries; deliveries will be completed over the next 18 months. Separately, it delivered one new Airbus A320 to IndiGo Airlines.

ILFC reached an agreement with Aerolineas Argentinas to provide 10 Boeing 737-700s to the carrier, with deliveries to occur between 2011 and 2012. The aircraft will accommodate growth and replace older 737-500s in the carrier's fleet.

Aeronautical Engineers Inc. announced that the second Boeing 737-400 converted freighter for Aviation Capital Group is underway at its in Jacksonville, Fla-facility. Upon completion, the freighter will be added to VarigLog’s fleet in Brazil.





AVIATION QUOTE

There is no revolutionary change to be expected in aeroplanes. Design is more or less stabilized, and it is only in details, in materials, in strength and lightness, that any alteration may be looked for.
— Major de Havilland, 'Atlantic Monthly,' January 1928.




ON THIS DATE

November 23, 1942

In 1942... Dubbed "Flying Flapjack," the most radical conventionally-engined aircraft ever built makes its 1st flight when Chance Vought test pilot, Boone T. Guyton, takes the V-173 into the air.

One of the most unusual aircraft ever designed for the U.S. Navy was the Chance Vought V-173, also known as the Zimmerman "Flying Pancake". It was a prototype "proof of concept" aircraft that lacked wings, instead relying on its flat circular body to provide the lifting surface. This multi-million dollar project nearly became the first V/STOL (vertical takeoff and landing) fighter. The V-173 blueprints were shown to the Navy in 1939, with wind tunnel tests on full scale models being done in 1940-41


November 23, 1985

Gunmen hijack EgyptAir Flight 648 while en route from Athens to Cairo. When the plane lands in Malta, Egyptian commandos storm the hijacked jetliner, but 60 people die in the raid.


November 23, 1996

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 is hijacked, then crashes into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Comoros after running out of fuel, killing 125.




DAILY VIDEO





EDITOR’S CHOICE







HUMOR

Slow Roll






TRIVIA


1. What popular and well-known US general aviation airport has fewer original residents in the community after which the airport is named than can be carried aboard many of the airplanes that land there?

2. WW1 fighter airplanes had open cockpits. What are three reasons that pilots of those airplanes didn’t want glass canopies even though the technology to make them was available?

3. In weather reports, what is the difference between SKC and CLR?

4. What was the fastest (in level flight), operational American fighter of World War II?

5. What is the only U.S. military turbofan airplane that may be flown using all of its thrust reversers in flight?

6. The landing gear of the space shuttle is not extended until immediately before touchdown. What means are used to ensure that the gear extends in time?

1. KTUS (?)

2.

- No way to properly clean the glass in inclement weather
- Visibility was deemed as being skewed compared to having an open cockpit regardless of situation
- Fear of being stuck inside the cockpit in an emergency

3. CLR - Clear . . . SKC - Skies clear

4. ?

5. ?

6. Mechanically actuated gear doors that are triggered by sensors that detect ground-effect (?)

ANSWERS

1. Teterboro Airport. The official population of Teterboro, New Jersey is only 18.

2. Pilots were concerned that they would not hear the wind in the wires and that damaged canopies would be injurious during crash landings. They also were concerned that they would not be able to “smell the presence of the enemy” when flying through their odorous wakes of burnt castor oil.

3. SKC is most often used in terminal aerodrome forecasts and means that the sky is or will be clear. CLR appears in automated METARS and means “clear below 12,000 feet.”

4. The Republic P–47M Thunderbolt was a souped-up response to the jets being introduced by the Luftwaffe. It had a maximum speed of “475 to 480 mph.”

5. With all four thrust reversers deployed, a Boeing C–17 Globemaster can stabilize in an approximately 70-degree tactical descent while indicating 285 knots.

6. The landing gear is extended conventionally using hydraulics, but a backup system of explosive charges is used should the hydraulic system fail.