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NEWS

Proposed joint venture between Qantas and American moves ahead
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission gave interim authorization to a proposed joint venture between Qantas Airways and American Airlines. The carriers plan to coordinate services and operations on trans-Pacific routes under the joint venture. "The granting of interim authorization in no way binds the ACCC in its consideration of the substantive application for authorization," the regulator said.
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Qatar Airways signs agreement for 35% Cargolux stake
Qatar Airways signed an agreement with Cargolux International Airlines to acquire a 35% holding in Europe's largest all-cargo carrier. CEO Akbar El Baker last month revealed that the company was negotiating an acquisition of around one-third of Cargolux.
Link

S7 focuses on narrowbodies, Russian domestic market
S7 Airlines, which once planned to operate 15 Boeing 787s before canceling its Dreamliner order, is now firmly focused on building a narrowbody-centric fleet, according to CEO Vladislav Filev.
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Emirates challenges negative perceptions with UK campaign
Emirates Airline launched a major nationwide advertising campaign in the UK highlighting its ongoing aircraft investment and insisting it creates thousands of jobs in Europe, part of an effort by the Dubai-based carrier to counter negative perceptions that it is stealing European carriers' market share, allegedly with unfair support from the Dubai government.
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Boeing warns Joint STARS upgrades may cost $10-$15 billion
Boeing has escalated a campaign to persuade the US Air Force to replace the Northrop Grumman E-8C joint surveillance target attack radar system (Joint STARS), warning that actual costs to modernize the 707-based surveillance fleet may exceed official estimates by up to five times.
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ANZ probes GE CF6-80 engine problem
Air New Zealand (ANZ) is investigating an incident involving a Boeing 767-300, which had its left hand General Electric CF6-80C2 engine shut down after an engine problem. ANZ had earlier said the engine problem could be due to a bird strike but has since ruled this out. The flight crew operating the aircraft, which was flying from Auckland to Perth on 9 June, had reduced take-off thrust as normal when the aircraft was airborne. "But at this time there was an interruption to the airflow through the left hand engine which caused the flare seen from the rear of the engine," said the Star Alliance carrier. This change in airflow had resulted in "a similar reaction to that of a car backfiring", said ANZ's general manager airline operations and chief pilot David Morgan.
Link

Alcoa unveils 3rd generation aluminum lithium alloys and technologies
Alcoa has announced new aluminum-lithium alloy and structural technologies enabling airframers to "build dramatically lighter and lower-cost" short-haul aircraft "at significantly lower production risk than composite-intensive planes".
Link

Weak Flybe MRO procedures led to Dash 8 dual-engine oil leak
UK investigators recommended the tightening of maintenance procedures at Flybe Aviation Services after determining that several weaknesses led to a Bombardier Dash 8-100 suffering a serious in-flight oil leak in both engines last year.
Link

Second X-51 hypersonic flight imminent
Boeing has announced that the second flight of the X-51 hypersonic waverider is planned for the week of 13 June. The first flight of the revolutionary scramjet, on 26 May, 2010, was hailed as a technological leap.
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Other News

Alaska Airlines: In a move to both enhance flight safety and reduce its impact on the environment, Alaska Airlines has begun distributing iPads to its pilots to replace up to 25 pounds of required paper flight manuals. The carrier said it has "been exploring the idea of an electronic flight bag for several years."

US Dept. of Transportation said there were only 20 tarmac delays of more than 3 hr. reported from May 2010 through April 2011 by the airlines that file on-time performance data with DOT, “dramatically diminished” from 693 in May 2009 through April 2010, according to its Air Travel Consumer Report. April was the 12th full month of data since the new, 3 hr.-rule went into effect.

Airbus said the first A380 for Malaysia Airlines entered the final assembly line in Toulouse for the final production phase. MAS has six A380s on order and originally was supposed to receive its first in May 2008. Deliveries are now scheduled to begin in 2012.



AVIATION QUOTE

Do not spin this aircraft. If the aircraft does enter a spin it will return to earth without further attention on the part of the aeronaut.

— first handbook issued with the Curtis-Wright flyer.



ON THIS DATE

June 10th

• In 1913... Marcel Brindejone des Moulinais wins the Pommeroy cup in Warsaw for the longest flight between sunrise and sunset, flying 900 miles from Paris.

• In 1953... The final experimental test flight for the turbojet powered #3 Douglas D-558-I Skystreak is flown by A. Scott Crossfield.



DAILY VIDEO





EDITOR’S CHOICE





HUMOR

Vietnam Vet, Huey Crew Chief’s Words of Wisdom

1. Once you are in the fight, it is way too late to wonder if this is a good idea.
2. Helicopters are cool!
3. It is a fact that helicopter tail rotors are instinctively drawn toward trees, stumps, rocks, etc. While it may be possible to ward off this natural event some of the time, it cannot, despite the best efforts of the crew, always be prevented. It's just what they do.
4. NEVER get into a fight without more ammunition than the other guy.
5. The engine RPM, and the rotor RPM, must BOTH be kept in the GREEN. Failure to heed this commandment can affect the morale of the crew.
6. A billfold in your hip pocket can numb your leg and be a real pain in the ass.
7. Cover your Buddy, so he can be around to cover you.
8. Letters from home are not always great.
9. The madness of war can extract a heavy toll. Please have exact change.
10. Share everything. Even the Pound Cake.
11. Decisions made by someone over your head will seldom be in your best interest.
12. The terms "Protective Armor" and "Helicopter" are mutually exclusive.
13. The further away you are from your friends, the less likely it is that they can help you when you really need them the most.
14. Sometimes, being good and lucky still was not enough. There is always payback.
15. "Chicken Plates" are not something you order in a restaurant.
16. If everything is as clear as a bell, and everything is going exactly as planned, you're about to be surprised.
17. The BSR (Bang Stare Read) Theory states that the louder the sudden bang in the helicopter, the quicker your eyes will be drawn to the gauges.
18. The longer you stare at the gauges, the less time it takes them to move from green to red.
19. It does too get cold in Vietnam.
20. No matter what you do, the bullet with your name on it will get you. So too can the ones addressed "To Whom It May Concern".
21. Gravity: It may not be fair, but it is the law.
22. If the rear echelon troops are really happy, the front line troops probably do not have what they need.
23. If you are wearing body armor, the incoming will probably miss that part.
24. It hurts less to die with a uniform on than to die in a hospital bed.
25. Happiness is a belt-fed weapon.
26. If something hasn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to.
27. Eat when you can. Sleep when you can. Visit the head when you can. The next opportunity may not come around for a long time. If ever.
28. Combat pay is a flawed concept.
29. Having all your body parts intact and functioning at the end of the day beats the alternative.
30. Air superiority is NOT a luxury.
31. If you are allergic to lead it is best to avoid a war zone.
32. It is a bad thing to run out of airspeed, altitude, and ideas all at the same time.
32a. Nothing is as useless as altitude above you and runway behind you.
33. While the rest of the crew may be in the same predicament, it's almost always the pilot's job to arrive at the crash site first.
34. When you shoot your gun, clean it the first chance you get.
35. Loud sudden noises in a helicopter WILL get your undivided attention.
36. Hot garrison chow is better than hot C-rations, which, in turn is better than cold C-rations, which is better than no food at all. All of these, however, are preferable to cold rice balls (given to you by guards) even if they do have the little pieces of fish in them.
37. WHAT is often more important than WHY.
38. Boxes of cookies from home must be shared.
39. Girlfriends are fair game. Wives are not.
40. Everybody's a hero on the ground in the club after the fourth drink.
41. There is no such thing as a small firefight.
42. A free-fire zone has nothing to do with economics.
43. The farther you fly into the mountains, the louder the strange engine noises become.
44. Medals are OK, but having your body and all your friends in one piece at the end of the day is better.
44a. The only medal you really want to be awarded is the Longevity Medal.
45. Being shot hurts.
46. Thousands of Vietnam Veterans earned medals for bravery every day. A few were even awarded.
48. Running out of pedal, fore or aft cyclic, or collective are all bad ideas. Any combination of these can be deadly.
49. Nomex is NOT fire proof.
50. There is only one rule in war: When you win, you get to make up the Rules.
51. Living and dying can both hurt a lot.
53. While a Super Bomb could be considered one of the four essential building blocks of life, powdered eggs cannot.
54. C-4 can make a dull day fun.
55. Cocoa Powder is neither.
56. There is no such thing as a fair fight, only ones where you win or lose.
57. If you win the battle you are entitled to the spoils. If you lose you don't care.
58. Nobody cares what you did yesterday or what you are going to do tomorrow. What is important is what you are doing NOW to solve our problem.
59. If you have extra, share it quickly.
60. Always make sure someone has a P-38. (Can opener)
61. A sucking chest wound may be God's way of telling you it's time to go home.
62. Prayer may not help . . . but it can't hurt.
63. Flying is better than walking. Walking is better than running. Running is better than crawling. All of these however, are better than extraction by a Med-Evac, even if this is technically a form of flying.
64. If everyone does not come home none of the rest of us can ever fully come home either.
65. Do not fear the enemy, for your enemy can only take your life. It is far better that you fear the media, for they will steal your HONOR.
66. A grunt is the true reason for the existence of the helicopter. Every helicopter flying in Vietnam had one real purpose: To help the grunt. It is unfortunate that many helicopters never had the opportunity to fulfill their one true mission in life simply because someone forgot this fact.
67. "You have the right to remain silent" is always EXCELLENT advice.




TRIVIA

General Trivia

1. The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird flew so fast (Mach 3.0) that some exterior components got as hot as
A. outside air temperature plus 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
B. outside air temperature plus 400 degrees F.
C. almost 500 degrees F.
D. almost 600 degrees F.

2. A pilot arrives in Washington, D.C., for a friendly visit with the FAA but does not know the date. He does notice, however, that the tip of the shadow cast by the Washington Monument moves in a straight line during the course of the day. Which of the following is the approximate date? (One or more answers are correct.)
A. March 21
B. June 21
C. September 21
D. December 21

3. The first pilot awarded the [Congressional] Medal of Honor was
A. Charles A. Lindbergh
B. G. Raoul Lufbery
C. Frank Luke
D. Edward V. Rickenbacker

4.During the certification of a light single-engine airplane in the Normal category, it must be possible for the aircraft to recover from a spin of how many turns? What about aerobatic airplanes?

5. Fowler flaps were invented by Harland D. Fowler during the 1920s. Split flaps were invented by what well-known designer? (It was not a man or woman named Split.)

6. True or False; A hail pad is used to protect windshields (and radomes, when appropriate) when aircraft are tied down and exposed to the possibility of thunderstorms.

1) A
2) B/D
3) C