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UK Begins Ebola Screening At Heathrow
Britain has begun screening passengers arriving at London's Heathrow Airport from West Africa for signs of the Ebola virus. Health Minister Jeremy Hunt said on Monday Britain could expect to see "a handful" of Ebola cases over the next three months, partly due to its status as a travel destination. The Ebola outbreak has killed more than 4,000 people, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The screening process at Heathrow will involve passengers who have travelled to the affected area filling out questionnaires to discover any possible exposure to the virus and undertaking temperature checks if necessary.
LinkAirlines
AirAsia X Could Defer A350 Delivery
Malaysia's AirAsia X could defer the delivery of its Airbus A350s if European economies fail to recover by the time it receives the first aircraft in 2018 or 2019. "You can't really pinpoint it until the first one enters into service and the production schedule gets firmed up by Airbus," chief executive Azran Osman Rani said. The broader economy could also be a factor, he told Reuters news agency. "That really is conditional on the whole European economy bouncing back, travel from Europe to Asia being in a situation where demand exceeds supply, which isn't the case now because of the recession there and a lot of capacity from the Middle East carriers," said Azran. AirAsia X has 10 A350s on order, with delivery due in 2018 or 2019, said Azran. It has also ordered 50 A330neos.
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American plans to continue adding routes at LAX
American Airlines plans to continue its growth at its Los Angeles hub. "We've been growing the Los Angeles hub since the merger -- we were growing it pre-merger as well," said Andrew Nocella, American's chief marketing officer. The carrier has added 12 routes, including Atlanta this week, from LAX in the past year and three months.
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Asiana To Pay USD$55 Mln In Price-Fixing Case
Asiana has agreed to pay USD$55 million to settle allegations in a US class action that it conspired with other airlines to fix rates for shipping air cargo, according to court papers. The proposed settlement, which requires the approval of a judge, was filed in US District Court in Brooklyn. The plaintiffs in the class action are primarily freight-forwarders. They said they paid inflated prices because of the alleged conspiracy.
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Earnings preview for Delta Air Lines Q3
Delta Air Lines plans to announce third-quarter results on Thursday. Analysts say the carrier should post strong operational performance for the quarter. Analysts predict earnings per share of $1.18 for Delta.
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IndiGo signs MoU for 250 A320neos
Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo has signed a memorandum of understanding for 250 Airbus A320neo family aircraft. The carrier has yet to make an engine selection. The deal is set to become Airbus' single largest order by aircraft number.
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First Qatar A350 prepares for maiden flight
Qatar Airways’ first Airbus A350 could make its maiden flight as early as today, following certification of the type at the end of September. The airline is set to become the first recipient of the A350-900 before the end of this year. Airbus has already rolled out the initial Qatar aircraft, MSN6, and conducted engine runs and ground tests with the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered jet.
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Southwest Airlines could tweak new livery for more heart
Southwest Airlines could tweak its new Heart livery to make the heart on the belly of the plane even larger. Kevin Krone, chief marketing officer for the carrier, said customer feedback indicated the heart was too subtle. "We are thinking about ways to enhance where it is displayed on the outside of the fuselage," Krone said.
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SpiceJet Needs More Funds For Turnaround
SpiceJet warned that it still needs new funding to anchor its turnaround efforts, even as its operating performance improves with higher revenue per seat and reduced capacity. "Our challenge is our legacy losses and this cannot be solved by operational cash flows alone, but by funding or recapitalization," Sanjiv Kapoor, chief operating officer at SpiceJet said. SpiceJet previously said it was in "advanced" talks with an external entity to get funding. "Hopefully in due course of time, we'll see some good news on that front," Kapoor told Reuters news agency. Battling competition in an industry plagued by some of the world's steepest operating costs and cheapest fares, SpiceJet dropped to a first-quarter net loss of INR1.24 billion rupees (USD$20 million) in April-June. This followed a record loss in the year to March 2014.
LinkAirports
Judge rules on Charlotte Douglas airport case
A Superior Court judge sided with the city of Charlotte in a ruling issued Monday that bars the Charlotte Airport Commission from running the city’s airport without prior approval from the Federal Aviation Administration. Judge Robert Ervin issued a permanent injunction blocking the commission from operating Charlotte Douglas International Airport, as the city had requested. He also denied the state’s motion to dismiss the city’s lawsuit – though he did leave the door open for the FAA to intervene and ultimately put the commission in charge of Charlotte Douglas.
LinkMilitary
US Army details combat experience with AH-64E
The US Army is counting on the Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter to remain in service for the foreseeable future, which will require incremental upgrades beyond the most up-to-date E model aircraft that have already seen thousands of hours of combat. All of the army’s AH-64Es should be out of Afghanistan by the end of the current fiscal year, after which time they will be reset for future missions, Col Jeff Hager, the service’s Apache project manager, told reporters on 13 October at the Association of the US Army’s annual exposition in Washington DC. Boeing is supporting the army’s plan to upgrade all its Apaches to the E model, which along with previous iterations of the aircraft is set to take over the armed aerial scout mission as part of the service’s aviation restructuring initiative. Even as the fleet’s role in Afghanistan is lessened, Apaches recently started combat operations against Islamic State militants over Syria and Iraq.
LinkRotary Wing
Bell debuts full-scale V-280 tiltrotor mockup
Bell Helicopter unveiled on 13 October the first full-scale mockup of it V-280 Valor tiltrotor aircraft that is the company’s entry into the joint multi-role technology demonstration (JMR-TD) program. The aircraft is the third-generation tilt-rotor aircraft that improves upon the operational design of the V-22 Osprey, built by Bell and Boeing Co. The Valor’s direct competitor is the SB>1 Defiant, designed by a Boeing-Sikorsky team, which sports dual coaxial rotors and a pusher prop. JMR will serve as a test of whether current technology can provide a leap forward in rotorcraft capability, to include cruising speeds above 230kts and improved range and hover performance at low speeds. The program will then feed into future vertical lift (FVL), which will eventually replace the Army’s entire fleet of rotorcraft beginning with the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk in the 2030 timeframe.
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Sikorsky, Boeing finalise design of SB-1 Defiant
Sikorsky and Boeing have finalised the design of the team’s offering for the US Army’s joint multi-role technology demonstrator (JMR-TD), called the SB-1 Defiant. The configuration is a militarised and scaled up version of Sikorsky’s X2, the rigid rotor coaxial compound helicopter that demonstrated a 250kt (460km/h) speed in level flight in 2010. “In addition to speed, the low-speed manoeuvrablity is also quite significant, as well as the high-hot performance,” says Doug Shidler, Sikorsky’s JMR program manager, meaning the aircraft can hover 6,000ft above sea level on a 35˚C (95˚F) day. The SB-1’s pusher propeller will allow it to move forward and back at a level attitude or pitch 20˚ nose up or down without moving forward or back, which is impossible with current rotorcraft. The aircraft will be able to cruise at more than 250kt, outpacing the army’s 230kt speed requirement.
LinkCorporate
Bullish Gulfstream unveils two new business jets
Gulfstream is taking aim at new models in development by rival Dassault and at Bombardier’s Global 6000 by launching a pair of business jets on the eve of the NBAA gathering in Orlando, Florida. The G500 will run against the Dassault Falcon 5X, while the G600 takes on ultra-long-range contenders the Falcon 8X and Global 6000. Describing the aircraft as “the dawn of a new era in flightdeck design, integration, functionality, ergonomics and even aesthetics“, Gulfstream is also packing in new technology including enhanced and synthetic vision and fly-by-wire flight control systems, with active control sidesticks, autobrake, autothrottles, emergency descent mode and avionics.
Link
Gulfstream secures two major orders for new G500 business jet
Gulfstream has announced two major orders for its new G500 clean-sheet business jet, which was unveiled at the airframer's Savannah, Georgia headquarters on 14 October alongside its longer-range stablemate, the G600. Middle East VIP operator Qatar Executive was present at the launch, where it signed a memorandum of understanding for up to 20 Gulfstream types. The deal includes firm orders and options for the large-cabin, high-speed G500 and flagship G650ER, which is scheduled to enter service later this year.
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Aviation Quote
An aircraft which is used by wealthy people on their expense accounts, whose fares are subsidized by much poorer taxpayers.
— Denis Healey, British Labour Party, regards the Concorde.
On This Date
---In 1783... The 1st man to ascend in a tethered balloon is French scientist Jean Pilatre de Rozier. His hot-air Montgolfier balloon ascends to 84 feet – the length of the rope holding the balloon.
--- In 1913... Lieutenant Ronin makes the 1st official airmail flight in France.
---In 1927... Captain Dieudonne´ lands in Brazil becoming the 1st person to fly non-stop across the South Atlantic. The 2100-mile flight takes just over 18 hours.
--- In 1939... New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia dedicates an airport in Flushing bearing his name. La Guardia airport is the costliest to build at the time, $45 million.
---In 1988…First flight of the Eurocopter EC 135.
---In 1999…Allegiant Air commences operations.
---In 2003… Yang Liwei becomes the People's Republic of China's first man in space.
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Humor
Farm Kid
Dear Ma and Pa,
I am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are filled.
I was restless at first because you got to stay in bed till nearly 6 a.m. But I am getting so I like to sleep late. Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot, and shine some things. No hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, fire to lay. Practically nothing.
Men got to shave but it is not so bad, there's warm water. Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of weak on chops, potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant, pie and other regular food, but tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit by the two city boys that live on coffee. Their food, plus yours, holds you until noon when you get fed again. It's no wonder these city boys can't walk much.
We go on "route marches," which the platoon sergeant says are long walks to harden us. If he thinks so, it's not my place to tell him different. A "route march" is about as far as to our mailbox at home. Then the city guys get sore feet and we all ride back in trucks.
The sergeant is like a school teacher. He nags a lot. The Captain is like the school board. Majors and colonels just ride around and frown. They don't bother you none.
This next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I keep getting medals for shooting. I don't know why. The bulls-eye is near as big as a chipmunk head and don't move, and it ain't shooting at you like the Higgett boys at home. All you got to do is lie there all comfortable and hit it. You don't even load your own cartridges. They come in boxes.
Then we have what they call hand-to-hand combat training. You get to wrestle with them city boys. I have to be real careful though, they break real easy. It ain't like fighting with that ole bull at home. I'm about the best they got in this except for that Tug Jordan from over in Silver Lake . I only beat him once. He joined up the same time as me, but I'm only 5'6" and 130 pounds and he's 6'8" and near 300 pounds dry.
Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding in.
Your loving daughter,
Alice
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