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NEWS

ICAO sets 2% fuel improvement goal for airline industry
ICAO concluded its High Level Meeting on International Aviation and Climate Change Friday with a reaffirmation that the organization is the preferred channel to address aviation's impact on the environment ahead of the upcoming UN Copenhagen Climate Summit in December.
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Air New Zealand weighs narrowbody replacement options
Air New Zealand is in the final stages of a campaign to replace its fleet of 15 737-300s, a number of which come off lease in the next few years.
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New Olympic Air takes off
Olympic Air, the re-launch of Olympic Airlines that started operations at the end of September, already is transporting 10,000 passengers daily and trying to "just do basic things, fly on time and smile to people," CEO Antonis Simigdalas said.
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British Conservatives Plan Defense Review
Britain’s Conservative Party has expressed its determination to hold a Strategic Defense Review, while fencing off the country’s submarine-based nuclear deterrent.
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Lockheed seeks to export Shadow Harvest spy system for C-130s
Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works division is seeking clearance from the US government to export a roll-on/roll-off suite of intelligence sensors for the C-130 Hercules that is designed to identify targets concealed under camouflage or foliage.
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Raytheon improves new visibility system for helicopters
Raytheon has received a contract to upgrade a new distributed aperture system developed to give helicopter pilots 360° visibility in poor visibility conditions.
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PW800 core tests imminent: Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney (P&W) is planning to conduct tests on the core of its PW800 PurePower turbofan engine "by the end of the year", according to senior marketing manager March Young.
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Other News

AirAsia said it has been granted landing rights in Paris by the French government and is awaiting further details from authorities. "The French government's approval places AirAsia in a significant position, in line with the plans by AirAsia X to expand our operations in Europe," AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman-Rani said. "AirAsia X had initially considered launching a route from Kuala Lumpur to Nice, France, next year but with this latest news, the airline will recalibrate its strategy as we now have an opportunity to fly to Paris." Currently, its sole service in Europe is seven weekly flights to London Stansted.

EU and Georgia held a first round of negotiations on a Common Aviation Area agreement in Tbilisi last week. The discussions are part of the EU's strategy to create a wider Common Aviation Area including non-EU nations. It has concluded such agreements with western Balkan countries and Morocco and currently is holding similar negotiations with the Ukraine, Jordan and Israel. An EU-Georgia accord would mutually open the respective markets and integrate Georgia into European aviation structures. Georgia will be required to harmonize its aviation-related laws with European standards and implement/adhere to most EU aviation rules. The European Commission received a mandate to negotiate an agreement with Georgia in June.

EC VP-Transport Antonio Tajani said Friday that the EU is seeking to end the ban on passengers carrying liquids and gels using a phased approach that will employ security technology. "There is a will to remove this discomfort," he told reporters. "We want to put out a clear signal [the ban]. . .should come to an end one day. I hope 2014 might be the end of the transition period." The EC is considering requiring major EU airports to install technology that could screen liquids to detect explosive material by April 2012

US Dept. of Transportation Aviation Enforcement Office issued a notice Friday stating that airlines "may not arbitrarily limit compensation for passengers who purchase necessities because their baggage is lost or delayed." DOT said a number of carriers only reimburse passengers for necessities purchased if the baggage is lost for more than 24 hr. and only if the passenger is on the outbound leg of his or her trip. "This is in violation of DOT regulations which require that airlines cover all expenses caused by lost or delayed baggage up to $3,300 per passenger on domestic flights," the department said. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood stated, "Travelers should not have to pay for toiletries or other necessities while they wait for baggage misplaced by airlines. We expect airlines to comply with all of our regulations and will take enforcement action if they do not."

Alitalia will commence four routes from Turin in December: Four-times-weekly to Amsterdam and twice-weekly to Berlin Tegel, Moscow Sheremetyevo and Istanbul Ataturk. It will add another weekly frequency to each route in mid-January.

Continental Airlines on March 7 will launch daily service between Los Angeles and Maui aboard a 737-800 and four-times-weekly flights between Orange County and Honolulu (increasing to daily this summer) aboard a 737-700.

Rockwell Collins announced it has added iPod integration to its digital IFE systems. New feature includes USB charging capability and will allow passengers to output audio and video to the in-seat displays and headphones from Apple's iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPod Classic and iPod Nano and other portable media devices.

ASIG renewed its agreement with Midwest Airlines to provide aircraft deicing services at Milwaukee General Mitchell International. It has provided Midwest with the service since 2001.

TAM announced late Friday that CEO David Barioni Neto resigned effective immediately. He will be replaced on an interim basis by CFO Libano Miranda Barroso. Barioni had led the Brazilian airline since November 2007.



AVIATION QUOTE

I was always afraid of dying. Always. It was my fear that made me learn everything I could about my airplane and my emergency equipment, and kept me flying respectful of my machine and always alert in the cockpit.

Chuck Yeager



AEROSPACE TERM

Gravimeters

Instruments for measuring variations in the gravitational field, generally by registering differences in the weight of a constant mass as the gravimeter is moved from place to place.



DAILY VIDEO





EDITOR’S CHOICE





HUMOR

What Time Is It?

On some air bases the Air Force is on one side of the field and civilian aircraft use the other side of the field, with the control tower in the middle. One day the tower received a call from an aircraft asking, "What time is it?"

The tower responded, "Who is calling?"

The aircraft replied, "What difference does it make?"

The tower replied "It makes a lot of difference. If it is an American Airlines Flight, it is 3 o'clock. If it is an Air Force, it is 1500 hours. If it is a Navy aircraft, it is 6 bells. If it is an Army aircraft, the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 3. If it is a Marine Corps aircraft, it's Thursday afternoon."



TRIVIA

Odd Man Out

1.
A. Hawker Hurricane
B. Messerchmidt Bf-109E
C. Republic P-47N
D. Supermarine Spitfire

2.
A. Sikorsky HH-3 Jolly Green Giant
B. Sikorsky CH-53D Sea Stallion
C. Piasecki H-21 “Flying Banana”
D. Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk

3.
A. Neptune
B. Guardian
C. Orion
D. Viking

4.
A. Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star
B. North American F-100 Super Saber
C. Republic F-105 Thunderchief
D. Douglas B-66 Sky Warrior

5.
A. Mohawk Airlines
B. Piedmont Airlines
C. Republic Airlines
D. Southern Airways

6.
A. B-25
B. B-52
C. B-47
D. B-50

1.
C. Republic P-47N

2.
C. Piasecki H-21 “Flying Banana”

3.
B. Guardian

4.
D. Douglas B-66 Sky Warrior

5.
A. Mohawk Airlines

6.
A. B-25

1.
C. Republic P-47N

2.
C. Piasecki H-21 “Flying Banana” - not a Sikorsky

3.
B. Guardian - the others are constellations?

4.
D. Douglas B-66 Sky Warrior

5.
D. Southern Airways. The others all merged at one time or another into US Airways.


6.
A. B-25 - it's the only twin listed.

1. C
2. D
3. B
4. D
5. B
6. A

ANSWERS:
1. C. The Republic P-47 did not participate in the Battle of Britain.
2. D. The Blackhawk was a concept when the Vietnam War ended.
3. B. The Grumman Guardian is a Grumman product, the rest are Lockheed (P2V, P-3C and S-3)
4. A. The F-80 never saw service in Vietnam.
5. C. Republic flies today, the rest are defunct.
6. A. The North American B-25 Mitchell, the rest are Boeing products.