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Commercial

Airlines invest in in-flight entertainment upgrades
U.S. airlines are accelerating investments in technologies to further enhance the travel experience for customers. Carriers are moving toward in-flight entertainment systems that stream content via Wi-Fi directly to the passengers' devices. It's a good move for passengers, says this column. Seat-back screens are expensive, heavy and don't deliver the quality of personal devices with streamed IFE.
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Basler Turbo's maintenance director outlines passion for aviation
What attracted you to aviation?
Growing up in northern Minnesota, my parents had a family-owned airport that provided maintenance, fuelling and flight training. I spent a lot of my childhood helping out my father and other pilots by fuelling aircaft, ploughing snow, and assisting in the day-to-day operations of running a private airport. In 1979, at the age of 16, I flew solo and received my student pilot’s licence with the help of my older brother, who held a commercial flight instructor licence.
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France Remains Tourism World Champion
France kept its title as the world's top tourist destination in 2013, drawing nearly 85 million visitors as Chinese interest intensified and North Americans surged back to the country. With its Mediterranean beaches and skiable mountain ranges, rich architectural heritage and tourist attractions, France grew even more popular last year, welcoming 2 percent more visitors than in 2012. It kept its top ranking ahead of the United States, which drew 69.8 million visitors, and Spain, with 60.7 million. Indeed, if France's tourists established their own country, it would be Europe's most populous by a margin of several million, Bank of France data showed. The tourism figures, which showed the number of Chinese people visiting France had risen by 23.4 percent, and tourists from India by 15.7 percent for a total 4.5 million from Asia, brought a rare bit of good news in an otherwise grim economic landscape.
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Ivory Coast Restricts Travel As Ebola Spreads
Ivory Coast has banned travel by air from the three countries worst-hit by the Ebola outbreak and ordered its flag carrier Air Cote d'Ivoire to cease flights to and from them. "We have banned flights to and from countries touched by the virus, notably Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. These places will no longer be serviced by Air Cote d'Ivoire," Transport Minister Gaoussou Toure said. The government has also forbidden all airlines from bringing passengers from Ebola-infected countries into Ivory Coast, after similar measures in nearby Gambia and Zambia last week. Mandatory temperature tests will be put in place at airports and new screening measures are planned at maritime entry points, the government said.
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Japan to acquire two 777-300ERs for VIP role
The Japanese government plans to obtain two Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to replace a pair of 747-400s used for the VIP transport mission. The planned acquisition was confirmed by All Nippon Airways (ANA), which the Japanese defence ministry confirmed as the provider of heavy checks for the aircraft. It is not clear whether Tokyo will order new-build aircraft from Boeing, or refit 777-300ERs now in commercial service.
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Airlines

Delta, JetBlue offer flexible booking ahead of Northeast storm
Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways have introduced flexible booking policies for a rainstorm expected to sweep through the Northeast today and Wednesday. Forecasts call for up to three inches of rain in some parts of the region, and a flash flood watch has been issued for New York City. The carriers will rebook travelers at several airports at no charge.
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Emirates Agrees Loan For 50th A380
Emirates has agreed a USD$425 million loan from a group of banks to fund the acquisition of two Airbus A380s, one of the lenders said. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), Commercial Bank of Dubai and Dubai Islamic Bank were joint book-runners and lead arrangers for the sharia-compliant financing, ADIB said in a statement.
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Etihad Airways to offer 3-room suites on Airbus A380s
AIR travel in coach being more uncomfortable than ever, I was receptive when a woman with Etihad Airways flagged me down on the trade show floor at the Global Business Travel Association convention here recently and led me to a display of the newest example of luxury in commercial flying. That was “The Residence,” a three-room suite that Etihad will install in first-class sections of its A380 superjumbo airplanes, the first one scheduled for service on Dec. 27. The 125-square-foot suite has a living room with two couches, a 32-inch television set and a refrigerator, a bathroom with a shower, a bedroom with a double bed, and a private butler.
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Hawaiian Airlines CEO says travel demand is strong
Mark Dunkerley, the president and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines, said strong travel demand is boosting the carrier's business. "In all categories, frankly, we've seen demand hold up and be quite strong," he said. "These are good times for the airline."
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LATAM Air Posts Loss Due To World Cup Dip
LATAM Airlines posted a net loss for the second quarter of USD$58.9 million as demand dropped during the World Cup in Brazil and due to weaker currencies in Chile and Argentina. That compared with a wider net loss of USD$329.8 million in the second quarter of 2013. The company, formed in 2012 from the tie-up of Chile's LAN and Brazilian airline TAM, has been cutting capacity on Brazilian routes to try to improve its margins. "Results this quarter were negatively affected by reduced passenger and cargo demand during the FIFA World Cup... as well as by very week seed exports in the cargo business," LATAM Airlines said.
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SIA confirms A380s to Auckland from October
Singapore Airlines (SIA) will upgauge seven weekly services from Singapore to Auckland, using Airbus A380s on a seasonal basis from 27 October. SIA says the 471-seat aircraft will replace 279-seat Boeing 777-300ERs on the daily service, while it will continue to operate five other weekly services with 777-200ERs. It adds that the A380 services will revert to 777s during the northern summer scheduling season. SIA also flies daily services to Christchurch using 777-200ERs. The announcement of the upgrade comes less than a week after New Zealand regulators cleared SIA and Air New Zealand’s proposed alliance on services between the two countries.
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Southwest expands international service with flights to Mexico
Southwest Airlines continues its international expansion. On Sunday, the carrier took over three flights to Mexico previously served by AirTran Airways. In November, Southwest will also take over AirTran flights to Mexico City and the Dominican Republic.
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United plans mobile-ready IFE portal
United Airlines is planning to launch a simplified Wi-Fi portal for in-flight entertainment that centers on a "mobile-first" approach. The airline has long familiarity with IFE connectivity providers, as it currently uses Gogo ATG-4, ViaSat Exede Ka and Panasonic Avionics eXConnect Ku. The new portal is part of United's goal to have "consistent, reliable" Wi-Fi across its fleet, says United managing director of cabin systems Tarek Abdel-Halim.
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Airports

Fraport Gets Approval For Frankfurt Airport Expansion
The city of Frankfurt has approved Fraport's building application for a much-debated new Terminal 3 at Europe's third-largest airport. Fraport estimates the investment cost will be more than EUR€2 billion (USD$2.67 billion) for the first phase of construction, which is due to start next year. The company expects the airport in its current form to reach maximum capacity - of about 64-68 million passengers a year - by 2021 and that the new terminal when finished will allow it to add another 25 million passengers a year. Anti-airport campaigners, meanwhile, maintain that the airport just outside Frankfurt already creates too much noise and does not need to be expanded.
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Military

Army selects Bell, Sikorsky-Boeing for JMR-TD
Bell Helicopter and a Sikorsky/Boeing team will each build flying prototypes for a US Army programme that aims to demonstrate a new generation of high-speed rotorcraft. The army selected Bell’s V-280 Valor optimum speed tiltrotor (pictured below) and the Sikorsky-Boeing concept for a compound coaxial rotor called the SB-1. Both aircraft are planned to fly for three years starting in fiscal 2017.
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Oman retires last Jaguar strike aircraft
Oman has retired its last four operational Sepecat Jaguars, with the strike aircraft carrying out a disbandment flypast with 8 Sqn at its Thumrait air base on 6 August. The Royal Air Force of Oman received its first Jaguars in 1977, under what was originally a 12-aircraft acquisition from the UK. A second batch of the type was ordered in 1982, and introduced from the following year.
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UK to deploy Tornados in support of Iraq operations
The UK is heightening its support in the fight against Islamic militants in Iraq, as it reveals plans to position Panavia GR4 Tornado combat aircraft in the region. A Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBR) emergency meeting held by foreign secretary Philip Hammond on 11 August concluded that the Royal Air Force would deploy Tornados to the Mount Sinjar region of Iraq, where refugees are sheltering after being forced from their homes by Islamic State insurgents.
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Corporate

​Gulfstream breaks silence on P42 project
Gulfstream has broken its four-year silence on the existence of a new aircraft development programme dubbed "P42", with a senior executive saying the company is "real close" to unveiling the mysterious project. "I think we're getting real close," Gulfstream vice-president of communications Steve Cass says. "We'll be talking, hopefully, in the not too distant future." Cass was speaking in an interview at the Latin American Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition in São Paulo, Brazil.
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Gulfstream navigating Russian market amid sanctions
Gulfstream is continuing efforts to sell and maintain aircraft in Russia while also navigating economic sanctions by the USA and Europe that target certain individuals – including some of the company's clients. One of Gulfstream's customers on the US sanctions list is Gennady Timchenko, who reportedly owns the sixth G650 off the assembly line.
In March, the US Treasury Department described Timchenko as the founder of an oil and energy commodity trading firm, of which Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin is an investor. Putin also "may have access" to the firm's funds.
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Legacy 500 performance grows with certification
Embraer on 12 August announced receiving type certification from Brazil for the Legacy 500 jet and beating several critical performance metrics during the flight testing phase. Although customers will be pleased to start operating the aircraft after a two-year delay for certification, the performance gains revealed by Embraer could be even more important for the type’s future.
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Aviation Quote

The emergencies you train for almost never happen. It's the one you can't train for that kills you.

— Ernest K. Gann, advice from the 'old pelican,' The Black Watch, 1989.

On This Date

---In 1824... The first aerial ascent by a Native American as a passenger, Chief Waschisabe, in Dupuis-Delcourt’s balloon “flotilla” takes place at Montjean, France.

--- In 1914... The first British airplane to reach French soil after mobilization is a BE2a, serial number 327, flown by Capt. F. F. Waldron and Air Mechanic Skerritt of No. 2 Sqdr. RFC commanded by Maj. C. J. Burke.

--- In 1976... The Bell Model 222, the first twin-engined light commercial helicopter, developed in the United States, makes its first flight, powered by the 650 SHP Avco Lycoming LTS 101-650C.

---In 1997…First flight of the A330-200.

Daily Video

Editor’s Choice

Humor

Joint Rules for the Army-Navy-Air Force-Marine Corps Game

New SecDef Directive: Joint Rules for the Army-Navy-Air Force-Marine Corps Game.

The Pentagon announced new rules for the fall 2005 Army-Navy-Air Force-Marine Corps football tournament:

Recently the Pentagon announced new rules for the annual Army-Navy-Air Force-Marine Corps football tournament. It is now known that fully integrated teams will take to the gridiron only after negotiating the following:

1. Only flag football will be played. The Joint Chiefs of Staff deemed tackle and touch football too dangerous. First, because of the CNN factor, the public will no longer tolerate even one field casualty. Second, touching another player today -- even the congratulatory pat on the behind -- is court-martial bait.

2. The phrase "making a pass" will be changed to the less ambiguous "throwing the ball." And the Army, Navy and Marines will be blocked from throws beyond 5 yards because of Air Force protests that it alone owns the long-range air attack mission.

3. The Marine Corps may run with the ball, but no more than 25 yards per quarter, the Pentagon ruled. It was prompted by Army objections to long-range naval ground operations.

4. The Navy may not use tailbacks. The term is too sensitive and should be avoided.

5. To promote inter-service cooperation, all teams were ordered to use the same game plan, after receiving suggestions from all four services.

The Army's plan, called "The Game After Next," called for handoffs of a digitized football to the fullback, up the middle, on every play. The Army plan's last chapter, titled "Exit Strategy," was oddly blank, which would leave players with no choice but to set up bunkers and temporary housing on the 50-yard line.

The Navy's "Forward... From the Bench" plan called for players -- each called a ball "carrier" -- to be surrounded by other Navy football players in a pack called "carrier groups." These units would establish a roaming "presence" all over the playing field. Less important than crossing the goal line is the Navy strategy of being able to protect the carrier group wherever it patrols the gridiron. So threatening are these carriers, the Navy strategy goes, that no one would be foolish enough to even mount a defense.

The Marine's "Three-Yard War" plan was predictable: Seize ground, every down, no matter how, regardless of the price, preferably while on the playing field. The linchpin of the Marine game plan called for packing the audience with members of Congress to ensure that the Marines' performance did not go unrecognized.

The Air Force's "Field-Wide Engagement" plan kept calling for very long, accurate throws on every down, during huddles, time outs, halftime, between games, in the parking lot and even in the showers. So fast and accurate would these throws be, went the Air Force strategy, no other team should even bother to take the field.

After examining each team's playbook the Secretary of Defense ruled that none was suitable, leaving each service to its own devices.

The Navy decided victory could be had by not taking the field at all. Instead, its players patrolled up and down the sidelines in breathtaking formation, hoping that would sufficiently deter the other teams from leaving their benches. Likewise, the Army decided against taking the field, at least until several conditions were met: one, that vital U.S. national interests were at stake; two, the conditions for victory were concrete and easily defined; and, three, the president would activate 550,000 reserve and National Guard Army football players if the game actually were to be played.

The Air Force felt victory could be achieved also by not showing up. Secret plans were later leaked to the press that the Air Force had spent $38.7 billion on a system able to fire the football into the end zone from space.

Bolstered by congressional resolution to be the "most ready football team when others are the least," the Marines stormed the playing field and declared themselves the winners.

And there was joy in Mudville.

You may wonder why the Coast Guard didn't participate in the game. Well, the Coast Guard originally suggested a game plan which would save tons of money by using a 35 year old football (painted white with a red stripe, for easy identification on the field); they would also play with hand-me-down uniforms from the Navy. Then, in order to economize, the Coast Guard proposed to play with only six players who would act as both offense, defense, first, second and third string. In order to provide value for service, these same six players would also sell concessions at halftime and sweep the stadium after the game. If asked, the Coast Guard players would also wipe the game ball for the Navy between plays. In order to reflect the right proportions of the smallest U.S. military force, four players would be designated quarterbacks, two as wide receivers, and one as left tackle. Oops, forgot they’d only field six players: forget the tackle.

However, the Coast Guard never made it to the game because Secretary Rumsfeld said the Coast Guard couldn't win on their own; the Coast Guard was told to confine play to the practice field from now on.

Little does the Secretary know the Coast Guard managed to sneak the six players in to the game anyway: dressed as cheerleaders!

Trivia

General Trivia

1.Modern aviation transceivers used in the United States can transmit and receive on as many as _____ frequencies, and their range is 118.00 to _____ MHz.
a. 720, 135.975
b. 720, 136.975
c. 760, 135.975
d. 760, 136.975

2. Everyone knows that Charles Lindbergh was first to fly solo and nonstop from New York to Paris. The second pilot to do this was
a. Giuseppe Bellanca.
b. Clarence Chamberlin.
c. Max Conrad.
d. Wiley Post.

3. Which of the following does not belong?
a. automatic
b. coupled
c. fixed
d. manual
e. pressure

4. True or False: A glider has never been flown nonstop across the United States (without being towed while en route).

5. True or False: Pilots not only are required to turn on their anti-collision lights when flying at night, they also are required to turn them on during daylight, VFR conditions in all classes of airspace.

6. True or False: Lycoming began manufacturing engines in 1907, only four years after the Wright brothers’ first powered flight.

7. True or False: No American pilot was an ace in both World War II and the Korean War.