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NOTICE: In observance of Memorial Day, The NAS Daily will not be posted on Monday, it will resume on Tuesday.

NEWS

Airline lawsuit against European ETS moves forward
The US airline industry won a small but significant victory in its bid to challenge the legality of the EU's plan to apply its Emissions Trading Scheme to non-EU airlines yesterday when the English High Court of Justice said it would refer the case to the European Court of Justice.
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FAA releases final ADS-B Out rule setting performance standards
FAA yesterday announced the final rule describing the performance requirements for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast Out, a foundation stone of NextGen, and setting a 2020 deadline for aircraft to be equipped when operating in US-controlled airspace.
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Aegean slips to first-quarter loss
Aegean Airlines reported a first-quarter net loss of €25.6 million, reversed from a €4.6 million net profit in the year-ago period, despite a 3% hike in revenue to €114.8 million and a 17% jump in boardings to 1.4 million.
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Boeing, Honeywell UOP, UTC to work with China on biofuels
Boeing, along with Honeywell UOP, United Technologies and AECOM, will work with Air China and PetroChina in a collaborative effort to establish a sustainable aviation biofuel industry in China as part of a broader sustainable aviation biofuel agreement between China's National Energy Administration and the US Trade and Development Agency.
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DRDO Urges Services: Look Within For Weaponry
Indian Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) Chief Dr. VK Saraswat said May 26 that “self-reliance in critical defense technologies cannot be achieved by DRDO alone unless the three services (Army, Navy and Air Force) overcome the temptation to induct [the] latest weaponry from abroad.”
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X-51A Waverider reaches Mach 5 in 140s scramjet flight

US Air Force and Boeing researchers on 26 May took a leap towards harnessing hypersonic vehicles for space access or weapons applications with the longest-ever supersonic combustion ramjet-powered flight, off the southern California Pacific coast.

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Kuwait orders KC-130J tankers from Lockheed

Lockheed Martin has secured its first export customer for the KC-130J tanker, with Kuwait having signed a $245 million deal to acquire three of the type.
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Airbus Military reveals work on SIGINT A320

Airbus Military has begun bench testing systems for a signals intelligence variant of the A320, as part of a drive to expand its offering of military derivatives of Airbus commercial platforms.
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NTSB issues urgent recommendations for CF6 engines
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued four urgent safety recommendations to the FAA following uncontained engine failures in four recent incidents.
Link

Australia impressed by Super Hornet performance

The Royal Australian Air Force is on track to stand up the first Boeing F/A-18F operational squadron in December with two extra aircraft than originally planned and a new appreciation for the Super Hornet's capabilities.
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Other News

Airbus announced that South African Airways ordered five A320s, boosting an earlier commitment for the type to 20 from 15 previously. Aircraft, which will be delivered from 2013, will be powered by IAE V2500s. SAA recently agreed to lease six A330-200s from Aircastle for delivery in 2011. It already operates a fleet of 11 A319s, six A340-200s, six A340-300s and nine A340-600s.

Europe's volcanic ash-related airspace closures caused international scheduled passenger traffic (RPKs) to slump 2.4% in April compared to April 2009, IATA reported. Capacity (ASKs) fell 5%. "The ash crisis knocked back the global recovery, impacting carriers in all regions. Last month we were within 1% of pre-crisis traffic levels in 2008. In April that was pushed back 7%," said IATA MD and CEO Giovanni Bisignani.

European carriers' international RPKs fell 11.7% on a 12.2% drop in ASKs as they bore the brunt of the impact from the airspace closures. Asia/Pacific carriers reported a 3.5% rise in RPKs on a 2.6% decline in ASKs, while North American carriers experienced a 1.9% slip in international RPKs with ASKs down 4.5%. Middle East carriers' traffic rose 13% with capacity up 9.2%. Latin American carriers' international RPKs climbed 1.2%, on just a 0.8% lift in capacity. African airlines saw RPKs rise 8.6% on a 5.1% climb in ASKs. International cargo demand (FTKs) rose 25.2% in April on just a 3.2% increase on ATKs.

American Eagle Airlines next month will take delivery of the first two of 22 CRJ700s it has on order, the first new aircraft the regional will receive in five years. Speaking to reporters at the Regional Airlines Assn. Annual Convention in Milwaukee, President and CEO Peter Bowler said that "virtually all" of the new jets will be based at either New York JFK or LaGuardia. They will bring Eagle's CRJ700 fleet to 47. From July 1, all Eagle CRJs will feature a dual-class configuration with nine first class and 54 economy seats. First class food and beverage service will be offered on all flights over 2 hr. Bowler said that 18 of the 25 current CRJ700s already have been reconfigured. Most of the existing CRJs are dedicated to Chicago O'Hare services, he said. "You'll be seeing most of the [47 CRJs] flying in New York or Chicago," he noted.

KLM this week launched a pilot project testing a la carte catering in economy class on flights from Amsterdam to Bangkok, Taipei, Dubai, Cape Town, Singapore and Denpasar. The carrier confirmed that it will continue serving its standard meals onboard but the unbundling pilot project is offering passengers an additional choice of four dishes including a Japanese meal, an Indonesian rice table, Italian dishes and a "sustainable"dining meal of organic chicken, vegetables and cheese. Orders can be placed when checking in online and cost €15 ($18.62) per dish. The pilot will run until the end of August.

Cathay Pacific Airways announced a series of senior management changes effective from July 1 that include a number of moves at director level. James Barrington, currently director-sales & marketing, will become director-corporate development, while Rupert Hogg, currently director-cargo, will become director-sales & marketing. GM-Information Management Tomasz Smaczny was named director-information management and the current incumbent in that role, Edward Nicol, will retire after 35 years' service with Swire Group. Richard Hall, currently GM-aircrew, will take up the position of director-flight operations, a post currently held by Nick Rhodes, who will become director-cargo. Ian Shiu, the current director-corporate development at Cathay Pacific, was appointed a senior director at John Swire & Sons (HK) with a brief that covers staff matters in Hong Kong and strategic developments in mainland China and Taiwan.

Japan Airlines and China Eastern Airlines expanded their codeshare agreement to include daily CEA-operated flights from Shanghai Pudong to Xi'an, Wuhan and Shenzhen as of June 3. They also will increase the frequency of existing Shanghai codeshare routes to Chengdu and Chongqing from four-times-daily to nine-times-daily.

Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes said its Varig subsidiary will launch weekly Sao Paulo Guarulhos-Bridgetown, Barbados, service June 26.

JetBlue Airways resumed operating seasonal New York JFK-Nantucket service through Sept 30 aboard an E-190.

Flydubai launches four-times-weekly Dubai-Colombo services on June 23. The Sri Lankan capital becomes its 21st destination.

EgyptAir will launch thrice-weekly flights between Cairo and Copenhagen Oct. 1 aboard a 737-800 in two-class configuration.

Volga-Dnepr Airlines took delivery of one "built-to-order" PS-90А-76-powered IL-76TD-90VD freighter and completed the first customer flight. The freighter, manufactured at Tashkent Chkalov Aviation Factory, is part of a contract for three additional IL-76TD-90VDs signed by Volga-Dnepr Leasing Co. with JSC UAC-Transport Aircraft in 2007.

Ducommun AeroStructures was selected by Boeing to furnish empennage vertical and horizontal fin tip assemblies for the 777, with the first set slated to be delivered in the first quarter of 2011. Work will be performed at its Monrovia, Gardena and Orange, Calif., facilities and in Guaymas.



AVIATION QUOTE

"As soon as we left the ground I knew I myself had to fly!"

- Amelia Earhart, after her first flight in an airplane, a ten minute sight-seeing trip over Los Angeles, 1920



AEROSPACE TERM

Ideal Transducer

For connecting a specified source to a specified load, a hypothetical passive transducer that transfers the maximum possible power from the source to the load.

In linear electric circuits and analogous cases, this is equivalent to a transducer which (1) dissipates no energy and (2) when connected to the specified source and load presents to each its conjugate.



DAILY VIDEO





EDITOR’S CHOICE





HUMOR

Skydiving Lesson

One guy asked, "If our chute doesn't open, and the reserve doesn't open, how long do we have until we hit the ground?"

Our jump master looked at him and in perfect deadpan and answered, "The rest of your life."



TRIVIA

General Trivia

1. The phrase, “have numbers,” is used by pilots to advise ATC that they have the:
a. altimeter setting.
b. runway and approach in use.
c. current ATIS information.
d. runway in use, wind velocity and altimeter setting.

2. The typical price paid by the U.S. government for a new North American P–51D Mustang during World War II was:
a. $6,572.
b. $21,572.
c. $36,572.
d. $51,572.

3. Glenn Miller, famed American jazz musician, arranger, composer and band leader of the swing era, disappeared on December 15, 1944, during a flight from southern England to Paris where he was to entertain troops who had recently liberated the French capital. The airplane in which he disappeared was a:
a. Beech C–45 Expediter.
b. Noorduhn (Nordyne) UC–64 Norseman.
c. Westland Lysander Mk.1.
d. Stinson L–12 Reliant.

4. True or false; The first production airplane manufactured by North American Aviation was the T–6 Texan.

5. True or false; During an episode of Star Trek, Mr. Spock was seen using the iconic Dalton E6B computer to calculate precisely when the Enterprise would smash into a planet.

1. d
2. d
3. b
4. false
5. true

Not even going to attempt the trivia today, but wow, loving the Editor's Choice today. "Positive climb" is for girls.

Guesses, mostly:-

1. C
2. B
3. B
4. False
5. True

I can just imagine the paint crews' delight when a Dragonair job comes into the paint shop

The retro-paint scheme on that World Airways MD11 is awesome. My first hop to FRA (Rhein-Main) was on a World DC10 painted that way . . . very cool flashback.

Trivia:

1: C
2: A
3: B
4: F
5: T

1: D
2: C
3: B
4: False
5. True

miamiair wrote:
1. The phrase, “have numbers,” is used by pilots to advise ATC that they have the:
a. altimeter setting.
b. runway and approach in use.
c. current ATIS information.
d. runway in use, wind velocity and altimeter setting.

In my 23 years here at MSY, when pilots tell ATC that they have "the numbers", they're referring to their own weight and balance numbers, usually followed by the announcement that they are ready for takeoff.

If I had to limit myself to the four choices above, I'd go with C.

No idea on the others, but when informing Goodyear Tower that I had 'the numbers', it was definitely referring to the ATIS (C).

ANSWERS:

1. (d) “Have numbers” is explained in the Pilot/Controller Glossary in the AIM. It may not be used to indicate that the ATIS has been received.

2. (d) They paid $51,572. Not long after the war, surplus Mustangs sold for about $500 including fuel in the tanks. A well-maintained model is now worth substantially more than a million dollars.

3. (b) The Norseman is a large Canadian-built, high-wing, single-engine taildragger with a Pratt & Whitney 600-horsepower radial engine. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 7,400 pounds and seats up to 10. Miller’s airplane was never found.

4. False. North American’s first were the GA–15 observation airplane and GA–16 trainer. They were similar to the T–6 in that they were low-wing, all-metal taildraggers powered by radial engines.

5. True. It was in the episode, The Naked Time.

mhodgson wrote:No idea on the others, but when informing Goodyear Tower that I had 'the numbers', it was definitely referring to the ATIS (C).

Naughty naughty

ShanwickOceanic wrote:

mhodgson wrote:No idea on the others, but when informing Goodyear Tower that I had 'the numbers', it was definitely referring to the ATIS (C).

Naughty naughty

Along with the entire based pilot population!

Although, thinking about it I'm not sure - we always relayed which letter ATIS we had, so I'm not sure at which point we'd use 'numbers'; though I distinctly recall using it.