July 19, 2006

AW clears misconception on military manufacture

By R. Randall Padfield

AgustaWestland is not relocating all its military helicopter manufacturing to the UK, as had been assumed by some in the wake of last month’s dual announcements of a UK Ministry of Defence order for 70 Future Lynx helicopters and the news that the firm’s AW149 model will be built at its facility at Yeovil in southwest England. This misperception developed, according to a company spokesman, because more

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Aircrews will be armored as well as foot soldiers

By Brian Walters

Following intensive research and development, RFD Beaufort (Hall 1 Stand D9/10) has launched new armored vests for helicopter and fixed-wing crews. They offer fire retardancy, flotation, ballistic and load carriage options with fall-arrest facilities and full-body harnesses, without affecting the wearer’s comfort and ability to carry out mission activities.

Armor levels can be tail more

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Cordless Iridium Phone For Bizjets

International Communications Group (Hall 4 Stand C96) of Newport News, Virginia, announced a new cordless Iridium phone for business aircraft cabins. The handset incorporates active noise reduction technology as well as an auto shutoff feature that helps preserve battery life. The handset is compatible with all models of Iridium communications transceivers sold by ICG, the company said. The other more

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Hamilton Sundstrand Notches Ryanair Pact

Hamilton Sundstrand (Hall 4 Stand F13) has announced the signing of a long-term maintenance agreement with low-cost carrier Ryanair. The contract covers test, repair and overhaul for the manufacturer’s products on the airline’s fleet of Boeing 737s. These include electric power and cabin pressurization equipment.

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P&W Assures CFM of Parts Quality

Pratt & Whitney has revealed the first newly manufactured components its Global Materials Solutions subsidiary has produced for the rival CFM56-3 engine.In response to CFM criticisms that non-genuine CFM56-3 parts could suffer reliability issues, P&W president Steve Finger said, “We’ve invested many millions in this program and have tremendous system knowledge of this engine. This is not u more

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Australian Government Buys More NH90s

Eurocopter added a large order to its book just before the Farnborough airshow opened when the Australian government signed a contract on June 30 for 34 more NH90 military helicopters for its army, increasing its total orders to 46 aircraft. Australia placed its first order for 12 MRH-90s, as they are designated down under, less than two years ago. Australian Aerospace, a Eurocopter subsidiary, wi more

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Cessna glad it returned to F’boro

By Stephen Pope

It has been six years since Cessna last had a presence at a Farnborough air show. The company skipped the last two, reasoning that the aerospace and defense giants in residence were starting to crowd out business jet makers. Business aviation growth in Europe is strong and getting stronger, as evidenced by the fact that more than half of its sales for the new Mustang compact jet are to buyers outs more

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Selex PicoSAR maps urban and rural areas

Selex Sensors & Airborne Systems (Outside Exhibit 2) has flown its new PicoSAR synthetic aperture radar, demonstrating the system’s ability to map both urban and rural areas at altitudes ranging from 3,000 to 9,500 feet.

A lightweight active electronically scanned array radar tailored for small airborne platforms such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and helicopters, PicoSAR is de more

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Jepp paperless cockpits grow

By Stephen Pope

Jeppesen has announced the addition of three more airlines to the growing list of carriers that are moving away from paper in favor of electronic navigation charts.
EgyptAir and two Spanish carriers, Futura and Iberworld, have contracted Jeppesen to supply electronic charts and its e-Link online chart access service. EgyptAir’s agreement covers class-3 EFB (electronic flight bag) terminal cha more

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Japanese enter regional jet market

By Brian Walters

The Mitsubishi interest in the next generation of regional jets is evident from a model displayed at Hall 2 Stand C17. The Japanese government is funding initial development but the company is seeking partners in order to launch the program by the end of 2007.

The 90-seat MJ-90 is to be the first of three twin-engine models produced under the program and it will be followed by 70- a more

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