Yet wildlife strikes–of which more than 97 percent have been birds–on civil aircraft in the U.S. currently occur on average about 26 times per day or just over one every hour, according to the 2012 joint FAA/Dept of Agriculture report, Wildlife strikes to civil aircraft in the United States, 1990-2010. The total cost to the aviation community of strikes between 1990 and 2010, including damage repairs and replacement parts, out-of-service time and other costs, added up to close to half a billion dollars.
Radar
June 1, 2012 - 4:05am
The market for inexpensive portable ADS-B receivers that deliver free in-flight data to Apple iPads and other devices is heating up. Boston-based Radenna pioneered this market with the original SkyRadar unit, which communicates wirelessly with the iPad, providing a means to receive free in-flight weather and traffic data from the growing ADS-B ground station network.
May 29, 2012 - 4:20pm
Essential Flight Technology and NavWorx are teaming to produce portable ADS-B In weather solutions for iOS, Android and Windows devices. With the Pads WxBox solution, pilots will be able to receive subscription-free weather reports and weather radar through Flight Information Service-Broadcast (FIS-B). The Apple iPad version of Pads WxBox from NavWorx is available for pre-order at an introductory price of $795–$100 less than the regular price–through August 1. The first devices are expected to ship by August.
May 25, 2012 - 11:30am
Northrop Grumman gained a $1.7 billion (€1.2 billion) contract to supply five Block 40 Global Hawk UAVs with advanced multi-platform radar technology insertion program (MP-RTIP) radars for the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) program.
May 17, 2012 - 2:05pm
Last week the FAA issued a notice of a proposed permanent process for limiting aircraft data displayed via its Access to Aircraft Situation Display (ASDI) and National Airspace System Status Information (NASSI), known in the vernacular as the block aircraft registration requests (Barr) program.
May 14, 2012 - 11:50am
Blue Green Technology is here at EBACE (Stand 1977) exhibiting its Vigiplane security system for parked aircraft. The device, which operates autonomously from the aircraft systems and does not require certification, immobilizes aircraft through a special nose wheel chock.
May 13, 2012 - 10:30am
FlightAware (Stand 2065), the U.S.-based flight tracking company, is introducing two new web-based products this week in its debut appearance at the EBACE show. FlightAware Global is aimed at aircraft operators, while FBO ToolBox Europe is designed for FBOs and handlers.
May 7, 2012 - 4:20pm
The Reason Foundation’s Annual Report on Privatization 2011, released last week, states, “Since 1990, 51 governments have commercialized their air traffic control systems. They have separated the air traffic control functions from regulatory bodies, removed them from civil service and made them self-supporting from fees charged to aircraft operators.
May 2, 2012 - 3:35am
The Namibia Wam system was supplied by Era, of the Czech Republic, and employs 36 widely separated and unmanned ground stations that listen for aircraft transponder replies to radar interrogations and then retransmit those replies to a central processing station. In Namibia, which has no radar, selected listening posts transmit pseudo, but otherwise identical, radar interrogations.
April 27, 2012 - 1:20pm
BAE Systems is competing against Lockheed Martin to be the prime contractor for Korea’s forthcoming upgrade of some 130 F-16s. Attention has focused largely on the competition between Northrop Grumman and Raytheon to supply the AESA radar. But the Korean request for proposals also invited non-OEMs to bid as system integrator. Taiwan and the U.S. are also planning a similar upgrade to some 140 and 300 aircraft, respectively. Other F-16 operators may follow, making this a multibillion-dollar market.
