There’s no mistaking a 2016 Pilatus PC-12 NG from earlier versions of the aircraft. The third iteration of this 22-year old model sports a five-blade Hartzell prop with scimitar shaped blades made of black carbon fiber. Because of the new prop’s computer-refined blade airfoil and thin chord section, it’s more efficient at converting torque into thrust in all phases of flight...
Chief executive of British Airways’ owner says drones may become serious risk to air passengers. The boss of British Airways’ owner IAG has called for a register of drone users after a series of near collisions between passenger planes and unmanned aircraft. Willie Walsh, IAG’s chief executive, said that “without question” new restrictions should be brought in b...
More than 1,400 incidents of lasers being shone at aircraft were reported to the UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in 2015. The number was slightly lower than in 2014 - but reports by police helicopter pilots more than doubled. The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) said the increasing power of lasers raised the possibility of a serious accident. One pilot called for the sal...
Captain Kirk from the original “Star Trek” is celebrating Star Wars Day today, so maybe it shouldn’t be so surprising that a Seattle-based branding and design firm helped create the Airbus Group’s state-of-the-art Experience Center in the nation’s capital. Hornall Anderson is behind the look of the exhibit space, which takes up about half of the 20,000-square-foot...
Imagine if instead of wasting hours in traffic, you could one day fly above it for a price only slightly higher than a subway ride. That's the idea behind SkyTran, a self-driving monorail designed to hover 20 feet above roads and travel up to 155 mph. The system would turn a two-hour car commute into a 10-minute trip, SkyTran CEO Jerry Sanders tells Tech Insider. The company just a...
As a world leader in solar protection systems offering bespoke solutions to the aeronautic market, Vision Systems will present its range of solar protection and wireless IFE systems dedicated to business aviation. The exhibited products include Vision Systems' latest innovation, a new concept of EDW integrating interactive content, high-end motorized shades and Electronically Dimmable Windows...
Leonardo-Finmeccanica announced that the third prototype (A/C3) of the AgustaWestland AW609 TiltRotor has completed its first ground run at the company's facilities in Cascina Costa, Italy, marking a critical milestone as the programme advances its testing and plans a resumption of flight testing activities. Aircraft AW609 A/C3 began restrained ground run testing with all engines and system...
An ambitious project is currently reaching its conclusion in Geneva, where RUAG Aviation has been conducting C-check inspections on two aircraft simultaneously. The aircraft in question are a Falcon 2000 Classic, belonging to a VIP customer, and a government-operated Falcon 900B. RUAG Aviation is renowned for its flexible approach and efficient services. It is now harnessing these qualities in...
Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker says Perth is the likely next Australian destination to receive the Airbus A350-900. Although Al Baker declined to say when Qatar’s Perth-Doha service – currently served with Boeing 777-300ERs – would switch to the A350, he noted late deliveries of the new Airbus widebody had pushed back some route chan...
Flightglobal contributor Peter Clark was given the opportunity to fly in one of the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s (RNZAF) newly-operational Beechcraft T-6C trainers, during a 42min sortie from Ohakea air base. Eleven T-6Cs are being used to deliver initial training to students, with the new capability due to deliver 15 graduate pilots and 12 qualified flying instructors annually over the...
Tell us about your career I started out in corporate finance, running my own businesses around commercial property, debt financing and providing financial advice to ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWI). However in the early 1990s I saw the potential of the internet and moved on from finance to create Global Beach, one of the first UK digital agencies. Global Beach grew quickly. Clients i...
Q My wife, who is 76 years old and has arthritic ankles, walks with a stick. At Milan Bergamo airport, she had her walking stick confiscated by security. They removed the rubber cushion at the end of the stick, and found a short spike with threads to hold the cushion on. That was deemed a hazard that would not be allowed on a Ryanair aircraft. When we had flown to Italy eight days earlier, it had...
Air India has reported a modest operational profit for the first time in a decade, two years ahead of the target as per its turnaround plan. This is significant since any profit, even if it is at the operational level, has been generated for the first time since the erstwhile Air India and Indian Airlines merged to create the present behemoth. Lower fuel prices coupled with improved operational...
Epic Aircraft is building the first production-conforming E1000 test aircraft, in preparation for the high-performance, single-engined turboprop’s first flight, in the third quarter. The six-seat aircraft will join a first test aircraft, tail number N331FT, which made its maiden sortie at the end of 2015. “We have been working hard with FT1 to prove the aircraft’s handling qua...
Air pressure changes can cause passengers to experience build-ups of gas which lead to bloating, constipation and stomach pains. If you’ve ever flown on a plane before, chances are you’ve suffered a few unpleasant symptoms. A new infographic shows exactly how cramped conditions and constant pressure can create an environment that leads to dehydration and other illnesses. Compi...
Air New Zealand refused to let a woman board her flight to Tonga because the aircraft had reached its upper weight limit. Auckland woman Alex Catchpole-Ozpınar was supposed to board her 9.30am flight to Tonga on Monday for a five day holiday but was turned away at the Air NZ check-in counter because her aircraft had reached its weight limit. Catchpole-Ozpınar said sh...
Severe turbulence on an Etihad Airways flight to Indonesia left 31 passengers injured on Wednesday. Flight EY474 from Abu Dhabi to Jakarta encountered severe and unexpected turbulence about 45 minutes before its arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, the airline confirmed in a statement. he A330-200 Airbus landed safely at the airport in Jakarta, where nine passengers were taken to...
Before he was recaptured in January, Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán ran the largest airborne operation in Mexico. Between 2006 and 2015, Mexican authorities seized 599 aircraft — 586 planes and 13 helicopters — that the cartel used to ship drugs throughout Mexico and Latin America, according to information from the Mexican defense ministry (...
European regulators have mandated a number of “precautionary” checks covering the main gearbox of the Airbus Helicopters H225 rotorcraft in the wake of the 29 April fatal crash in Norway. The European Aviation Safety Agency says that although the investigation into the root cause of the accident – in which 13 passengers and crew lost their lives – remains ongoi...
Working with NASA, Honeywell recently flight-tested new cockpit displays that help pilots see sonic booms before they happen. As part of a joint study, Honeywell is looking to prove that the displays could allow pilots to reroute and reduce the effects of aircraft noise over populated areas. Honeywell was awarded a two-year contract in 2015 as part of NASA’s Commercial Supe...
Air navigation service providers (ANSPs) for Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey implemented a “significant airspace project” at their interfaces to address the handling of traffic in the Black Sea area, Eurocontrol announced late last week. This improvement is intended to provide “extra options at those interfaces and has the potential for allowing these ANSPs to safely and effici...
