Sikorsky parent warns on near-term civil helicopter sales prospects

Helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky is unlikely to see any upturn in the commercial market over the next two years, parent company Lockheed Martin has warned.

Sikorsky only offers two dedicated civil helicopters, the medium-twin S-76D and the S-92 heavy-twin. Neither has sold in great volumes in recent years, with the latter particularly affected by the downturn in the offshore oil and gas market.

Flight Fleets Analyzer records just three deliveries of each type during 2017.

Speaking on a full-year earnings call on 29 January, Lockheed chief financial officer Bruce Tanner warned that crude oil prices would need to remain at $65/barrel or above "for a little while longer" to "drive some of the volume of helicopters in the oil and gas industry".

He adds: "So we are obviously not expecting a large increase on the commercial helicopters in 2018 compared to 2017.

"And frankly, we are looking pretty flat in 2019 as well. Obviously, that could change pretty quickly depending on oil and gas prices."

Deliveries of military helicopters will also fall by about 50 units in 2018, warns Tanner, on lower volumes of its UH-60 Black Hawk and MH-60R Seahawk contained in the latest multi-year procurement for the US government.

However, Tanner points out that volumes of the CH-53K for the US Marine Corps and the VH-92, produced under the Presidential Helicopter Replacement Programme, will begin to offset some of the H-60 downturn in the coming years.

He says 2018 will be "a low point in sales" for Sikorsky, with growth in 2019 and beyond.

Tanner remains confident that the airframer will secure export customers for the CH-53K heavy-lifter, identifying Germany and Israel as the most likely buyers.

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More than $70 million in cocaine seized from private jet

Five men were arrested Tuesday after an estimated $70.68 million worth of cocaine was seized from a private jet, United Kingdom authorities said.

Border Force officers confiscated approximately half a ton of cocaine found on the jet at Farnborough Airport in England, according to the National Crime Agency.

The plane had departed from Bogota, Colombia.

The men, two British, two Spanish and one Italian, were arrested on suspicion of importing the drugs.

The seizure was one of the largest in UK history, said Border Force officials.

“After meeting the flight and questioning those on board, officers became suspicious and searched the aircraft and their luggage,” said Chief Operating Officer Mike Stepney.  

“When opened, each case was found to contain between 34 to 37 tape wrapped packages weighing approximately one kilogram each. One of these was pierced and a white powder exposed which tested positive for cocaine,” Stepney said.

Officers also seized computers and phones from three addresses in Bournemouth, which is two hours southwest of London.

The plane crew was also questioned but released without charge.

By comparison, Colombian officials seized $360 million worth of drugs in 2017 bound for the U.S.

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Leonardo extends three-year legal war over US Army helo contracts

A three-year-old saga over a US Army plan to buy more Airbus UH-72A Lakota helicopters opened yet another potentially lengthy chapter after Leonardo filed a new legal challenge just as a federal appellate tribunal rejected the last one.

The latest twist in the legal wrangling puts Airbus’ final assembly plant for the UH-72A in Mississippi at risk, despite funded army plans to 51 more Lakotas after the lawsuits are resolved and up to 113 more in the long-term.

“The last aircraft rolls off of the delivery line February 28,” says Chris Emerson, president of Airbus Helicopters Inc. “After that, we don’t have any work on that line.”

The last delivery represents the 423^rd UH-72 assembled at the Columbus, Mississippi factory since 2006, when Airbus began delivering aircraft under the light utility helicopter contract.

The legal challenges started eight years later. In 2014, the US Army announced a plan to buy 155 more UH-72As to supplement the light utility helicopter fleet and take over a new role as a replacement for the Bell Helicopter TH-67 Creek trainer.

Leonardo objected to the 2014 plan on the grounds that the army was expanding the purchase beyond the requirement for light utility helicopters without holding a full and open competition. Leonardo also believes that the army should have opened the LUH contract to competitive bids after the 10-year term of the original contract expired in 2016.

Despite those objections, the army issued a justification for a sole-source deal to Airbus in 2014 for 16 more UH-72As, the maximum authorized under the original LUH contract.

The US arm of the Italian manufacturer filed a lawsuit in the Court of Federal Claims in 2014 over the army’s original decision to bypass a competition. That court agreed with Leonardo’s position a year later, sending the proceedings to an appellate court while the acquisition stalled.

Meanwhile, the army notified the court last May that it had downgraded its plan to buy 155 UH-72As ultimately to 97. With the judgment from the appellate court still pending, the army issued a new justification for a sole source contract to Airbus in late December to buy an initial batch of up to 35 UH-72As.

In early January, Leonardo filed a new lawsuit in the Court of Federal Claims to block the new sole-source contract for 35 UH-72As from moving forward. A week later, the appeals court reversed the Court of Federal Claims decision on the army’s plan to buy the first 16 UH-72As, saying the army was justified to issue a sole source contract.

Both contracts now are tied up under the new lawsuit. The army has stopped communicating with Airbus on the plan to buy 16 UH-72As until the lawsuit over the contract for 35 Lakotas is resolved, Emerson says.

On 26 January, the judge in the court of federal claims said she’ll make a decision on whether to allow Leonardo’s new lawsuit to move forward by mid-April, Emerson says.

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KFC’s latest gadget is a chicken wings box that doubles as a drone

KFC loves a good PR stunt, and Circuit Breaker is cool with them so long as they cleverly involve gadgets. Today, the fast-food chain announced that its new, India-only Smoky Grilled Wings will come packaged in a box with detachable drone parts. Although customers will have to look up instructions online, they can eventually assemble the box and its parts to turn it into a Bluetooth-connected drone.

The company’s calling the box a "KFO,” or Kentucky Flying Object," which I guess is fine. The boxes will only be available on January 25th and 26th.

KFC has previously launched lots of gadgets, most of which were available in Asia, where American fast-food chains are historically considered a place to splurge for “family occasions.” Apparently the US isn't very gadget-receptive market, or maybe we don't like actual flying chicken wings as much? I have no idea. But please fly your chicken wings drone for me.

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3 dead, 2 injured after helicopter crashes into California house

At least three people were killed and two others injured on Tuesday when a helicopter crashed into a house in the U.S. state of California, authorities said.

The four-seat Robinson R44 went down at about 1:45 p.m. in the gated community in Newport Beach on the U.S. West Coast, about 45 miles (72 km) southeast of Los Angeles, the authorities said.

Four people were believed to be on board when the chopper went down, but nobody was inside the home at the time of the crash, the Newport Beach Police Department tweeted. "It does not appear that any persons on the ground were involved."

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Upgrades continue at KBCT

Major safety enhancements have been completed at the Boca Raton Airport (KBCT) with the completion of the new Engineered Materials Arresting System (EMAS) installation and airfield electrical upgrades.

While the EMAS arrestor bed installation for the departure end of Runway 5 was finished in July 2016, the construction of the arrestor bed at the departure end of Runway 23 was completed this fall, airport officials said.

EMAS is a bed of cellular material customized for the Boca Raton Airport and designed to crush under the weight of an aircraft, allowing the aircraft to stop and passengers and pilots to exit safely.

The project also included the installation of LED runway end identifier lights and relocation of threshold light assemblies, as well as the installation of a touchscreen Airfield Lighting Control and Monitoring System (ALCMS) in the Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) cab and the airfield electrical vault.

These additional lighting systems complement the EMAS arrestor beds that were installed at each end of the runway, providing increased safety for pilots, passengers, and motorists on nearby roads, airport officials said.

“The EMAS system is an investment in the future of our airport and the safety of everyone who uses it,” said Boca Raton Airport Executive Director Clara Bennett. “This advancement further solidifies the role of the Airport as a premier general aviation facility serving South Florida communities.”

Next Up

The airport has signed a contract with theHarris Corporation to provide an upgraded Noise Monitoring and Flight Tracking System, as well as Noise Monitor Service and Maintenance.

“We are fully confident that Harris is the right company to upgrade our current tracking system,” said Bennett. “With the cooperation of the pilots who use the airport, these improvements will better enable us to minimize the impact of aircraft noise on our neighboring communities.”

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A novice skydiver plummeted to earth at 55mph and shattered her body - but lived to tell the tale

Recently a terrifying video shows the moment a novice skydiver got tangled in her parachute and fell through the air to her near-death during a jump gone wrong.

Carol Murray Rodriguez, 44, suffered life-changing injuries, including a fracture which saw her thigh bone rip through her skin, and said she continues to suffer the consequences of the horror jump 20 years on.

The PR professional said the footage of her 24-year-old self becoming tangled up in her parachute in mid-air in September 1997 still gives her chills.

After taking four hours of what she calls 'bogus lessons', Carol was allowed to jump from the aircraft on her own - without an experienced skydiver.

The nightmare footage, captured on the ground using her camcorder, shows the amateur diver jumping out of the aircraft moments before her parachute is pulled in the wrong direction by the wind.

Carol is seen panicking as she becomes tangled in the parachute and attempts to activate the reserve – which failed to open as she tumbled towards the ground.

She said: 'In that moment I just thought to myself "Oh f**k, God I'm going to die"

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The DroNet algorithm teaches drones to navigate city streets like cars

Drones can be dangerous. From hacking unprotected devices to falling from the sky, drones can cause a lot of digital and physical damage. As these little flying machines become commonplace in public spaces, researchers have even intentionally crashed them into mannequins and uncooked pork to study just how dangerous they can be. The result isn’t pretty, so pedestrians would be wise to be weary when they see one zipping toward them on a city street.

But a research team at the University of Zurich and the National Centre of Competence in Research Robotics in Switzerland may help put a little more consistency and certainty into how drones will move around us in the future. The researchers have developed a system that allows drones to navigate autonomously around obstacles and through unstructured streets by teaching the drone to act more like cars and bicycles.

“We have developed an algorithm that can safely drive a drone through the streets of a city and react promptly to unforeseen obstacles, such as other vehicles and pedestrians,” Davide Scaramuzza, head of the University of Zurich’s Robotics and Perception Group that developed the system, told Digital Trends.

Scaramuzza and his colleagues have called the training algorithm DroNet, short of Drone Network, a nod to the deep neural network that makes its magic happen. By observing and learning how cars and bicycles react to the dynamic environment of a city street, the DroNet algorithm lets the drones recognize static and moving obstacles, triggering it to slow down and avoid crashes.

“With this algorithm, we have taken a step forward toward integrating autonomous drones into our ‘everyday life,’” Scaramuzza said. “Instead of relying on sophisticated sensors, DroNet only requires a single camera — very much like that of every smartphone — on a drone.”

Most of today’s drones use GPS to navigate, which is great if they’re traveling above buildings but complicated if they are flying at low altitudes in densely populated streets. So, in order to teach the drone to navigate city streets safely, Scaramuzza and his team collected data from cars and bicycles in urban settings, and fed that data into the DroNet algorithm, which used the data to learn street etiquette — like staying in one’s own lane and decelerating when approaching obstacles.

Such a common sense system could become valuable as drones take up tasks like delivery and search and rescue. However, Scaramuzza and his team will first have to refine the algorithm to enable faster and more agile flying.

A paper detailing the study was published this week in the journal IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

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Record crowd expected at Singapore Airshow

The Singapore Airshow 2018, Asia’s largest and one of the most important aerospace and defence exhibition in the world, will be held from February 6-11, according to a media briefing yesterday.

This year’s airshow will attract more than 1,000 participating firms from 50 countries and regions, including 65 of the top 100 global aerospace companies such as Airbus, Boeing and UTC Aerospace Systems.

Meanwhile, the biennial airshow will have some new exhibitors this year, including the Collective Wisdom Technology, the Star UAV and the Chengdu Holy Aviation from China, said Leck Chet Lam, Managing Director of airshow organising company Experia Events.

He said Chinese manufacturers of commercial and military jets and Russian manufacturers of fighter jets, commercial aircraft and helicopters will participate in the airshow.

The number of trade visitors to this year’s airshow is expected to reach about 50,000, who are from about 150 countries and regions, including the major aviation markets like the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Israel. During the two public days from February 10-11, the number of public day visitors are expected to exceed 80,000. 

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Malaysia Penang Island Beach ban paragliding activities of tourists can not use a boat landing

According to "Malaysia daily" reported Malaysia Guanghua, Penang Island Beach has banned paragliding take-off and landing. From January 1st onwards, water sports industry must use the mooring boat (Winch Boat) for paragliding activities, can not use the boat to make parachute landing or taking off in Penang Island beach.

Malaysia City Hall said Penang Island Management Service Director Mohamoa g Bali Mustapa, previously used boats drag parachute activities can be carried out in Penang Island on the beach, because in recent years there have been several cases of paragliding activity accident, so the water industry and the city hall to discuss the results, paragliding activity only in the distance 100 meters coastline.

"If the industry refused to comply will be kept, and the face of the fate of the business license is revoked." He believes that it can achieve a win-win situation, people in the enjoyment of the beach, people do not have to worry about a parachute accident again.

There are currently 24 stores provide water activities of Penang Island, of which 6 owners have used mooring boats for paragliding activities, he hoped that in the future can increase 4.

Earlier beach paragliding activities by way of tourists, standing on the beach by boat pulled off, must then return visitors to manipulate landing.

Once the use of mooring boats, the industry will take visitors to the sea, allowing visitors to wear equipment, just like a kite like cable to tourists ascended into heaven, and then use the rope to drop back to tourist boats.

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Jetscape expands at KFLL

Jetscape Services has acquired more than 370,000 square feet of multi‐use property just west of its FBO at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) in Florida.

The newly acquired space includes three hangars totaling 70,000 square feet; 19,000-square-feet of office space; and ramp space of 6.5 acre, all of which is now available for transients and flight departments with tall-tail aircraft, according to company officials.

There is also more than 10,000 square feet of undeveloped space that can be customized to suit individual business requirements, officials noted.

“We’re calling the facility ‘Jetscape Alpha,’ as it is located off A‐4 on the north side of the airport. This expansion gives us a strategic position, along with the development of 25 acres for a brand new FBO site,” said Jetscape Services’ President Troy Menken.

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HondaJet China Holds Opening Ceremony at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport

GUANGZHOU, China — Jan. 26, 2018 — HondaAircraft Company, announced today that HondaJet China (Honsan General Aviation Co., Ltd.) held an event to celebrate their new FBO facilities’ opening at the business jet terminal being constructed in Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, Guangzhou, China.

Many were present during the ceremony, including Guangzhou local government officials, Mr. Zhou Yuxi, Chairman of Honsan General Aviation Co., Ltd., Takahiro Hachigo, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. President & CEO and Michimasa Fujino, Honda Aircraft Company President & CEO.

“We are pleased to establish the base of our dealer service at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport,” said Mr. Zhou Yuxi, Chairman of Honsan General Aviation Co., Ltd. “We look forward to providing an exceptional customer experience synonymous with the Honda brand by representing the HondaJet in the greater China region and providing a dedicated sales and service experience to the customer.” 

Speaking at the ceremony, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. President & CEO Takahiro Hachigo said, “I am pleased to be here today to celebrate the HondaJet dealer opening in China. Honda is a mobility company, and we are always challenging ourselves to advance the future of mobility. The HondaJet has fulfilled founder Soichiro Honda’s long-standing dream to take personal mobility skyward. With the cooperation between Honda Aircraft Company and Honsan Aviation I am confident the HondaJet will deliver “the joy that promotes freedom of mobility” to customers in China.” 

Honda Aircraft Company President & CEO Michimasa Fujino added, “We are pleased for HondaJet China to open today as a dealer in and around China.  With the strong partnership of Honsan Group, we believe HondaJet’s business will experience successful growth in this emerging aviation market. The high speed, superior fuel efficiency and exceptional comfort of the HondaJet creates unique value in this region.”

Honda Aircraft has established a worldwide dealer network to provide unsurpassed service and support for HondaJet customers. The HondaJet dealer network spans territories in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. 

About HondaJet
The HondaJet is the fastest, highest-flying, quietest, and most fuel-efficient jet in its class. The HondaJet incorporates many technological innovations in aviation design, including the unique Over-The-Wing Engine Mount (OTWEM) configuration that dramatically improves performance and fuel efficiency by reducing aerodynamic drag. The OTWEM design also reduces cabin noise, minimizes ground-detected noise, and allows for the roomiest cabin and the largest baggage capacity in its class and a fully serviceable private aft lavatory. The HondaJet is equipped with the most sophisticated glass flight deck available in any light business jet, a Honda-customized Garmin® G3000. The HondaJet is Honda's first commercial aircraft and lives up to the company’s reputation for superior performance, efficiency, quality and value. 

About Honda Aircraft Company
Honda Aircraft Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. Founded in 2006, Honda Aircraft’s world headquarters is located in North Carolina, the birthplace of aviation. The challenging spirit upon which Mr. Soichiro Honda founded Honda Motor Co., Ltd. is alive today as Honda Aircraft fulfills one of Honda’s longstanding dreams to advance human mobility skyward.

About Honsan General Aviation Co., Ltd.
Honda Aircraft Company appointed Honsan General Aviation Co., Ltd. as a HondaJet dealer to sell and provide various services for HondaJet, the world’s most advanced light jet, throughout China, including Hong Kong and Macau. 

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Heritage Flight to be featured at Super Bowl

For the first time ever, a U.S. Air Force Heritage Flight is scheduled to perform a fly-over at the start of Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Feb. 4.

The Heritage Flight will consist of an F-16 Fighting Falcon, two A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, and a P-51 Mustang flying in formation over U.S. Bank Stadium.

This is the first time the Heritage Flight team will conduct a flyover for a Super Bowl, and it will be broadcast live on NBC and in the stadium from multiple vantage points, including an in-flight perspective from a camera mounted on the P-51 Mustang.

The United States Air Force Heritage Flight Program presents the evolution of United States Air Force air power by flying today’s state-of-the-art fighter aircraft in close formation with vintage aircraft.

The teams representing the Air Force in the Heritage Flight for Super Bowl LII are the F-16 Viper Demonstration Team from Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, the A-10 Thunderbolt Demonstration Team from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, and a vintage P-51 Mustang from the Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation, California.

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Cargo drones are the future of cargo delivery

Product delivery has been a major improvement in the distribution industry, mostly to the advantage of those that shop online. Delivering of packages by different companies requires transportation in which technology has sort to make easier. This bring about the introduction of cargo drones.

Cargo drones are drones built not just to carry cameras but to carry packages like diapers, pizza and others. Most companies has adopted the use of these cargo drones. They include; Amazon UPS and DHL.

The Boeing Company has made impressive efforts in constructing of cargo drones. A huge autonomous drone that can carry the weight of two baby elephants has been unveiled by Boeing. The heavy-duty quadrocopter can transport payloads up to quarter-of-a-ton, and Boeing says it may use the drone to shift heavy cargo in future.

Product delivery has been a major improvement in the distribution industry, mostly to the advantage of those that shop online. Delivering of packages by different companies requires transportation in which technology has sort to make easier. This bring about the introduction of cargo drones.

Cargo drones are drones built not just to carry cameras but to carry packages like diapers, pizza and others. Most companies has adopted the use of these cargo drones. They include; Amazon UPS and DHL.

The Boeing Company has made impressive efforts in constructing of cargo drones. A huge autonomous drone that can carry the weight of two baby elephants has been unveiled by Boeing. The heavy-duty quadrocopter can transport payloads up to quarter-of-a-ton, and Boeing says it may use the drone to shift heavy cargo in future.

In the first week of January, the aerospace giant revealed a prototype for an electric, unmanned cargo air vehicle that it says could haul as much as 500 pounds that’s 400 large Domino’s pizzas or 11,291 newborn-sized diapers as far as 20 miles. But this big buzzer isn’t going to your house.

A team of 50 engineers spent three months building what looks like a car-sized Erector Set, fitted with eight spinning blades (each six feet from tip to tip), and weighing in at an auspicious 747 pounds. It navigates and looks for obstacles using components and software provided by Near Earth Autonomy, a Pittsburgh-based company in which HorizonX invests.

Now that the drone has completed its initial round of testing, done indoors at Boeing’s autonomous systems lab in Missouri, the team can start building up its skills. This first prototype can fly for about 15 minutes and carry 150 pounds, but Kunz and his team are confident they’ll reach that 250-500 pound capability before long. They predict it will fly between 60 and 70 mph and as high as a few hundred feet, plenty fast and high to do short hop deliveries.

Even the drone constructing company Tengeon has already made significant inroads in the military market and now is working to bring that technology to the commercial sector.In the cargo and delivery space, Tengoen is already at work building an eight-engine drone with a wingspan of more than 137 feet to carry a payload of 20 tons payload up to 4,660 miles. That’s akin to a medium-sized manned cargo plane.

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Yorkshire hotel launches unique VIP helicopter transfer service

Most hotels boast about having free WiFi or late check-outs. 

But one Yorkshire venue can lay claim to genuine opulence, this month - after launching its very own helicopter transfer service - which it claims is a one-of-a-kind.

The Grand Hotel & Spa, located in York city centre, has introduced the service in response to unlikely demand from glamorous guests. The flash function allows guests to be whisked from their homes and back again in true VIP style.

Prices vary, but start from £875+VAT for a one-way pick up from Manchester to York. 

The Grand will be using two helicopters – a four-seat Robinson R44 and a five-seat Bell 206 Jet Ranger – from nearby Hields Aviation. The Yorkshire Chauffeur Company will provide Range Rover airside transfers to the hotel. 

There are hotels overseas that offer helicopter transfer services, including the Peninsula in Hong Kong and the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, and helicopter services in the UK that will fly guests to hotels, but the dedicated arrangement at The Grand is thought to be unique in Britain.

Philip Bolson, General Manager at The Grand Hotel & Spa, said: 'As a luxury hotel we try to accommodate all of our guests’ unique requests to ensure an unforgettable stay and recently we have been asked about helicopter landing spots and transfers. 

'To fulfil this we have teamed up with a local aviation company who can provide transfers in two types of helicopter depending on how many guests will be staying with us.' 

He added: 'Where possible, our helicopter will pick up guests from the grounds of their homes, or land nearby, and fly them to York where our chauffeur service will collect them from the drop-off point within the grounds of York Racecourse, a five-minute drive away.' 

The unlikely service is the latest initiative from the hotel which, in March, will almost double in size with the opening of 100 new guest rooms.

Its £15million expansion also includes a new luxury Executive Lounge and Arrivals Lounge, plus a new purpose-built restaurant, The Rise, which opened last summer.

Its three-AA-rosette restaurant Hudsons by Craig Atchinson has also been redeveloped.

The Grand Hotel & Spa is Yorkshire’s only AA-rated five-star hotel. 

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US Army cleared to buy UH-72As, ending three-year lawsuit

An appellate judge has cleared the US Army to buy a new batch of UH-72As from Airbus, ending a three-year-long battle launched by Leonardo over a decision to award the contract without a competition.

The decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on 23 January throws a lifeline to Airbus’s final assembly plant for the UH-72A helicopter in Colombus, Mississippi.

The plant is scheduled to deliver the last of 423 UH-72As ordered since 2006 on 28 February, Airbus says.

In 2015, the army announced a plan to order 16 more UH-72As without soliciting bids from competitors. Leonardo, which builds the rival A109, filed a lawsuit in the Court of Federal Claims, which determined that the army acted “capriciously” in deciding to award the contract on a sole-source basis.

But the appellate tribunal overturned the lower court’s decision, saying the army adequately justified its reasons for ordering the 16 additional aircraft from Airbus without seeking competitive bids.

The decision comes three weeks after the Army published a new “sources sought” document outlining plans to buy up to 35 UH-72As from Airbus without a competition.

The Army uses the twin-engined UH-72A, a civil H-145 in military colours, as a peacetime utility and search and rescue helicopter. The UH-72A also has been acquired to replace the fleet of Bell TH-67 trainers for instructing new army pilots.

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GippsAero eyes 2018 delivery of first GA10

Australia's GippsAero, owned by Indian company Mahindra Aerospace, hopes to deliver the first GA10 Airvan in the second half of 2018, with a key focus being the type's capability as an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platform.

Project manager George Morgan says the single-engined turboprop's stablemate, the piston-powered GA8, has been effective in this role, and the GA10 is seeing similar levels of interest.

While he declines to detail customers, the first delivery is due to take place later this year.

In the ISR configuration, the aircraft can carry an electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensor ball in a specially modified baggage bay underneath the aircraft. The ball is retracted during take-off and landing, and extended only for use when the aircraft reaches its target area.

Morgan says this arrangement is superior to placing the pod under a wing, as it allows the aircraft to monitor the target from different angles. An underwing EO/IR pod requires the aircraft to circle the target, potentially alerting a party on the ground that it is being observed. On both the GA8 and GA10, the ball is extended below the landing struts, offering an unobstructed 360° view.

Morgan reiterates that the GA10 fills a niche below the Quest Kodiak 100 and Cessna 208 Caravan, both of which are powered by the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A turboprop engine, providing 675-700hp (503-522kW). The GA10 is powered by the 451hp Rolls-Royce M250-B17F/2.

"The engine largely determines the capabilities of the aircraft, and the capabilities of the aircraft largely determine the engine," says Morgan.

He says that while the GA10 is somewhat smaller than its two rivals, the M250 uses considerably less fuel.

Morgan also confirms that Hartzell has been selected to supply a three-bladed, composite propeller with a steel leading edge for the GA10.

A composite propeller will save significant weight at the front of the aircraft compared with the current aluminium component. Installing the new propeller, however, will entail significant paperwork relating to certification, Morgan notes.

At present, there are only two GA10s flying: a prototype and the first production aircraft. Work to integrate the composite propeller will take place on the flight-test article.

Morgan says another key potential market is India, given the strength of the Mahindra Group in the sub-continent. In addition to having approvals in both Australia and the United States, the GA10 is also certificated in India.

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China's aircraft AG600 completes second flight

China's first domestic-built large amphibious aircraft, the AG600, completed its second trial flight in south China's Guangdong Province Wednesday.

The aircraft AG600, codenamed "Kunlong," successfully finished all tests during the 73-minute flight Wednesday morning, according to China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co. Ltd.

For the next step, researchers will continue to test and optimize the aircraft's performances during trial flights.

The AG600 maiden flight was completed late December.

The 36.9-meter aircraft, powered by four domestically-built turbo-prop engines, has a range of 12 hours. It has a maximum take-off weight of 53.5 tonnes and a maximum cruising speed of 500 kilometers per hour.

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BAe 125 struck trees after crew mis-set altimeter

Pilots of an executive jet failed to set their altimeter to the correct pressure level before the aircraft descended low enough to collide with trees, investigators in Russia have determined.

The crew allowed the BAe 125-800 to continue descending despite automated warnings and the aircraft suffered substantial damage from the collision – some 18km from the airport – before the pilots aborted the approach.

Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee says the jet had departed Tyumen bound for Neryungri Chulman airport on 5 June 2016. It had been conducting the approach at night and had been following the RUGIL2 pattern, which involved flying south-east before turning left onto the 083° heading for runway 08.

The crew initially had difficulty contacting the local Chulman air traffic centre on 129.7MHz and instead reached the regional Neryungri centre on 121.7MHz.

This centre, upon the crew's request, cleared the flight to descend to flight level 90 (2,750m) before transferring the aircraft to Chulman tower control.

The tower confirmed the transition level as 2,450m and the airfield pressure (QFE) as 685mmHg, and allowed the aircraft to descend to 500m ahead of its turn towards the runway approach heading.

As the jet descended the tower asked the crew to confirm the QFE setting. While the crew replied with the correct number, 685, they needed to convert this to millibars – which would have resulted in a QFE of 913mb.

Instead the crew asked for confirmation of the sea-level pressure (QNH) to which the tower gave the figure of 1012mb.

The crew "did not recalculate" the airfield pressure of 685mmHg to give a QFE figure in millibars, says the inquiry, and instead set the altimeter to the QNH while continuing to descend.

This effectively meant that the altimeter was falsely showing the aircraft to be more than 800m above its actual height. Upon reaching the cleared height of 500m the aircraft would have still been indicating a height of more than 1,300m.

The enhanced ground-proximity warning system began to issue sink-rate and terrain alerts and, within a few seconds, ordered the crew to "pull up".

But the inquiry says the crew "did not follow the requirements of the flight manual" and instead continued with the descent. By the time the crew responded to the height warnings, the aircraft was flying so low that it collided with trees.

It climbed away despite sustaining damage to the leading edge of the wings, ailerons, horizontal stabiliser, and the engine inlets and fan blades. The collision partly jammed the elevator and the jet's left-hand winglet was torn off, says the inquiry, causing "considerable difficulty" for the crew as they tried to control the aircraft.

Inspection of the Aerolimousine aircraft (RA-02773), which managed to land without further incident, found that it had suffered impact damage to several other structures and system including its air brakes, radio altimeter antenna, and angle-of-attack sensor.

Investigators state that the crew's "delayed response" to the ground-proximity warning led to the collision with the trees. But it adds that there was "carelessness" in the treatment of the altimeter settings and that the crew had demonstrated that they had received "insufficient" training to carry out the flight.

Five passengers and a crew of three had been on board the jet, none of whom was injured.

(Evangle Luo of TTFLY shared with you)

Stobart opens new London Southend private aviation terminal

Stobart Group’s ambitions to become a leading provider of business aircraft and passenger handling services in Europe took major leap forward on 18 January with the inauguration of its first fixed-base operation.

The £1.5 million ($2.1 million) facility, operating under the Stobart Jet Centre banner, is at London Southend airport, which was acquired by the UK infrastructure and support services company in 2008.

The FBO replaces an old passenger terminal on the site – about 65km (40 miles) to the east of the UK capital – which has been providing only rudimentary services for business aircraft users until now.

Southend currently handles about 1,000 private aircraft flights a year – about 1% of the London-area market – against figures of 31,000 for Luton, 25,000 for Farnborough and 15,000 for Biggin Hill.

Steve Grimes, managing director of Stobart Jet Centre, says providing customers with competitive pricing, convenience, speed and comfort should help increase traffic to its terminal.

Grimes hopes to double business aircraft flights in 2018, and predicts a rise in movements to 5,000 by 2022 and 10,000 within a decade.

Once the business has taken off, he says Stobart will begin exploring other locations for its FBOs. Major UK cities such as Birmingham and Manchester are a possibility, as well as popular European destinations such as Nice and Cannes.

(Evangle Luo of TTFLY shared with you)

Gulfstream results spark large cabin optimism for 2018

Demand for Gulfstream’s flagship G650 and G650ER recovered dramatically in the fourth quarter, with parent company General Dynamics reporting a 78% year-over-year jump in new orders for the ultra-long-range, large cabin jet, says chief executive Phoebe Novakovic.

The growth in orders represented the second best quarter for the models since Gulfstream launched the product line in 2008 and prompted Novakovic to express new optimism for the large cabin sector in 2018 amidst a projected global economic growth spurt.

“My sense is that order activity and customer interest are picking up across the industry,” Novakovic told analysts on a fourth quarter earnings call on 24 January.

The potential shift in demand comes at a critical time for the Savannah, Georgia-based Gulfstream. The company delivered the last G450 in mid-January, ending a 30-year production for the GIV product line. The G550 has slowed to a minimum annual production rate. Meanwhile, Gulfstreamplans to deliver the G500 and G600 later this year, as the larger and longer-range G650 increases in demand.

As demand for the G650 rebounds after a two-year lull, Gulfstream will have new pricing power. That should help offset a contraction in operating margins as Gulfstream introduces the first production lots of the G500 and G600.

“As we get the first lot of the 500 and 600 out at the production line and we improve our learning, which we have done historically and I’m confident we will do again, then we will eventually see margin expansion,” Novakovic says.

Gulfstream delivered 94 large cabin aircraft and 27 mid-cabin aircraft in 2017, exceeding the large cabin result in 2016 by six aircraft and matching the mid-cabin total.

(Evangle Luo of TTFLY shared with you)