General Aviation/Helicopter News

Four to Enter Aviation Hall of Fame Next Year ​

Charles Alfred Anderson; Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady; Captain Robert “Hoot” Gibson; and Dwane Wallace will be those persons to be inducted to the Aviation Hall of Fame in 2013. They are expected to be honoured at a black-tie dinner event. Two of the inductees will be entered posthumously.

The gala and induction ceremony will be held on October 4, 2013 at the NAHF’s Learning Center near to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. The event is going to be open to the public and you may get ahold of your tickets from the NAHF.

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The Eurocopter 175 model flies for the first time just outside of the company's headquarters in Marignane, France. The initial flight puts them well on track for their percieved late-2013 certification of the new rotary aircraft model.

Sky Aviation is expected to recieve Sukhoi SuperJet 100 in January 2013. The jet will be delivered to Sky Aviation of Indonesia and make commercial service in that same month. Sky Aviation are anticipating twelve of these aircraft delivered between 2013 and 2015.

Russian Authorities have warned and urged pilots to check the thrust-reverser status of Tu-204 aircraft following two separte Red Wings aircraft overruns. Federal aviation authority Rosaviatsia has issued an airworthiness directive highlighting the 29 December crash at Vnukovo - in which five crew members were killed - and an incident on 20 December during which another Red Wings Tu-204 rolled beyond the end of the runway while landing at Novosibirsk.

Airbus and Boeing locked horns in 2012 in terms of deliveries to clients. However, as you would expect Boeing came out on top with approximately 601 deliveres. Airbus trailed with an impressive 582 which still beat what their target was for 570 deliveries.

In some interesting news on the military side of the industry...
India apparently has selected the Airbus Military A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport as its preferred bid for a six aircraft requirement to supply the nation's air force. Hmm Is all I have to say!

Singapore Airlines has ordered five more Airbus A380s and 20 A350-900s, fufilling a deal that was initially agreed on back in October.

Israeli pilots are to give their detailed assessment of the Boeing/Bell V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor aircraft. During their assessment, the pair flew the type in conditions ranging from daylight to pitch darkness, and during dust landings and operations in other extreme conditions. They were accompanied by Israeli technical experts, who also completed a thorough evaluation of the V-22 system. The Assessment will allow Israeli to determine whether they should follow through on purchasing or leasing several units of the aircraft type. Deliveries of the V-22 have so far been made only to the USMC and US Air Force.

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Pentagon forced to lower performance bar for the F35​

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First Russian-built Agusta Westland AW139 flies ​

The first Russian-built Agusta-Westland AW139 helicopter has begun flying around, confirmation of that in the photo below. This has brought the AgustaWestland/Russian Helicopters joint-venture/alliance with HeliVert one step nearer to finalizing the production for as many as 20 of the these helicopters per year as for the Russian market.

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The F-35B has been temporarily grounded by the Joint Program Office after a furldraulic failure. A fueldraulic line failed in the aircraft's propulsion system and then prompted the JOP to ground the aircraft type temporarily. The fueldraulic line powers the actuator for the F-35B's STOVL exhaust vectoring system.

Pilot arrested for...flying?

A light-glider pilot was arrested for creating a terrible crime...flying his glider. Apparently glider pilot Robin Flemming was flying his light-glider in the skies of South Carolina. The 70-year old glider pilot allegedly 'committed' the 'crime' when he brielfy flew over a Nuclear Power Plant at approximately at 1,000 feet while looking for better lifting currents for the glider. He breached an apparent 'No-Fly Zone' and was ordered to land immediately at Hartsville Regional Airport. There were reportedly nearly 20 police cars to meet him while he got out of his glider and arrest him.

Apparently there is no No-Fly Zone instituted over the power plant, he was arrested for no reason really and funny enough part of the agreement to help make the 'charges' on him be relinquished, Fleming was allegedly required to agree not to sue the sheriff’s department. That clearly shows that the Police Department trying to side-step the issue and also admit of bad handling of the situation.

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Bilbao, Spain: the Crosswind challenge

A brief look at a few planes having alot of trouble trying to get on the ground at Bilbao.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=b7iNM5yrNbk

More like...remind me not to book flights there period! That looks too dangerous.

Apparently the police department in question responded to the incident. Sheriff J. Wayne Byrd of Darlington County, S.C. says that it was 'police proceedure' and they were following orders by the local FBI. We..."should have realized sooner that the glider was not a threat." and he admitted that they didn't know what kind of aircraft it was initially so they responded with such force.

ATR looking to target 80 orders in 2013.

French-Italian airframer ATR says it is looking to target 80-orders in 2013. 2012 say the airframer sucking in 74 firm orders worth some 1.7-billion dollars.

Burma Spitfires yet to be found

An expedition has been launched to see if they can find some lost Spitfire aircraft in Yangon, Myanmar. Some claim that over 100 of the aircraft were lost in the area. Attempts so far have proved futile.