Boeing Marks First International Sale Of P-8A Training System 

Boeing will provide the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) with a complete training system for the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft under a contract that also includes the sale of four P-8A training systems for the U.S. Navy. This combined domestic and foreign military sale further strengthens the growing partnership between the U.S. Navy and the RAAF on the P-8 program. The system utilizes simulators to train pilots and mission crews to operate the aircraft, its sensors, communications and weapons systems without...Read More  

Boeing 737 MAX LEAP-1B Begins Extensive Flight Test Program 

Boeing and CFM International announced today that they successfully initiated flight testing of the LEAP-1B engine on April 29 on a modified 747 flying testbed at GE Aviation Flight Test Operations in Victorville, CA. The testing is the next major milestone in a two-year program that will culminate in engine certification in 2016 and delivery of the first Boeing 737 MAX in 2017. The engine performed well and completed multiple aeromechanical test points at various altitudes during the five hour, 30 minute first flight. "I continue...Read More 

Airbus A400M Grounded After Crash 

Airbus is signaling its strong commitment to its flagship military transport plane after the crash of a new A400M in Spain on Sunday that killed four and injured two on a test flight. The brand new four-engine turboprop had just departed on its first shakedown flight after rolling out of the Airbus factory in Seville. The crew radioed they were returning to the airport after experiencing a problem. The airplane crashed near an industrial area a mile northeast of the airport at around 1 p.m. local time...Read More

First Flight: Pilatus PC-24 

The first ever PC-24 took off on its maiden flight today at 10:00 local time Monday from Buochs airport. Just under 1800 Pilatus staff, all of whom are directly or indirectly involved in the PC-24 project, were there to applaud the business jet as it taxied for takeoff. Prototype P01, call sign HB-VXA, flew across central Switzerland for a total of 55 minutes. The flight went exactly as planned with no problems whatsoever, the planemaker said. The PC-24 is capable of exceptional performance, and this maiden flight was a first...Read More

Valor In Combat

As SrA. Dustin Temple fired back at the insurgents that had surrounded his unit in a remote area of Helmand Province, Afghanistan, some terrifying chatter came in over enemy radio. Insurgents were moving in to take American Special Forces troops alive. So definitive was the Taliban advantage during the battle that raged from Sept. 27-29, 2014, that insurgents on the rooftops didn't bother to take cover from the gunships, jet fighters, and attack helicopters that fired on them from above. Nonetheless, Temple...Read More

Alaska Airlines To Incorporate Renewable Alcohol-Based Jet Fuel

A strategic alliance has been formed by renewable fuel producer Gevo, Inc. and Alaska Airlines to purchase Gevo's renewable jet fuel and fly the first-ever commercial flight on alcohol-to-jet fuel (ATJ). The demonstration flight is expected to occur after Gevo receives ASTM International certification for its fuel, sometime in mid to late 2015. Gevo has been working through the rigorous ASTM process for six years, which includes extensive engine..Read More

First Female F-35 Pilot Begins Training Flights

The Department of Defense welcomed its first female F-35 Lightning II pilot at Florida's Eglin AFB May 5. Lt. Col. Christine Mau, the 33rd Fighter Wing Operations Group deputy commander, completed her first training flight in the single-seat fifth-generation fighter following 14 virtual training missions in the full mission simulator at the F-35 Academic Training Center."It wasn't until I was taxiing to the runway that it really struck me that I was on my own in the...Read More

 Air Force Offers Prize For Engine Development 

Registration is now open for the $2 million Air Force Prize that will be awarded to the first entrant to successfully develop a small, lightweight, fuel-efficient turbine engine. "In order to continue to move forward and to ensure that our Air Force has the best technology available, it is imperative that we collaborate with industry and academia," said Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James at the Bending the Cost Curve summit on Jan. 14. "The Air Force...Read More

Rolls Royce Implements Industrialization Phase For A350 Engine  

As part of the biggest shake-up to its production system since the start of the big-fan era, Rolls-Royce is transitioning to a pulsed system at its Derby, England, assembly and test facility to handle the growing volume of mainly Trent XWB engines for the Airbus A350...Read More 

U.S. Air Force Kills Key Space Control Program 

The U.S. Air Force is terminating one of its flagship defensive counterspace programs-one designed to identify sources of satellite communications interference-due to "cost and performance" issues. Ending the Rapid Attack Identification Detection Reporting System (Raidrs) comes as Air Force officials have taken their most public and vocal stand in years in favor of improved space control projects, including a $5 billion addition to the fiscal...Read More

Bombardier To Curb Global 5000/6000 Production

Bombardier plans to lower production of the Global 5000 and 6000 this year due to softer demand for the ultra-long-range jets, company president and CEO Alain Bellemare said this morning during a first-quarter conference call. The "adjustment," which he said won't affect delivery rates this year, is necessary because of the sagging market for business jets in Russia, China and other emerging countries where buyers tend to favor...Read More

East Coast P-3C Orions Flying Final Active Duty Deployment Missions 

The Patrol Squadron (VP) 26 "Tridents," based out of Naval Air Station Jacksonville, are currently conducting missions in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations. This is the Navy's final active duty deployment of the P-3C Orion aircraft from the East Coast. The Navy is in the process of replacing the decades-old Lockheed Martin P-3C turbo-prop aircraft with the new multi-mission maritime aircraft P-8A Poseidon, a modified Boeing 737-800ERX...Read More

Southwest Airlines Seeks To Fill 500 Ramp Agent Positions Companywide 

Southwest Airlines is looking to hire an additional 500 Ramp Agents. Southwest Airlines Ramp Agents handle cargo and baggage service, directing and servicing aircraft, and performing related activities on the airport ramp. Paid relocation assistance may be available for candidates hired from outside the Company who move more than 100 miles for a Ramp Agent position in: Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, and Baltimore. "We're looking for people...Read More