» Russia sends a tanker love letter to US Air Force
20/03/10 13:22 from The DEW Line
The eight-year-long saga to build a replacement for the US Air Force KC-135 has already produced a few surprises, but nothing as crazy as this. A Los Angeles-based attorney , who lists hot-tubbing with a glass of bordeaux as a hobby and kno..
» Argentina AT-63 Pampa
20/03/10 07:22 from Flight Image of the Day
Argentina is again looking at upgrading the engine powering the indigenous AT-63 Pampa following the renationalisation of the local company that produces the jet trainer. The engine project could result in the next batch of 10 Pampas being ..
» Let's get one thing straight...
20/03/10 01:25 from Runway Girl
I think in-flight mobile connectivity rocks. I want to be able to call my daughter when I'm on the road - and in the air! I want to be able to interview you in-flight. Yeah you! I carry two cell phones on me (don't judge). So, while I'm ama..
» F-35 sticker shocks the $138 million F-22
19/03/10 21:30 from The DEW Line
Last year, the US Air Force reported incremental unit procurement cost to buy one more F-22 in Fiscal 2010, assuming a 20-aircraft multi-year contract. The cost was $138 million. At the time, the F-35 seemed like a bargain by comparison. Th..
» PHOTO: Evolution of the F-35 design
19/03/10 16:54 from The DEW Line
The Skunk Works design for what became the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter evolved over a decade. A very early sketch showing an F-117-like faceted airframe had changed radically by 1990. The "GhostHawk STOVL Strike Fighter" sported a configurat..
» Funky dance of the Rocket Man protege
19/03/10 13:57 from As The Croft Flies
In the movie Thunderball, James Bond shows us how to look cool (except for the dorky helmet) flying the most unlikely of anti-gravity machines - the Rocketbelt. The Rocket Man protege below, who I discovered on YouTube a few days ag..
» Senator Nelson hearing shows they know they don't know
19/03/10 13:55 from Hyperbola
If anything certain emerged out of the US Senate hearing (go here for archived webcast) yesterday it was that no one really knows how long any space transportation programme will take or how expensive it will be Space Exploration ..
» Original SDB bombs as close air support weapon?
19/03/10 12:36 from The DEW Line
Robbin Laird's Second Line of Defense blog has a fantastic interview with the ">Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) program office. Laird, a well-connected military analyst and writer, found out the Increment 1 SDB hasn't been used in Afghanistan and..
» And they're off.... a round-the-world record attempt has begun
19/03/10 11:40 from Flight International
Italian pilot Riccardo Mortara and Romanian Nicolae Buzaianu set off today at 06.30 GMT from Geneva on a mission to set the record for the fastest flight around the world . The current world record is held by the late Steve Fossett who com..
» For those of you watching in black and white...
19/03/10 10:09 from Flight International
The Flight archives are a real gem of a resource and every now and again, it makes me smile. The 26 March 1910 issue has amused me because of the caption at the end. See for yourself.
» Will UK space agency announcement see £20 million for industry?
19/03/10 09:59 from Hyperbola
Hyperbola is guessing that the reformed British National Space Centre that is getting no more money and has the pleasure of being based in Swindon is to be called UK Space Agency and not the James Bond -like Her Majesty's Space Agency that..
» Thai Airways 747-400 Retrojet
19/03/10 09:22 from Flight Image of the Day
For its 50th anniversary, Thai Airways has unveiled this B747-400 bearing its original livery. The carrier plans to revive its first flight, from Bangkok to Hong Kong, on 1 May. See our Asian Skies blog for more details.
» Pictures of China's AC313 large helicopter
19/03/10 09:16 from Asian Skies
I received some very nice pics from a contact at China Avicopter showing the first flight of the AC313, China's largest helicopter. This helicopter can transport 27 passengers and can also be used for cargo, search and rescue, fire-fightin..
» Thai takes a flight back to the past
19/03/10 08:14 from Asian Skies
Thai Airways International is celebrating its 50th anniversary by indulging in some nostalgia. The Star Alliance carrier plans to relive its first flight, operated to Hong Kong on 1 May 1960, on 1 May 2010. It will fly a Boeing 747-400, fr..
» XF Series Changes Over Fokker 70/100
19/03/10 07:22 from Flight Image of the Day
Entrepreneurs behind the long-running effort to develop a Fokker 100 successor intend to modify an existing airframe this year, after securing financing from the Dutch economics ministry. The organisation driving the programme, NG Aircraft..
» PODCAST: Teenagers will test ASiQ Bluetooth offering
19/03/10 00:01 from Runway Girl
IAG's Addison Schonland has just had a powerful discussion with ASiQ chief Ron Chapman about the firm's SafeCell system , which "provides an alternative approach for passengers to use their mobile phones onboard aircraft without the requir..
» Korea Utility Helicopter makes first flight
18/03/10 23:28 from Flight Image of the Day
Korea Aerospace Industries has conducted the first flight of its Korea Utility Helicopter (KUH), which it developed with Eurocopter . Also known as the Surion, the KUH achieved the milestone on 10 March at an airbase in Sacheon, south..
» New Aerostar UAV makes first flight
18/03/10 23:15 from Flight Image of the Day
Aeronautics Defense Systems ' Aerostar-C unmanned air vehicle has performed its first series of test flights in Israel. The largest version of the tactical UAV design has a 10m (32.8ft) wingspan, 2.5m wider than that of the basic conf..
» Boeing's Albaugh on 737RE, 777EW and 787IGW, et al.
18/03/10 22:56 from FlightBlogger - Aviation News, Commentary and Analysis
I had an opportunity on Wednesday to participate in an hour-long media roundtable with Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO James Albaugh, that turned into a wide-ranging conversation about the future of the company's commercial aircraft busines..
» VIDEO: F-35 (finally) passes vertical landing test
18/03/10 19:17 from The DEW Line
Today was a very big day for the F-35 program. It's true that the first vertical landing of a F-35B flight test aircraft is merely another test point, one among thousands. But it's a really big, single test point. And, most importantly, it..