KLM rings in 90 years

The coming year will be a special one for KLM. On 7 October 2009, it will have been 90 years since KLM was first founded. This makes KLM the oldest airline in the world still operating under its original name. On 1 January, KLM will ring in the New Year with a festive flight — its Celebration Flight.

The flight will be operated over the Netherlands’ twelve provinces, weather permitting*. ‘KLM is proud of its Dutch heritage,’ KLM CEO Peter Hartman said. ‘This is why we’re starting off our anniversary year with a Celebration Flight involving people from all the provinces of the Netherlands’.

The public will be involved in the event in the form of a photography contest. KLM is inviting everyone to take pictures of the Celebration Flight from a recognizable point in the country. KLM will award the makers of the twelve best photographs with two tickets to an intercontinental destination.

The passengers on board will include KLM staff, business relations, and a group, 90 in all, of sick children and staff from the ‘High-flyer Foundation’ (Stichting Hoogvliegers). The foundation’s aim is to enable sick children to fly without making an issue of their illnesses.

Throughout the year, KLM will be announcing new and different anniversary activities. With the help of these events, the airline will look back on its 90-year history, and it will look ahead as well. More activities will follow throughout the year to be followed via www.klm.nl/dereis.

*The route and fleet will be announced tomorrow, December 31.

Source: KLM

NASA SELECTS SPACEX’S FALCON 9 BOOSTER AND DRAGON SPACECRAFT FOR CARGO RESUPPLY SERVICES TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

F9/Dragon Will Replace the Cargo Transport Function of the Space Shuttle after 2010

HAWTHORNE, CA – December 23, 2008 – NASA today announced its selection of the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft for the International Space Station (ISS) Cargo Resupply Services (CRS) contract award. The contract is for a guaranteed minimum of 20,000 kg to be carried to the International Space Station. The firm contracted value is $1.6 billion and NASA may elect to order additional missions for a cumulative total contract value of up to $3.1 billion.

“The SpaceX team is honored to have been selected by NASA as the winner of the Cargo Resupply Services contract,” said Elon Musk, CEO and CTO, SpaceX. “This is a tremendous responsibility, given the swiftly approaching retirement of the Space Shuttle and the significant future needs of the Space Station. This also demonstrates the success of the NASA COTS program, which has opened a new era for NASA in US Commercial spaceflight.”

Under the CRS contract, SpaceX will deliver pressurized and unpressurized cargo to the ISS, and return cargo back to Earth. Cargo may include both NASA and NASA-sponsored payloads requiring a pressurized or unpressurized environment. SpaceX will provide the necessary services, test hardware and software, and mission-specific elements to integrate cargo with the Dragon delivery capsule.

In 2006, SpaceX was named a winner under NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) competition. Under the existing COTS agreement, SpaceX will conduct the first flight of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft in 2009. The final flight, currently scheduled for 2010, will demonstrate Dragon’s ability to berth with the ISS.

Falcon 9 flight hardware has already started to arrive at the SpaceX launch site, Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral, in preparation for Falcon 9 going vertical on the pad within a few weeks. Construction of the SLC-40 launch site is proceeding ahead of schedule and is estimated to be completed in early 2009.

Source: Space X

Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration Unmanned Aircraft Program Receives Prestigious U.S. Navy Test Team Award

Northrop Grumman Corporation’s (NYSE:NOC) RQ-4 Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration (GHMD) team was recently named Test Team of the Quarter for the second quarter of 2008 by the U.S. Navy’s Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 20. The team won the coveted award for their impressive achievements during the first half of the year.

“The GHMD test team has laid the operational, tactical and doctrinal foundation for future unmanned maritime surveillance systems and is an outstanding example of a dedicated team supporting the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) mission of providing the best possible weapon system to the warfighter,” said Capt. Bob Dishman, program manager of Persistent Maritime Unmanned Aircraft Systems (PMA-262) for NAVAIR. “Their willingness to go above and beyond all expectations as evident in their long list of successes is commendable.”

The team’s accomplishments included performing more than 1,000 hours of flight operations over an 18-month period, troubleshooting issues with the communications system, integrating the automatic identification system into the aircraft, conducting tests with the ocean surveillance initiative, and developing tactics and guidelines for unmanned patrol systems.

“From integrating the Navy Global Hawk high-altitude long-endurance unmanned aircraft into national airspace to providing hurricane and fire support surveillance missions, the GHMD team is having yet another triumphant year demonstrating the system’s flexibility and persistence,” said Terry Barefoot, GHMD program manager for Northrop Grumman’s Integrated Systems sector. “With the first class of Navy pilots currently training alongside Air Force pilots at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., we will be better prepared for future extended missions and sustained deployments.”

From January to June 2008, the team also supported various operational activities, including the Southeastern Anti-Submarine Warfare Initiative 08-2, the USS Iwo Jima Group Sail, and the Commander Carrier Strike Group 8. The team’s successes during this period culminated with the Trident Warrior exercise in June when the team flew more than 113 hours over a five-week period, including a scheduled 25.5-hour maritime mission off the coast of California and Hawaii from a ground station at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., and an unplanned 23-hour humanitarian mission in which a GHMD was re-tasked to assist in the Northern California wildfires.

Capable of soaring up to 65,000 feet for more than 35 hours, a GHMD system was deployed to Naval Base Ventura County in Point Mugu, Calif., in late May to support Trident Warrior and the ensuing Rim of the Pacific 2008 fleet exercise in July when the system completed four missions totaling more than 92 hours. To date, the two GHMD aircraft have flown more than 1,350 hours.

Source: Northrop Grumman

KLM becomes full owner of Martinair

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will have full ownership of Martinair. KLM and the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group have agreed on the sale of A.P. Moller – Maersk Group’s 50% stake in Martinair to KLM, which transaction was cleared by the European Commission today. KLM has already held a 50% stake in Martinair for many years.

With this acquisition, KLM aims to strengthen its strategic position and to extend its network and services to the customer.

KLM President and CEO, Peter Hartman: “The airline industry in general is experiencing turbulence, Martinair in particular. With the European Commission approval, economies of scale and synergies become available. Plans for the future of Martinair within the Group will be developed in the coming period.”
 
President and CEO of Martinair, Paul Gregorowitsch: “With its 50 years of history in the field of air cargo and passenger business, Martinair can play an excellent complementary role in the worldwide product of the KLM Group. For Martinair and its 2000 employees, this is encouraging news after a long period of uncertainty. The Martinair restructuring activities can be actively continued given this perspective.”

Source: KLM

IAI and Elbit Systems Awarded $141 Million Contract to Supply Combined Airborne Imagery Intelligence Systems to the Turkish Air Force

Second Sukhoi Superjet 100 prototype takes to the skies in Komsomolsk

The second of four SSJ100 prototypes SN95003 took to the skies on December 24, thus joining the flight test program started earlier this year.

The aircraft took off from the factory runaway and safely landed after a successful 2h 30min. flight at the altitude up to 6000 m.

The airplane performed traditional stability and handling quality as well as systems’ checks in accordance with the first flight assignment. SSJ100 SN95003 was captained by Leonid Chikunov, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft test pilot, who flew with Nikolai Pushenko, also a test pilot. “With a number of software modifications introduced on SN95003 basing on the results of the flight envelope evaluations done on the first prototype, the aircraft demonstrated remarkable stability and handling qualities. Both flight test engineers and pilots are quite pleased with the overall performance of the second prototype. The aircraft looks trouble free and I expect it to join our ongoing certification test campaign at the earliest”, said Leonid Chikunov.

The first two prototypes SN95001, launched in May, and SN95003 are to perform the larger part of the certification program. In the course of 398 flights the both airplanes fitted with heavy on-board measurement instrumentation will perform a wide range of tests including overall performance, stability and control, engine and systems performance, hot & high trials, cold weather trials etc.

Sukhoi Superjet 100 SN95001 has already spent more than 200 hours in the skies. “Since May 19, when the first airplane took to the skies, we’ve done quite a lot. As test pilots we go much beyond a flight envelope an airline pilot will usually fly. We are to be absolutely sure that in a critical situation the airplane will behave in the expected way. In November, along with the systems and overall performance evaluation trials, we conducted the first series of high angles of attack testing. And it’s encouraging that the airplane behaves in a predictable way, every average pilot can manage”, said Alexander Yablontsev, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Chief Test Pilot, commenting SN95003 SSJ100 flight trials.

Source: Sukhoi

Etihad expands Rolls-Royce Trent fleet with new A330 order

Rolls-Royce announced today that Etihad Airways, the Abu Dhabi-based national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has chosen the Trent 700EP to power a further eight Airbus A330 aircraft. The Trent 700EP is the latest and more fuel-efficient version of the best-selling engine for the A330.

The value of the engine business, including a TotalCare® long-term services contract, is $575 million at list prices.

The A330 aircraft, which will be delivered between 2009 and 2011, will bring Etihad’s Rolls-Royce powered A330 fleet to 24.

The Trent 700 is the only engine designed specifically for the A330. With over ten million hours in service, it also represents the lowest noise, lowest emission and most efficient fuel burn for engine types fitted to the aircraft. Recent improvements include increased fuel efficiency resulting in a significant 1.3 per cent improvement in fuel consumption on new build engines and a 1.0 per cent improvement on engines fitted with the EP retrofit kit.

Mark King, President, Civil Aerospace for Rolls-Royce, said today: “Etihad is an ambitious, fast-moving airline and this order for more Trent 700s demonstrates its confidence in the Trent family. We are building on a relationship that began when the airline began operations in 2004 and these new aircraft with improved Trent 700EP performance will complement Etihad’s growing Trent-powered fleet. The contract further endorses the added value our aftermarket services bring to customers.”

James Hogan, Chief Executive of Etihad Airways, said: “This continuation of our relationship with Rolls-Royce helps us to develop our state-of-the art fleet, which in turn allows us to sustain a world-class service to our customers.”

Etihad already has nine A340s powered by the Trent 500 supported by TotalCare contracts on order or in service. The airline also has two A340s due for delivery in 2009. In addition, the airline has ordered Trent XWB engines for 25 Airbus A350 aircraft.

Source: Rolls Royce

Merry Christmas

For all our readers, we wish you a Merry Christmas with your family and friends.

Best wishes,

Aviationnews.eu team.

Weight-Optimized F-35 Test Fleet Adds Conventional Takeoff And Landing Variant

Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] rolled out the first weight-optimized conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant of the F-35 Lightning II fighter on Dec. 19. The new F-35A, called AF-1, joins three weight-optimized F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing variants currently undergoing testing. The aircraft are structurally identical to the F-35s that will be delivered to armed services beginning in 2010.

“The Lightning II CTOL aircraft will be, by far, the most widely employed F-35 variant in the world, with more than 1,700 to be used by the U.S. Air Force alone,” said Dan Crowley, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and F-35 program general manager. “The F-35A we delivered is, at its core, the same aircraft that will enter operational service with the Air Force and international customers.”

The first F-35A, known as AA-1, has completed 69 flights, and has a production-representative external shape and internal systems. Unlike AF-1 and the other F-35 test aircraft, AA-1’s internal structure was designed before a 2004 weight-savings program resulted in structural revisions to all three F-35 variants.

“AF-1 incorporates many evolutionary improvements and updates that have resulted from our AA-1 flight test program over the last two years,” said Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and general manager of F-35 Program Integration.

AF-1 is the first F-35 to have employed the moving assembly line at its full-rate production speed of 50 inches (127 millimeters) per hour. Workers tested the system by installing the vertical tails as the line moved at maximum speed. The moving assembly line, designed to improve production quality and speed, is the first ever for a modern fighter. AF-1 becomes the first aircraft since World War II to use a moving assembly line at Lockheed Martin’s (formerly Consolidated Vultee, Convair and General Dynamics) Fort Worth factory.

F-35 Lightning II systems and parts are built by industries worldwide. Six F-35s are now complete, 17 are in assembly – including the first Low Rate Initial Production aircraft – and F-35 test aircraft have completed 83 flights.

Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 with its principal industrial partners Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. Two separate, interchangeable F-35 engines are under development: the Pratt & Whitney F135 and the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team F136.

Three F-35 variants derived from a common design, developed together and using the same sustainment infrastructure worldwide will replace at least 13 types of aircraft for 11 nations initially, making the Lightning II the most cost-effective fighter program in history.

Source: Lockheed Martin

EMBRAER SELLS 11 E-JETS TO BRITISH AIRWAYS

Fleet modernization centers on EMBRAER 170 and EMBRAER 190SRs for BA CityFlyer

São José dos Campos, December 22, 2008 –

Embraer and British Airways signed a contract for 11 E-Jets, comprised of six EMBRAER 170 and five EMBRAER 190SR jets, to be operated by BA CityFlyer. BA CityFlyer is British Airways’ wholly owned regional subsidiary that operates international and domestic routes from London City Airport, England. The deal, which heralds a significant modernization of its regional fleet, also includes options for another three EMBRAER 190SR jets. The contract value of the E-Jets firm orders is US$ 376.5 million, at list price, based on January 2008 economic conditions, and could reach US$ 489 million, if all options are confirmed.

The first BA CityFlyer EMBRAER 170, configured with 76 seats, is scheduled for delivery in
the second semester of 2009. The larger EMBRAER 190SR will seat up to 98 passengers.

Source: Embraer

Eurocopter and Helibras sign a historic contract with the Brazilian government

Following the EU-Brazil summit, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil officially announced the contract for 50 EC725 helicopters which has been signed by the Brazilian government and a consortium formed by Eurocopter and Helibras. The helicopters will be operated by Brazil’s armed forces and the first deliveries are scheduled for 2010. This is the largest contract ever signed in South America and will provide Brazil with a fleet that is capable of performing an extremely wide range of missions. The contract will also allow Eurocopter to continue its expansion in South America.

“This is an important achievement for Eurocopter, Helibras and the Brazilian government,” announced Eurocopter President Lutz Bertling. “This contract is the result of the close industrial partnership and the long-standing relationship that we have with Brazil, and we are particularly proud that the EC725s will be produced in this country. This contract heralds a new era for Helibras, which will become an outstanding center of aeronautical excellence in South America.”

Louis Gallois, CEO of EADS, Eurocopter’s mother company, added:”EADS considers Brazil as a priority country in its long term partnership strategy. Our group has been developing its different activities there for many years: Airbus, ATR, military transport aircraft, space and security equipments. This major contract is fully in line with our strategy”.

This historic contract is part of the joint declaration on defense cooperation signed by the French and Brazilian defense secretaries on June 30, 2008 – a date which also marked the 30th anniversary of Helibras.

Eurocopter has been in Brazil for more than 30 years through its subsidiary Helibras located in Itajuba in the state of Minas Gerais. Helibras employs 270 people and is the only helicopter manufacturer with an established presence in South America. In 30 years, Helibras has delivered almost 500 aircraft, becoming the leader in the Brazilian market.

The new contract will double the production capacity and the number of staff at the Itajuba plant, where the EC725 helicopters will be manufactured, assembled and undergo maintenance support activities after delivery.

This contract will also make a significant contribution to the development of Brazil’s aeronautical industry, as local companies will be closely involved in the manufacturing activities and will benefit from technology transfers.

Eurocopter’s subsidiary has a 50% share of the civil market, a 67% share of the military market, and a 80% share of the parapublic market in Brazil. In addition to its production and export activities in Latin America, Helibras also carries out customization, maintenance and technical support work on Eurocopter aircraft. As many as 8,000 pilots and technicians have already been trained in its training center.

FAA Approves Boeing 787 Dreamliner Maintenance Program

EVERETT, Wash., Dec. 22, 2008 — Boeing [NYSE: BA] today announced that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved the all-new 787 Dreamliner’s scheduled maintenance program.

The scheduled maintenance program defines the maintenance tasks and intervals operators will use to maintain the 787 and is documented in the 787 Maintenance Review Board Report (MRBR). The report was accepted by the Maintenance Review Board, an FAA organization composed of specialists who review and accept maintenance requirements. This MRBR approval from the FAA is one of the many requirements needed for airplane certification.

“The MRBR approval is a result of the most comprehensive maintenance program development effort in the history of the industry,” said Mike Fleming, 787 director of Services and Support. “It is supported by more than 33,000 pages of supporting analysis, as well as the participation of eight regulatory agencies, 25 airlines and 30 suppliers and partners.”

Boeing has designed the 787 to be 30 percent less expensive to maintain than any comparable product. This savings is largely due to the 787 advanced design, the wide use of composite structure and the highly integrated systems architecture, which allow for fewer maintenance tasks and longer intervals between tasks.

“The 787 maintenance program is one important aspect that ensures the continued airworthiness of the 787 while reducing overall maintenance burden on the operator,” said Justin Hale, 787 chief mechanic. “This program will enable significant operational efficiencies for airlines that fly the 787.”

By requiring less maintenance less often than comparably sized jets, the 787 will be more available for revenue service, leading to significant financial and scheduling opportunities for airlines.

Source: Boeing

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