Sycamore to welcome home soldier

Sycamore, IL. – The Patriot Guard Riders and Warrior Watch Riders, along with the Sycamore fire and police departments, will conduct a surprise escort and rally to welcome home Sycamore resident Army Staff Sgt. Ryan McFarland.

SSgt. McFarland is returning home from his third deployment to a combat zone. He will be home on leave the week of Feb. 18 from his most recent deployment to Afghanistan.

McFarland graduated from Sycamore High School in 2003. While in high school he participated in wrestling and Kishwaukee Education Consortium. He worked at Farm and Fleet during his senior year. In the summer of 2003, McFarland enlisted in the United States Army, and completed basic training at Fort Benning, Ga. He then went to Fort Eustis, Va. for his active initial training. He has a 4-year-old daughter, Jorja.

McFarland started out working as a crew chief on Chinook CH-47 helicopters. He was later moved over to the Apache helicopter 15R – AH-64. From September 2005 until September 2006, he was deployed to Baghdad, Iraq. He deployed again in December of 2008 for a year in Bagram, Afghanistan, and a third time in February 2011 to Kandahar, Afghanistan.

At 1 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 18, there will be an escort and procession in Sycamore to welcome McFarland home. The public is asked to stage in front of the DeKalb County Courthouse, along State Street in the downtown business district and in front of MVP Sports Club and the Sycamore Veterans Home on California Street; the rally will take place at MVP Sports Club. People are asked to show their support by displaying flags, banners and signs.

 

-midweeknews.com

Airbus ordered to check wings

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) ordered last Feb. 8 that all Airbus A380 superjumbo planes be checked for wing cracks, even as the aircraft manufacturer insisted there was nothing to worry about.

The cracks had been found “following an unscheduled internal inspection of an A380 wing,” EASA said in a statement.

Further to the finding, inspections were carried out on a number of other aeroplanes during which a new form of cracking was identified which, “if not detected and corrected, may lead to reduction of the structural integrity of the aeroplane,” the statement said.

EASA, which had already said last month ordered that 20 such jets be inspected following the discovery of cracks in the wings of Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Air France planes, has expanded the checks to all 67 A380s currently in operation, a spokesman said.

The announcement came after Australia’s Qantas removed one of its A380 from service after discovering “minor cracks” in its wings, but said that there was no risk to flight safety.

When the first checks were announced last month, Airbus’s vice president Tom Williams insisted the tiny wing cracks could be easily repaired and did not pose any danger.

“This is not a fatigue cracking problem,” Williams said, blaming the cracks on design and manufacturing issues instead.

“The cracks do not compromise the airworthiness of the aircraft,” he insisted.

Airbus reiterated that stance again on Wednesday.

The EASA spokesman said the checks comprised both a “detailed visual inspection”, but also more intense testing that would be able to detect potential faults invisible to the naked eye.

There was no urgency to the inspections and those aircraft that had already flown more than 1,800 flights would be checked first, he said.

Earlier, Qantas took one of its A380s out of service Wednesday after discovering “minor cracks” in its wings.

The Australian airline stressed that it was not the “type two” cracking found across the global A380 fleet last month which was “now the subject of a European airworthiness directive.”

“To date, type two cracking has not been found on Qantas aircraft,” a Qantas spokeswoman told AFP.

The small cracking, on “some wing rib feet”, was discovered during an extra round of precautionary checks requested by Airbus on the Qantas superjumbo after it hit severe turbulence over India in January.

Seven passengers were injured and four required hospital treatment in Singapore following the incident.

“This cracking is not related to the turbulence, or specific to Qantas, but is traced back to a manufacturing issue,” the Qantas spokeswoman said.

“Airbus has confirmed that it has no effect on flight safety.”

Qantas, which has 12 A380s in its fleet, said an “inspection and repair regime has been developed” in conjunction with Airbus and it expected the jet in question to return to service within a week.

“We will follow Airbus instructions on any further action that may be required,” the spokeswoman said.

It is the second Qantas A380 to be found with wing rib cracks, with a superjumbo involved in a dramatic mid-air engine explosion over Indonesia in November 2010 also suffering cracking.

The A380 is the world’s biggest passenger jet and a key product in Airbus’s line-up as it battles its main rival, US giant Boeing, for the top spot in the world civil airliner industry.

The A380 double-decker plane entered service in 2007 after years of technical delays. There are now 67 in service around the world and, while they have never had a fatal accident, there have been teething problems.

-business.iafrica.com

U.S. Navy Compromises on Ship Programs

The U.S. Navy’s topline fiscal 2013 baseline budget request of about $155.9 billion is a study in compromise, protecting some of the service’s signature programs by reducing some, delaying some, and scuttling some other programs altogether.

The request is about $9.5 billion less than planned for in the fiscal 2012 budget, and the proposed Future Years Defense Program (FYDP) includes about $58 billion less than had been planned going into the middle part of the decade.

The budget proposal adds funding for the next-generation aircraft carriers, but also includes a plan to drop to 10 carriers in fiscal 2013 from the current fleet of 11 — a temporary reduction, analysts note.

And while the budget proposal continues to support submarine programs, the spending plan reduces the level of funding for the Ohio-class nuclear-missile submarine fleet and delays the procurement of a Virginia-class sub to fiscal 2018 from 2014.

The Navy also intends to reduce the procurement of the Joint High Speed Vessel and terminate the fleet oiler replacement, T-AO(X).

Another program facing reductions across the FYDP is the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor, which has become a workhorse for the Navy and U.S. Marine Corps.

Of the $155.9 billion, the largest share is being proposed for operations and maintenance, about $49.9 billion, with about $44.2 billion being sought for personnel, $42.5 billion being requested for procurement, $16.9 billion being tagged for research and development and $2.4 billion being slated for military construction.

The proposed procurement request breaks out this way: $17.3 billion for aircraft, $3.1 billion for weapons, $13.6 billion for shipbuilding and conversion, $6.3 billion for “other” Navy procurement, $2.6 billion for the Marine Corps and $1 billion for ammunition.

Altogether, total procurement is about $32 billion less than the proposed fiscal 2012 budget, including requested cuts of about $14.6 billion for aircraft, $10.1 billion for ships, $1.1 billion for weapons, $2.5 billion for the Marine Corps, $700 million for ammunition and $3 billion for other Navy procurement.

The research and development request is about $2.3 billion less than the previous fiscal year’s, and operations and maintenance amounts are about $2.6 billion less.

-aviationweek.com

Bell 525 Relentless Unveiled at Heli Expo 2012

 

In a dramatic show of dry ice and pumping music, Bell Helicopter unveiled its much-anticipated 525 Relentless super medium transport at the Heli Expo 2012.

The largest heliocpter ever developed by Bell, the 525 is aimed primarily at long range missions such as the offshore oil support market. It resembles a larger stretch of the Bell 429, and weighs in at more than 19,000lb.

Revealing its latest development, Bell Helicopter President John Garrison says the company is “on a mission” to revitalize its product line. A customer advisory panel helped Bell finalize the design. “They told us loud and clear” they need lower operating costs and better performance, says Garrison. “We developed a new super mdeium helicopter and it’s in a class all by itself.”

Equipped with the Garmin 5000 avionics system, the 16-seat 525 helicopter has a BAE Systems-developed fly-by-wire flight control system. It is powered by twin GE CT7 engines driving a five bladed main rotor, and is configured with an extra-large cargo hold.

The Bell 525 aircraft has a lift-assist tail boom and canted tail rotor to aid control authority and increase the operational center of gravity range.

 

-aviationweek.com

JAL sees 787 delivery delay as Boeing tackles fresh glitch

(Reuters) – Flag carrier Japan Airlines (JAL) said on Tuesday it no longer expects its first Dreamliner from Boeing Co. by the end of February as a fresh manufacturing glitch is seen adding pressure to an already-tight 787 production timetable.

The Japanese carrier known as JAL, which has ordered 35 of Boeing’s advanced carbon composite aircraft, said it is now in talks with the aircraft builder for possible delivery in March.

“Negotiations are still ongoing” with Boeing, JAL spokeswoman Sze Hunn Yap said. JAL had expected four 787s by the end of March, but “with this development we are unsure.”

The world’s second-largest commercial plane-maker insists it can fix what it described as “incorrect shimming” in support structures in the aft fuselage of some planes and meet its goal to make 10 Dreamliners per month by the end of next year.

Shims are used to close tiny gaps in joints along the fuselage.

Some analysts, however, say the target was unrealistic to begin with and a new glitch will slow production more.

“We don’t know if this will impact production,” EarlyBirdCapital Managing Director Alex Hamilton said.

“But if you have to go back and correct something and possibly change production going forward, it seems to have a good chance, in our opinion.”

Hamilton, whose company does not own Boeing shares, is among many experts who doubted Boeing’s ability to hit its 787 production target.

The company makes 2.5 Dreamliners per month. It expects to boost monthly output to 3.5 in the second quarter, and five by the end of 2012.

PREMIER CUSTOMER

Much of that output is destined for Japan, where Boeing dominates its European rival Airbus with around a 90 percent market share.

In addition to the 35 jetliners destined for JAL, rival All Nippon Airways has ordered 55 787s and expects a further 20 to join its fleet by the end of March next year. The five aircraft now in service by ANA are operating as normal, a spokesman said.

ANA also said it was in talks with Boeing regarding future deliveries following the fuselage problem.

“We don’t see any big impact, but it might push things back two or three months,” spokesman Ryosei Nomura said.

Boeing’s Dreamliner is the world’s first commercial airplane made largely of lightweight carbon composites and entered service last year with ANA.

Boeing has taken 870 orders for the plane, which boasts greater fuel efficiency over rivals, but has been plagued by development and production delays, including a shortage of nuts and bolts in 2007, a 58-day labour strike in 2008 and a fire on a 787 test flight in 2010.

WAITING

For JAL, which entered bankruptcy in January 2010 and is slated to emerge with a new stock exchange listing this year after a government-led bailout, a further wait for new jets will stall plans for use on high turnover routes including to New Delhi, Moscow and Beijing in March, followed by Singapore and Boston later in the year.

Boeing said it is working to fix the problem.

“We have the issue well-defined and are making progress on the repair plan,” Boeing spokesman Scott Lefeber said on Sunday. “There is no short-term safety concern. Repairs, should they be needed, will be implemented in the most efficient manner possible.”

Lefeber declined on Monday to comment on how many airplanes are being inspected, saying only that Boeing was working its way through the production line. A report from Flightglobal said three airplanes were affected.

Lefeber said that, in some instances, Boeing had discovered signs of “delamination,” which occurs when repeated stress causes laminated composite materials to begin to separate.

The problem occurred in a part of the 787 fuselage made at a Boeing plant in South Carolina. Boeing purchased the plant in 2009 from Vought Aircraft Industries.

“We’ve already taken appropriate steps to address this issue there,” Lefeber said, referring to the South Carolina factory.

But one expert said the problem also raises questions about manufacturing practices at the South Carolina plant.

“This is strictly a production problem,” said Hans Weber, president of Tecop International, a technology management consultancy. “This is not a design problem. This is not even a production process problem. This is a problem of people improperly doing the assembly.”

JUST NOISE

Other analysts however said Boeing is likely to overcome its latest glitch quickly.

Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst at Virginia-based Teal Group, said problems related to the 787 are often magnified by the public because the plane incorporates new technology.

“There are people who are concerned about the use of composites. It’s a minority view,” Aboulafia said. “Delamination, of course, goes to the very heart of the risk associated with this particular technology – composite materials in primary structures.”

RBC Capital Markets analyst Rob Stallard said the shimming issue spoke to the integrity of the composites used in the 787, but he did not think it would disrupt the program.

“When you think of the big problems we’ve seen on the 787 over many, many years, this just looks like noise,” Stallard said. “I’m sure these things happen in development programs all the time.”

Airbus recently blamed a combination of manufacturing and design flaws for wing cracks on its A380 superjumbo. The company said it had found a simple remedy for the problem, easing concern among analysts.

 

-reuters.com

Cracks in Qantas A380 Wing Parts Found

Qantas has temporarily grounded one of its Airbus A380s while it waits to hear whether the manufacturer recommends any fixes for hairline cracks discovered in wing rib feet.

The airline describes these cracks as “minor,” unlike the more serious – or type two – cracks that led to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issuing new inspection guidelines for the wing parts. Qantas found cracking in about 35 rib feet, out of about 2,000 in an A380 wing.

Qantas has sent inspection results to Airbus, and the manufacturer will advise if any repairs are needed, or if the carrier is simply required to inspect the aircraft again during its next maintenance check. Either way, the airline expects the aircraft to be back flying within a week.

The aircraft in question – VH-OQF – was involved in a severe turbulence incident on Jan. 7 over India. It was given a visual inspection in Singapore, and cleared to continue to Sydney. However, Airbus requested “additional precautionary inspections,” the airline says.

It was during this these inspections, which began Feb. 5, that the hairline cracks were found. However, Qantas says the cracks were unrelated to the Jan. 7 turbulence event.

Similar hairline cracks were found on another Qantas A380 – VH-OQA – that has been under repair in Singapore since being severely damaged by an uncontained engine failure on Nov. 4, 2010.

These are the only two Qantas A380s to be inspected for the cracks so far. The EASA requirement is for the aircraft to be inspected after 1,300 flight cycles, and the Qantas A380s are yet to reach this point.

The cracking has already been fixed on VH-OQA, the aircraft which is still in Singapore. A Qantas spokesman tells Aviation Week that the carrier still plans for this aircraft to return to Australia in late March. It has not started test flights, but these are expected to begin soon, the spokesman says.

 

-aviationweek.com

-biztravelguru.com

Two A319s Order from Air Namibia

Windhoek-based Air Namibia (SW) has ordered two Airbus A319 aircraft. The aircraft, which will seat 112 passengers in a two-class layout and replace two Boeing 737-500s, will operate on the airline’s regional routes from Windhoek to other major African cities, according to Airbus.

SW operates two leased A319s on regional routes and two A340-300 aircraft on its international route between Windhoek to Frankfurt, Airbus said.

“Our in-service experience with Airbus aircraft has confirmed that the A319 is the ideal aircraft for Air Namibia’s regional routes,” said Air Namibia acting CEO Theo Namases. “The efficiency of our new aircraft, together with their commonality with our existing fleet will provide a strong basis for our continued growth and contribution to the Namibian tourist industry.”

Air Namibia, headquartered in Windhoek, is the national airline of Namibia and is a member of both the International Air Transport Association and the African Airlines Association.

 

-atwonline.com

-wikipedia.org

Global Aviation Seeks to Cut Planes as Military Missions End

Global Aviation Holdings Inc., the biggest charter-flight company for U.S. military troops, plans to reorganize by getting rid of more than half of its aircraft, citing the end of flying missions to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Of 30 aircraft leases, the company would like to reject 16 “excess aircraft” to save about $40 million a year. The leases are all for planes made by Boeing Co. and include six MD-11 freight aircraft, three MD-11 passenger aircraft, two 747-400 freight aircrafts and five 757-200 passenger planes. Engines are made by General Electric Co., Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc, according to papers filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Brooklyn, New York.

Global Aviation, airlifting for the U.S. military since the Korean conflict in 1951, began military passenger flights in 1990 and provided charter services for the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama. A decline in flights to Iraq, the anticipated withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and a reduction in rates paid by the military led to the bankruptcy filing, Chief Financial Officer William A. Garrett said.

“While Global Aviation has navigated fluctuations in demand in the past, the current decrease, coupled with high labor and fixed costs, excess aircraft and an over-leveraged balance sheet, requires Global Aviation to restructure,” William said in court papers.

Global Aviation, based in Peachtree, Georgia, sought court protection on Feb. 5, Sunday, with affiliates including its two airlines, World Airways and North American Airlines. To cut costs, the company plans to relocate North American Airlines, now based at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, to Peachtree. It also plans to renegotiate labor contracts with unionized employees and expand government contracts.

At a hearing in Brooklyn yesterday, the company plans to seek court permission to use lenders’ cash collateral. Global Aviation has $29 million of cash on hand and failed to get a loan before filing for bankruptcy, according to court papers.

“Circumstances leading up to the commencement of these Chapter 11 cases require interim approval of cash collateral to act as a bridge” until Global Aviation can get a post- bankruptcy loan, the company said in a filing.

A customer withheld a $20 million payment before the bankruptcy, reducing its cash, and the company didn’t have enough time to negotiate a loan before entering bankruptcy, Global Aviation said.

Global, with annual sales of more than $1 billion and more than 1,800 employees, listed assets of $589.8 million and debt of $493.2 million as of Dec. 31. Chapter 11 allows companies to continue operating and either reorganize or sell assets through a court-supervised auction.

At a first-day hearing, which started this afternoon, Global Aviation also plans to ask a judge for permission to continue its insurance policies, honor pre-bankruptcy obligations, pay employees and take other steps to ensure it remains in operation.

Separately, the company faces an adversary case filed yesterday in bankruptcy court by an employee who says she and other workers were fired without cause around Jan. 3 without receiving 60 days’ notice, as required under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, act.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP was hired as the company’s bankruptcy counsel, and Rothschild Inc. is a proposed financial adviser.

Global Aviation’s 14 percent notes, which had last traded at 44.44 cents on the dollar Jan. 25, jumped 1.2 percent to 45 cents on the dollar at 12 p.m. yesterday, according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. They traded as high as 118.5 cents on the dollar in the past year.

 

-businessweek.com

A380 Wing Fixes Cause Little Disruption

A European Aviation Safety Agency mandate on A380 operators to inspect and potentially fix L-shaped wing rib-feet has so far had a minor impact on service operations at Singapore Airlines. Lufthansa also does not see major issues once its aircraft are up for review.

Singapore Airlines had by far the largest number of A380s affected by the inspection regime. It found cracks on all six aircraft inspected, with five returned to service already and a sixth to be back in operations on February 4. No major service disruptions resulted although some A380 flights were downgauged to Boeing 777-300ERs while the Airbus aircraft was being fixed.

Similarly, Lufthansa’s director of A380 introduction, Dean Rainieri, says he does not expect any major disruptions. Lufthansa currently has a fleet of eight aircraft, but they are not yet affected due to their low number of flight hours.

The situation matches Airbus projections. The aircraft maker has identified fixes that mitigate the cracking by changing its wing assembly process and also is looking to use a different material for the wing rib-feet for extra strength.

But that is not the only in-service issue the aircraft maker is dealing with on its flagship product. Fleet-wide dispatch reliability of the A380 is now at around 98%. “We were not at the levels of reliability that we had hoped for,” concedes Paul Oliver, head of customer support for the Middle East, Africa and India during Aviation Week’s MRO Middle East conference in Dubai.

However, he stresses the trend lines are in the right direction and that more than half of the aircraft’s operators are at 99%. Lufthansa is at 99.2%, according to Rainieri. The airline has operated a fleet of four aircraft at 100% for four months before encountering some glitches.

Separately, the Qantas A380 severely damaged as a result of the Nov 4, 2010, uncontained Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine failure is now “back in flying condition,” Oliver says. But the aircraft is still undergoing wing crack repairs in Singapore where is has been fixed.

 

-aviationweek.com

-cdn7.wn.com

Upgraded GEnx-1B Flies on Boeing 747 Flying Testbed

GE today will make the first flight test of the improved GEnx-1B version capable of meeting the 787 fuel burn specification at its Victorville, Calif., site.

The GEnx-1B Performance Improvement Package (PIP2) is due to be certified for icing by the end of February and will complete FAR 33 engine certification in June or July. The PIP2 engine flying today on GE’s Boeing 747 flying testbed will make about 26 flights as part of the certification effort, the engine maker says.

Boeing is expected to begin test flying on the 787 in early 2013, with entry-into-service later that year. “That’s contingent on Boeing’s flight test schedule, but we’ll be ready to go,” says GE Design and System Integration Engineering Manager Kevin Kanter.

The first PIP 2 engine to undergo ice certification meanwhile arrived at the GE-StandardAero Testing, Research and Development Center (TDRC) in Winnipeg, Canada, today. Initial fuel burn results are “very promising,” Kanter adds.

The Winnipeg test site is currently completing FAA certification, but is expected to be up and running within days, says Kanter. The $50 million site was developed after GE was forced to move its existing icing facility from Montreal Mirabel Airport due to expansion at the Quebec Airport.

Unlike Mirabel, which was dedicated to icing, the TDRC will have the capability for endurance, bird ingestion and other testing. The site, which will be maintained by StandardAero, augments GE’s main test site in Peebles, Ohio. Designed for engines up to 150 in. in diameter and 150,000 lb. of thrust, the TDRC will support icing certification and further tests of several other engines in coming years.

Following the PIP2 tests on the GEnx-1B, the site is scheduled to test the revised fan of the GE Honda HF120 business jet engine. It will also test the Passport 20 for Bombardier’s Global 7000/8000, as well as the CFM Leap for the Comac C919, Airbus A320NEO and Boeing 737 MAX.

Further off, the site will also support development of the GE9X for the 777X. First engine to test is set “for the 2016 timeframe” says Kanter. Aimed at the 90,000- to 100,000-lb. thrust range, considerably less than the current GE90-115B rating, the GE9X will combine technology from the GEnx and Leap programs “plus other new technologies.” Kanter adds, “We have configuration studies under way for the combustor and turbines.”

 

-aviationweek.com