Russian Stealth Fighter

Sukhoi T-50 Stealth Fighter – RIA Novosti

Also referred to as the Sukhoi PAK FA.

Some of  the following information are estimates of the plane and may not be accurate.

NATO Designation: Firefox

Dimensions

Wing: 14.2 m ( S=78.8 m^2)
Length: 22 m
Height: 6.05 m

Weight

Max 37,000 kg
Normal 26,000 kg
Empty 18,500 kg

Speed : 2,100 km/h  (M=2.0)

Altitude: 20,000 m

Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Boeing 787 Dreamliner takes off on first flight.

After numerous delays, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner had its first flight today. And a beautiful sight it was to watch even though weather conditions were poor. The model in question that flew today was the 787-8.

Some interesting Boeing 787 information:

• The aircraft is 50% composite materials by weight.
• Engines: 2 x General Electric GEnx or Rolls-Royce Trent 1000
• Length: 186 ft (57 m) [787-8 model]
• Wingspan: 197 ft (60 m) [787-8 model]
• Height: 55 ft 6 in (16.92 m)
• Empty weight: 242,000 lbs (110,000 kg) [787-8 model]
• Max. takeoff weight: 502,500 lb (228,000 kg) [787-8 model]
• Cruise speed: 487 knots (561 mph, 903 kph)  @ 40,000 ft/12,200 m
• Ceiling: 43,000 ft (13,106.4 m)
• Range: 7,650 – 8,200 nautical miles (14,200 – 15,200 km) [787-8 model]

The financial crisis in Dubai can be an opportunity for Indian Aviation Industry, Director General Airports Council International

Angela Gittens said.
Dubai crisis may go in many directions. It may affect the economic front depending on the tie-ups withIndia. However, it can provide an opportunity to enhance and provide the aviation capacity outside the country, Gittens told PTI.

She suggested that India should take two steps forward when Dubai one step backward to have better aviation tie-ups. The ACI is predicting a two per cent rise in global aviation revenues by 2011 mostly complemented by India, China and Brazil.

USA and European countries are still flat. Rebound will start only in 2010, the ACI head said, adding this particular recession took longer time to subdue.

As much as USD 12 billion will be required for the Indian aviation industry to meet the demand by 2030, when the demand is going to double.

Fifty per cent of the airport revenues all over the world is of non-aero. The trend is upwards and the airport charges constitute only three per cent of the airline charges, she said.

While airports get 50 per cent of their revenues from airlines, the airports have to spend 60 per cent of their revenues on maintenance. In this scenario the airports have no option but to increase the User Development Fee (UDF), she said.

All is not well between Air India (AI) pilots and those leading its association, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA).
Though the ICPA struck a deal with the Air India management to end a threat by pilots to go on an indefinite strike from today, pilots believe the ICPA has not done enough.
Captain V K Bhalla, who is leading the pilots with their demands, has alleged that the top ICPA leadership is a stooge of the Air India management.
“The management did not accept a single demand during its meeting with the ICPA on Sunday. They only said they will pay our dues in installments and did not even specify the time,” said an irked Bhalla.
Air India Executive Director Jitendra Bhargava said, “The pilots have decided against going on strike. No decision has been taken on the full reimbursement of allowances.”
ICPA president Shailendra Singh said, “We did not attend the meeting to put forth the specific demands of the executive pilots.
If they feel they are not satisfied with the developments, they can still go on a strike. We are not concerned with what Bhalla has to say on the issue.”

The long day started at around 6:30 am pick up from our accommodation then went straight to the airport. Who would have thought that we would reach the triennial training knowing how homesick we are when we left NAIA 3 years back!?! But anyway, I had a great time to be with my batchmates again and Camille was also there – My closest friend here in Doha.

After a very quick flight, we arrived in Dubai where we were taken by bus to the Emirates Aviation College. The facilities inside were impressive. The ditching and evacuation training area also had a Boeing 777, Airbus A330 and Airbus A380 full size section mock ups to practice all the evacuation procedures.

Then we were given many scenarios and act as if we were really on the real situations like Thick Smoke in the Cabin, Emergency Landing on Water, Fire on the overhead bins, Fire inside the lavatory. (All drills can also be monitored in the LCD Screens.)

Next stage was to jump down the evacuation slides. All of us just evacuated quickly from one door, go down barefoot or with socks. The slides give off a lot of friction to slow you down at the end.

The final part was to crawl onto the large slide raft with our inflated life jackets on and practice assembling the canopy. Once we had done that, we had to drop into the (very cold) water and form into groups of six people so that we can stay together and stay warm. Although it was very cold in the pool, it would be fair to say that the mid-Atlantic would be a lot colder, so it was a valuable lesson to learn that forming a group in water were the most effective ways to keep warm.

We left the training center learning a lot about how to handle ourselves and the passengers in all of the various emergency situations, Fully qualified to be released into the real world of flying again!

Related Post:

* View the rest of the pictures…

* Training at Emirates Aviation College 2006

* Fire Fighting II

Traffico aereo Usa in tilt oggi per un problema al centro computer della FAA che fornisce alle torri di controllo i piani di volo.

Il guasto ha provocato ritardi e disagi ed e’ stato riparato alle dieci del mattino ora locale, dopo circa cinque ore, ma i ritardi sono continuati con strascichi per tutta la giornata.

E’ la seconda volta in 15 mesi che un guasto del genere crea inconvenienti al pubblico degli aeroporti americani.

• via: www.ansa.it

Domani, tempo permettendo, il prototipo HB-SIA del Solar Impulse (aereo alimentato ad energia solare), lascerà il proprio hangar all’aerodromo di Dübendorf, vicino Zurigo.

Il velivolo sarà sottoposto ad una serie iniziale di test fissi che coinvolge prima i suoi quattro motori ed in seguito quelli relativi all’interferenza elettromagnetica.

Durante queste prove controllate dall’astronauta Claude Nicollier, il collaudatore professionale tedesco, Markus Scherdel, sarà al comando

• via: www.avionews.it

The most awaited meeting is going to be scheduled the coming week, where next week could be a crucial one for airlines in India with government holding two meetings. While the committee of secretaries headed and cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar will discuss the long-pending issue of allowing foreign airlines to invest in desi ones, the whole team is gonna decide on funding on AI.

Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher words are gonna come up live soon, where he was demanding about foreign airlines be allowed to invest in fund-starved Indian airlines.
The govt has so far not taken a decision about this and  headed by Naresh Goyal’s Jet, has been opposing this on the ground that in the current environment no player can expect a good valuation. However, the trickiest of all seems to be the question of funding AI and saving it from a collapse.

Chennai-based Paramount Airlines has sent feelers to a south-based regional carrier, Star Aviation, for a possible acquisition of the airline. Star Aviation got an operating licence in 2007, but has yet to start any flights.

“We are looking at acquisitions to expand and we are talking with Chennai-based Star Aviation,” said a senior executive of Paramount Airways.

Star Aviation Pvt Ltd, part of a Dubai-headquartered conglomerate, the ETA Star group, did not comment for the questions raised.

Paramount is the only airline in India to offer full business class service at prices comparable to the normal economy class fares of other airlines. It flies to 16 destinations in the country and is been doing a great job at the present scenario.

The airline, which started operations in October 2005, operates five planes — two Embraer 170 and three Embraer 175. Established by the Madurai-based textile company, the Paramount Group, it has ordered 10 A321-200 aircraft for short-haul international routes to be launched next year, when it completes the mandatory five year pre-requisite to fly abroad.

The source added that acquisition made sense for the airline, as Star Aviation has a fleet of three Embraer aircraft, which will add to Paramount’s existing strength.

There were reports that Paramount was buying GoAir, which has eight aircraft and 5.8 per cent market share, in a cash and equity deal, paying Rs 100-150 crore in cash and a stake of 7-8 per cent in the Paramount Group to the Wadias, who own GoAir. But GoAir has denied all such reports of talks.

Major airlines are required by law to provide flight attendants for the safety and security of the traveling public.  Drill scenarios will provide crewmember with the opportunity to merge procedural knowledge with practical skills. Ability to successfully react to different fire situations will enhance level of confidence and to deal with fires in flight.

  * While fighting a fire inside the lavatory mock-up. We have extra equipments to wear such as mask, Gloves, Glasses, have to carry a fire extinguisher and be calm as possible. Imagine if this is real situation!?! Probably, I’ll be the first one panicking! hehe!

*  Next week, we’ll be going to Emirates Aviation Center in Dubai for another recurrent training about ditching and Slide/Raft inflation.

* Taken during our AB-Initio days when we joined the company 3 years ago. October 2006 (See all the photos here) 5 of my batch mates in this picture left already…

Worst has been over for Indian Aviation

A good news came out from  IATA (International Air Transport Association) where the worst has been over for the aviation Industry, but but it will take a few more years for the sector to completely recover from the crisis. “The worst is over, but the industry has to go a long way for a complete recovery,” Giovanni Bisignani, director general and chief executive of the International Air Transport Association (IATA),

The stats according to them says that, it will take three to four years to reach the level it was at before the crisis hit the industry.”  The maximum losses has been calculated in the aviation sector and the result was  highest in Europe at $3.8 billion, followed by $3.6 billion in Asia and $2.6 billion in the US. The Indian aviation industry losses are estimated to be around $1.5 billion this year, The losses will be mostly from Air India.”
Bisignani recalled that it took three-four years for the US aviation sector to return to the growth path after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“Now, we are facing an economic slowdown worldwide. Still we are hopeful that the industry could bounce back in three-four years,” he added.

Diwali seems to have brought the much-needed cheer to the aviation industry, which was worrying about dwindling passenger loads.

Travel industries are very happy with the bookings which happened for diwali ,industry observers hope the aviation sector is on the road to recovery. The cheap fares advertised by most airlines two months prior to the festive season contributed most to the upswing, experts say. “The fares, if one was booking two months in advance, ranged anywhere between 1,600-2,500 for most destinations. Also, there were no hidden charges in these fares. This made flyers grab the opportunity at the earliest,” said Rajesh Rateria, managing director, Cirrus Travels, adding that most of his clients had made bookings well in advance. “No wonder, most airlines are flying packed now,” he added. “Till about two years ago, passenger traffic was growing by 25-30% annually. That growth is still a far cry. But considering that people are now more inclined to travel than they were an year ago, significant growth can be expected,” said Prakash.

Praful Patel Minister for Civil aviation

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel is looking forward to meet the Air India Staff Unions including the pilots to completely discuss about the rationalization of the incentives and allowances in line with the airlines turn around plans been going on.  Sources say that there is a meeting which is gonna be scheduled soon to discuss the various problems within all the departments.

This meeting is been raised due to the major backdrop of the 5 day long stir by the Executive pilots after the management suggested to cut pays upto 50 percent in their PLI ( Productivity Linked Incentives) and the flying allowances.

The proposal was deferred after the employees including pilots and engineers, vehemently opposed any cut, maintaining that the staffs are completely not responsible for the mounting AI losses. There are 14 unions in the state-run airline representing engineers, pilots, cabin crew, officers and other employees.

Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, Austrian-born outgoing CEO of Jet Airways, India’s largest private carrier by number passengers carried, had made Mumbai his home , for the past six and a half years he has made a remarkable change in Jet. Before that he had spent 26 years in top positions at Austrian Airlines and Star Alliance. And now he had headed to british midlands to join the UK-based carrier as the new CEO.

The GOOD TIMES : he said he saw four profitable years during his tenure with the airline. And 2005 was a remarable year for him where the company came out with a huge profit where it was able to increase the fleet. It has expanded from 40 aircrafts in 2005 to 110 today.”

The CHALLENGING TIMES :“One of the most difficult times I faced was when we were in expansion mode. In 2008, we were all set to expand – our revenues, fleets, routes, etc — and the economy slowed down.” 2007 & 2008 were the most worst years that he saw in his experience.

Govt INTERVENTION NEEDED: They (government) must look in into the high input costs, they are taxes,ATF and airport charges, lso, the government needs to develop world class aviation infrastructure to bring it up to the international benchmark. ATC (air traffic controller) should be restructured to reduce the circling time of aircraft in the Indian airspace.”

Indian aviation sector has gone through tough times but outlook bright: The main problem according to him was.. India has expanded fast on this industry and so industry being saddled with excess capacity and so deep losses have been formed. However, Prock-Schauer is leaving on an optimistic note:  “In a few years, the sector is meant to grow. India will continue to grow. This is a key emerging market and it will soon rise to global standards. Things will work out if they are done in the right manner.”

La Francia ha interrotto le ricerche per il capitano Francois Duflot, pilota disperso da giovedì scorso dopo la collisione aerea tra il suo caccia Dassault Rafale ed un altro aereo dello stesso modello, durante una missione di test.

La conferma del fatto che la Francia ormai consideri deceduto il pilota scomparso è arrivata ieri da Laurent Collet-Billon, responsabile della delegazione generale per gli armamenti (Dga). “Siamo tutti commossi per la perdita di questo brillante pilota -ha affermato- che lascia una moglie e tre figli. Tutti i nostri pensieri sono con la sua famiglia ed i suoi cari. Francois Duflot faceva parte delle squadre del Dga che hanno portato onore e rispetto al nostro istituto”.

L’esperto pilota aveva all’attivo 5000 ore di volo su 34 diversi modelli di aereo, comprese più di 80 missioni in combattimento. Faceva parte del test center Dga di Istres (Francia meridionale) dal 2002 e partecipava allo sviluppo del Rafale per gli standard F3. La collisione è avvenuta mentre i due piloti stavano rientrando sulla portaerei “Charles de Gaulle” dopo una missione di verifica e validazione delle procedure per le catapulte. L’altro pilota, capitano Yann Beaufils, è riuscito ad eiettarsi ed è stato recuperato poco dopo lo schianto.

• via: www.avionews.it

La Commissione europea ha annunciato l’avvio ufficiale di EGNOS, un sistema satellitare in grado di fornire segnali di navigazione più precisi del GPS: il margine di errore del sistema GPS oscilla fra 10 e 15 metri, quello di Egnos fra 1 e 2 metri. Il sistema si basa comunque sul GPS e consiste proprio in una correzione delle imprecisioni del GPS tramite alcuni centri di controllo. Il segnale – che copre la maggior parte dei paesi europei – è già attivo da qualche giorno, ma il contratto con la compagnia che gestirà il servizio (European Satellite Services Provider) è stato firmato ieri.

«Grazie alla tecnologia l’Europa si avvicina ai cittadini» ha detto durante la conferenza stampa di presentazione di Egnos Antonio Tajani, vicepresidente della Commissione europea e responsabile per i Trasporti. Il sistema porterà infatti dei vantaggi per i cittadini in diversi ambiti. «Se c’è una valanga in montagna, per esempio, il soccorso alpino potrà localizzare in modo preciso i dispersi» ha spiegato Tajani. In agricoltura poi, si potrà ridurre del 70% l’utilizzo di fertilizzanti dal momento Egnos permetterà di individuare in modo preciso le parti di terreno già sottoposte a trattamento e non sarà necessario spargere lo spray più volte, come avveniva finora. Sarà inoltre più facile risalire alle dinamiche degli incidenti su strada e si apriranno nuove prospettive nei programmi guida per i non vedenti. «Gli aeroporti piccoli finora non potevano lavorare 24 ore su 24 perchè non avevano dei sistemi di localizzazione idonei, magari Egnos potrà cambiare le cose» ha detto il commissario.

Con Egnos inoltre, l’avvicinamento di un aereo alla pista d’atterraggio può anche essere curvilineo; solitamente invece gli aerei si allineano alla pista 15 km prima dell’atterraggio. «Ci tengo a sottolineare l’importanza politica di Egnos – ha detto Tajani -. È la prima infrastruttura di navigazione satellitare di proprietà dell’Europa e gestita dall’Europa».

Il nuovo sistema satellitare è frutto della collaborazione fra la Commissione europea, la European Space Agency e Eurocontrol (l’organizzazione che controlla la sicurezza aerea in Europa). È insomma il “padre” di Galileo, il sistema di navigazione globale (non solo europeo come Egnos) a cui l’Unione sta lavorando e che si prevede sarà pronto per il 2013.

Con l’introduzione di Egnos «il controllo del traffico aereo subirà una svolta epocale». Lo ha detto l’amministratore delegato di Enav Guido Pugliesi, commentando il varo del sistema satellitare europeo. «Attraverso l’assoluta precisione di questo sistema di navigazione satellitare sarà possibile aumentare la capacità mantenendo elevati standard di sicurezza. Ci saranno, inoltre, – ha aggiunto Pugliesi – enormi benefici per l’impatto ambientale sia per la diminuzione delle strutture a terra ed i relativi costi di manutenzione sia per la riduzione dei tempi di volo e quindi di carburante». «Questo risultato – ha concluso – è il frutto dell’ attività di Enav nel corso degli ultimi anni che, insieme agli altri partner, ha assunto un ruolo di leadership nello sviluppo della sorveglianza satellitare in Europa». Enav è tra i sette service provider (Germania-Dfs, Spagna-Aena, Francia-Dsna, Inghilterra-Nats, Portogallo-Nav e Svizzera-Skyguide) che compongono la Essp Sas, la società che gestirà il segnale satellitare europeo Egnos.

• via: www.ilgiornale.it

NACIL started operations on thursday after its striking pilots reported back at work, with nearly all of its morning flights taking off on schedule.Passengers at several airports across the country were surprised when the staff of the carrier apologised for the inconvenience caused to them because of the pilots’ stir and some even got roses from the carrier.  A senior official said that, this is some thing to woo back the passengers and it was also on the anvil.

Air India travellers got a relief on Wedneday when the pilots of Air India ended their five-day-old agitation after an assurance over payment of allowances from Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel. Captain V.K. Bhalla, a senior executive pilot who was spearheading the strike told the press that he recieved a official communication from the civil aviation minister, Praful patel saying that He has himself assured us that there will be no salary cuts, The strike by Air India pilots had begun Saturday with 180 pilots reporting sick to protest a cut in their productivity-linked incentives.

Livrea commemortiva delle prime 10.000 ore volate dal 4° Stormo

Ieri, 29 settembre 2009, per festeggiare il raggiungimento delle 10.000 ore di volo effettuate dagli Eurofighter dell’Aeronautica Militare in servizio da ormai 5 anni, si è svolta la cerimonia di presentazione della prima livrea special color. Alla cerimonia hanno partecipato il Capo di SMA Gen.SA Daniele Tei, il Comandante della Squadra Aerea di Roma, Gen.SA Carmine Pollice e del Comandante delle Forze Aeree da Combattimento di Milano, il Gen.DA Roberto Corsini.
Durante la cerimonia, sia il Gen. Tei sia il Comandante del 4° Stormo, il Colonnello Achille Cazzaniga, hanno ringraziato e sottolineato l’impegno profuso da tutto il personale in servizio presso la base aerea di Grosseto, senza il quale non sarebbe stato possibile raggiungere un simile risultato.

Oltre che dal 4° Stormo di Grosseto, il servizio di decollo immediato e di intercettazione nei casi di allarme è svolto dal 36° Stormo di Gioia del Colle (Bari), pure equipaggiato con caccia Eurofighter, e dal 5° Stormo di Cervia (Ravenna) e 37° Stormo di Trapani, dotati invece dei caccia F-16. Il 4° Stormo è il Reparto dove viene effettuata la transizione dei piloti destinati alla linea Eurofighter.Il 21 Giugno 2009 lo Stormo ha ricevuto la certificazione della NATO per l’effettuazione di missioni di supporto alla pace fuori area in seno all’NRF “Nato Response Force”.

Air India seems to have a frustrating time in this fiscal year 2009. As we all know that he airline is already dropping down because of the very low passengers filling up the seats for them. The National Aviation Company Ltd, or Nacil, which runs state-owned Air India is in turnmoil over pilots strike. There is a section in Air India called the Executive Pilots, There was a sudden change in the management saying that there would be stopping the (PLI) they are nothing but Productivity Linked Incentive. After cutting productivity-linked incentives (PLI) of more than 7,000 officers, Air India (AI) is now planning to cut such incentives of the remaining 23,000 mid- and lower-level unionised employees, as higher costs and unviable routes take a toll on the national carrier. According to people familiar with the development, AI has had informal negotiations with the unions. Unions have already warned AI not to cut PLI of its mid-level employees.
AI has a cost structure in which salaries and wages constituting 35% of the total operating costs. AI is targeting a reduction in employee cost of around Rs 500-800 crore. Its current annual employee cost is nearly Rs 3,000 crore.

L’Aeronautica militare italiana e quella tedesca, la Luftwaffe, hanno firmato un accordo che prevede la collaborazione per altri tre anni tra Italia e Germania, nella base aerea di Decimomannu, in provincia di Cagliari. L’accordo e’ stato firmato proprio in occasione del 50° anniversario della collaborazione delle armi aeree tedesca e italiana nella cooperazione nell’addestramento degli equipaggi di volo.

Alla firma, avvenuta presos la stessa base, erano presenti il sottosegretario della Difesa Giuseppe Cossiga, e il suo omologo tedesco Rudiger Wolf, dai capi di stato maggiore delle due aeronautiche, il generale di Squadra aerea Daniele Tei, e il tenente generale Klaus Peter Stieglitz. Sullo spazio aereo della base di Decimomannu, è prevista l’esibizione delle Frecce Tricolori per festeggiare l’anniversario e la firma dell’accordo triennale.

• via: www.libero-news.it