Fra avisa Nordlys i dag

                                                                   Foto: Per Einar Jansen

Utdrikningslag i cockpit under innflyvning

Passasjerer fryktet for sikkerheten.

Susanne Noreng

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- Vi følte ubehag og opplevde det som lek med sikkerheten, sier Viggo Ditlevsen fra Finnsnes, som først fortalte om hendelsen til NRK.

Han var blant passasjerene ombord på Norwegian flyet som gikk fra Oslo til Bardufoss lørdag morgen.

- Det kom et følge med damer ombord som tydelig var et utdrikningslag hvor den ene hadde brudeslør på seg, sier Ditlevsen.

Med brudeslør

Han forteller at midtveis i flyturen ble damen med brudesløret hentet inn i cockpiten, men kom ut igjen relativt fort.

LIke før innflyvning ble den gifteklare bruden hentet på nye fram til cockpit, hvor hun ble helt til flyet landet.

- Jeg sa til flyvertinna at hovedpersonen i et utdrikningslag var i cockpit, og ikke kommet ut igjen. Men ingenting skjedde. Da flyvertinna senere begynte å sanke inn søppel, sa jeg til henne at vedkommende fortsatt var i cockpit og at jeg ikke satte pris på det. Flyvertinnen sa at de hadde full kontroll.

Ditlevsen sier at også flere passasjerer reagerte.

- Jeg oppfattet det som en lek med sikkerheten. Det er mulig de har kontroll, men vi passasjerer skal føle trygghet, sier Ditlevsen, som tidligere har vært med i et fly som havarerte.

Fuglefaren

Et SAS fly som skulle fra Tromsø til Longyear i ettermiddag, måtte snu fordi det kom inn i en flokk med fugl. Det er det 3. tilfelle på like mange dager hvor et SAS fly treffes av fugl. Som vi alle vet så kan det være katastrofalt. Det finnes programmer/opplegg for flyplassen, som skal hindre fugl i å like seg på flyplassområdet. De fuglene som ikke har lest om dette utgjør en konstant trussel for luftfarten. Informasjonssjef Knut Morten Johansen sier til NRK at det er beklagelig overfor passasjerene,

Han forteller til NRK at det i utgangspunktet ikke er farlig. Hvilket utgangspunkt om jeg tør spørre? Det er som kjent tøvete, og ikke minst dyrt.  Skjerpings Joakimsen!

International Bird Strike Committee har møte i Stavanger som du ser over. Håper det kan bidra til å løse problemene med Tromsø.

B787 - Den første fra Charleston

Boeing Rolls Out First 787 Built in South Carolina
AIN AIR TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVE » APRIL 30, 2012

by BILL CAREY
Airplane number 46, the first 787 assembled at Boeing’s new plant in North Charleston, S.C., rolls out April 27 before 7,000 spectators. (Photo: Bill Carey)

April 30, 2012, 11:20 AM

Boeing rolled out the first 787 Dreamliner assembled at its new plant in North Charleston, S.C., on April 27. Addressing a crowd of some 7,000 employees and others gathered under the sun in front of the massive final assembly building, Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh and Boeing South Carolina general manager Jack Jones framed the occasion in historic terms: It marked the first time Boeing built an airliner outside the Puget Sound region of Washington state.

UAV `er kommer i sivilt luftrom - banna bein

Det er klart at blanding av kommersiell virksomhet med UAV`er er utfordrende. Det betinger, slik jeg ser det, at alle fly i samme luftrom har ADS-B med ACAS. I UAV`en må systemet koples direkte til AFCS`en.
Per i dag er ikke dette mulig, slik at en blanding ikke er lovlig noe sted som jeg vet om. UAV`er må fly i luftrom som er begrenset til slike og uten adgang for sivil virksomhet. David Bourdon som det refereres til under, har fløyet i krigssone, og da må han være klar over at egne styrker opererer droner uten see-and-avoid capability i samme luftrom. Her er artikkelen:

Pilots: Drones pose major safety threat in civilian air space

 

Allowing widespread operation of drones in the United States amounts to a recipe for disaster, military and private pilots told the Federal Aviation Administration, which has cleared some 60 organizations to operate the remotely piloted planes and plans to set up six test ranges for unmanned aircraft systems this summer.

David Bourdon, a pilot who said he has flown surveillance missions in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2003, said he has had five "near misses" with drones. Based on that experience, he opposes the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the United States, except in restricted airspace or along the U.S. border in designated corridors.

FAA established a rule-making process in March for developing the six test sites required in the 2012 FAA Modernization and Reform Act prior to integration of drone flights into the national airspace system in 2015. Bourdon, in his comments to FAA, highlighted several key problems, particularly the fact that drone pilots operating from a remote location have limited vision.

Bourdon, who did not disclose his military affiliation in the filing, said, "the operators of these aircraft are looking through a soda straw" and "when a UAV loses its data link with its operator, they tend to change altitude on their own and violate other manned aircrafts' airspace."

Stefan Werner, who has flown as a spotter and chase pilot on Predator UAV test flights in Southern California around Edwards Air Force Base, said the focus of cameras mounted on drones makes it difficult for operators to adhere to an essential component of flight safety -- the see-and-avoid rule.

Havariet i Sveits

Six die in Piper PA-32 plane crash in Switzerland

A Piper PA-32R-301 Saratoga single-engine light plane, tail number HB-PGA, crashed on Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 3:00 p.m. local time in the village of Chatel-St-Denis, near Tatroz, Switzerland killing all six occupants, including the pilot, as reported on that date by the Aviation Safety Network, the Basler Zeitung, Die Presse, Austrian Wings, and other European media.

The high performance civilian aircraft had departed about 30 minutes earlier from La Blécherette Airport in Lausanne on a birthday celebration flight to Ecuvillens, the regional airport in the adjoining canton of Fribourg, located on a plateau to the east, at an elevation of 2,293 feet.

The pilot, whose name has not been released, was a Swiss citizen from the French speaking canton of Vaud.

According to eyewitness accounts, the plane had flown past a residence with people drinking cocktails on a terrace, waving at the aircraft, and talking to the passengers on cell phones.
As the low flying Piper Saratoga circled the village it appeared to clip the roof of a structure, possibly forced into it by a gust of wind, and crashed into an open pasture about 150 feet away, breaking apart and scattering into multiple pieces.

Before the plane went down, people reported hearing a loud "boom", followed by a hissing sound as the aircraft stalled, and then dived into the ground.

The five passengers who died in the crash were said to be local residents. Two of the bodies were ejected from the aircraft as a result of the impact, while the other four were found still strapped into their seats among the wreckage.

The tragic accident took place in the municipality of Attalens in the community of Südfreiburger Tatroz. Attalens has a population of about 2,900 people.

Police confirmed that the deceased included four men and two women, and that there were no survivors.

The Fribourg cantonal police assisted about 50 local fire and emergency crews in blocking off the crash site, reducing the hazards of leaking fuel, collecting the victims and covering their bodies with blankets.

The dead were later taken to the University Center of Forensic Medicine (CURML) in Lausanne for identification and autopsies. Their names have not been released, and will probably not be made public until next Tuesday.

A crisis center staffed by psychologists was set up by local authorities. Most people in the small community were impacted by the tragedy, with many residents personally acquainted with some of the victims.

The accident is being investigated by the Swiss Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) and the Federal Police of the Canton of Fribourg.

The Piper PA-32R-301 Saratoga is a six-seat all metal aircraft built between 1980 and 2007 carrying five passengers and a pilot at a maximum speed of 190 miles an hour. The plane has a cruising speed of 160 mph, a range of 1,000 miles, and a service ceiling of 14,600 feet.

Bird strikes - Det har vært mange i det siste

Air India flight makes emergency landing at Kozhikode after bird hit

Kozhikode: A Dubai-bound Air India flight with 148 passengers on board landed under emergency conditions at the Karipur International Airport soon after it took off, after being hit by a bird.

The Airbus A-321 flight with six crew members on board took off at 10 am before a bird hit the right engine, bending its blades under the impact.

Airport sources said that the flight, carrying a full fuel load, dumped fuel into the sea and returned within 40 minutes.

All passengers and crew members are safe and have been accommodated in nearby hotels, they said.

Engineers are examining the flight and are rectifying the fault, they added.

IFALPA - Effekten av laserbelysning av fly

Les om dette særdeles farlige fenomen på ifalpa.org

B-52 60 år - Still going strong

This Is The Year Of The B-52

The B-52 first flew 60 years ago in April, it was last produced 50 years ago, it dropped 15,000 tons of bombs on North Vietnam 40 years ago, and now, it is being honored for its (continuing) decades of service with a "Year of The B-52" campaign. The Commanders Action Group of the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) began promoting the campaign in earnest this April in commemoration of the first flight of the YB-52 on April 15, 1952. Since then, AFGSC says the jet has served in every combat operation since Vietnam and is still an active element of the U.S. military arsenal. By some estimations, the jet will serve for another 30 years, fulfilling nearly a century of service. AVweb's Glenn Pew spoke with Major David Donatelli for a look inside the campaign and inside the eight-engine, five-person aircraft that AFGSC calls an "icon of American Airpower." Click here to listen to the podcast.

B-52 milestones include non-stop around-the-world flights in 1949 and 1980. In 1962, the Strategic Air Command put B-52 bomber crews on 100-percent alert status for a full month during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Linebacker and Linebacker II bombing campaigns dropped literally thousands of tons of bombs over North Vietnam beginning in 1972. In 1990, a NASA-operated NB-52B launched the Pegasus missile that placed a Navy satellite into orbit. And beginning in 2001, B-52s in Afghanistan flew bombing missions against the Taliban. Today, the aircraft's service continues.

Spit`ene i Burma

Dogfight Brewing Over Burmese Spitfires

British farmer and aviation history buff David Cundall now says there are 124 new Spitfires buried in Myanmar (formerly Burma) and he knows where 60 of them are. As we reported two weeks ago, Cundall stunned the aviation world with news that he had found at least 20 crated, brand-new Spitfires wrapped in protective paper and tar to preserve them. Whether he'll be able to capitalize on his stunning discovery is in question, however, as treasure hunters from all over the world race against each other and the impending monsoon season to dig the pickled aircraft up. In an email exchange a week ago, Cundall told AVweb he was having problems with financial backers who now may be rivals for the treasure trove. Cundall has not returned subsequent email and phone messages from AVweb. He did, however, claim in an interview with the Independent that a British businessman is trying to hijack the project with the help of the country's prime minister.

Airbus planlegger Superbus

Airbus Planning Stretched A380

The director of Airbus's A380 program has told an Australian television station that the company intends to build a stretched version of the world's largest airliner, adding about 100 seats. Richard Carcaillet told Ten News the super jumbo is an "environmentally more responsible" answer to airport congestion because it will enable fewer aircraft to serve the burgeoning demand for airline seats worldwide. "It is a way to grow without adding to congestion," he told the TV station. Airbus is planning first deliveries in 2020, according to the report.


In the usual configuration mixing economy, business and ultra-premium first class, the A380 now carries from 400 to 600 passengers, but if it was set up for economy-only seating the stretched version could conceivably pack in more than 900 people. The technical details of how the increased capacity would be achieved were not discussed in the brief news report.

Video - Spenn deg fast!

http://tinyurl.com/c5ck53d

UAV - Air Mule

Sjekk video:http://tinyurl.com/6pf6dgl
Urban Aeronautics will soon perform the first flight of an AirMule ducted fan unmanned aircraft system fitted with a double-redundant hydraulic system.
The enhancement will allow for uninterrupted rotor pitch control in the event of a failure to one of the pressure supply lines.
The new design underwent full power tests in mid-March, says company president Rafi Yoeli. These included self-induced failures to verify that the automatic failure detection and switch-over to the standby system was performed correctly by the on-board computers.
Yoeli says that a Controp D-Stamp stabilized electro-optical payload was also recently installed on the programme’s first prototype aircraft.
The sensor provides part of the AirMule’s auto-land system, which will enable the aircraft to guide itself to land over any high contrast marker in a combat zone. Where a landing site cannot be highlighted by placing a physical marker, a laser spot from an airborne designator could be used.
Urban Aeronautics plans to perform an automatic precision landing demonstration before the end of the year using a second prototype AirMule, which is now in production.
Powered by a Turbomeca Arriel 2 940shp (700kW) engine, this will have a maximum take-off weight of 1,400kg (3,100lb) and offer an endurance of 5h.
The second prototype will also be used to perform a series of flights in southern Israel which, Yoeli says, will be open to viewing by potential customers.

Norwegian granskes - Dagbladet i dag

Foto: Norwegian

Skal granske pilotene til Norwegian og Ryanair

Både Skatteetaten og Samferdselsdepartementet vil se nærmere på arbeidsforholdene til de innleide pilotene.

30.04.2012, kl. 0800

Skatt Øst har fattet interesse for de såkalte kontraktspilotene og vil sjekke om de er innenfor norsk lov når de etablerer seg som selvstendig næringsdrivende og leier ut seg selv til et flyselskap.

Skattedirektoratet mener pilotene i utgangspunktet er å anse som ansatte, noe som kan få konsekvenser for hvor de betaler skatt, og hvor mye de skal betale.

- Dette vil vi nok se nærmere på, ut fra det fokuset vi har på utenlandsforhold. Dette er i våre øyne et utenlandsforhold, ettersom pilotene har registrert sine selskaper i utlandet, sier avdelingsdirektør Inger-Berit Andersen i Skatt Øst til Nordlys.

Med kontrakter i skatteparadiser som Isle of Man og Gibraltar, kan pilotene ende opp som nullskattytere, selv om de bor og jobber utenfor disse skatteparadisene.

Skattekrimsjef Jan-Erik Kristiansen i Skatt Øst sier dette ikke er en praksis luftfarten er alene om.

- Det er, og har vært, et utstrakt problem i flere bransjer at man hevder at man benytter innleid arbeidskraft, mens det i realiteten er snakk om ansettelse i Norge, sier Kristiansen og minner om hovedregelen: «er man bosatt i Norge, skal man skatte i Norge».
(NTB)

P-40 funnet i Afrika

Original Kittyhawk HS-B discovered by oil exploration team in African desert. After coming to a stop, the pilot exited the aircraft, closed the canopy and disappeared into the sands of history. The aircraft itself would remain undiscovered for seven decades  http://tinyurl.com/cxj5tcp

Minst 5 omkom i Sveits

At least five people have been killed after a small plane crashed in western Switzerland, police say.
Donatella Del Vecchio, Fribourg district police spokeswoman, said no one survived the single-engine plane crash on Saturday.
She said five bodies were found at the site, and authorities were investigating to see if one more person aboard the aircraft had died in the accident.
Residents of Tatroz saw the plane circle twice above the town before crashing nearby.
No one on the ground was hurt.
The plane was flying from a small airport near Lausanne city on Lake Geneva to an airstrip in the Fribourg district.
Police had no immediate information on the cause of the crash or the passengers' identities.

Foto fra Al Jazeera.

Skylon - Single stage to space

27 April 2012 Last updated at 10:52 GMT

Article written by Jonathan Amos BBC Science correspondent

Key tests for Skylon spaceplane project

The pre-cooler demonstration is a major step in proving the Skylon concept

Related Stories

• Skylon: A British dream of space
• Skylon: Ending 40 years of hurt
• UK spaceplane passes key review

UK engineers have begun critical tests on a new engine technology designed to lift a spaceplane into orbit.

The proposed Skylon vehicle would operate like an airliner, taking off and landing at a conventional runway.

Its major innovation is the Sabre engine, which can breathe air like a jet at lower speeds but switch to a rocket mode in the high atmosphere.

Reaction Engines Limited (REL) believes the test campaign will prove the readiness of Sabre's key elements.

This being so, the firm would then approach investors to raise the £250m needed to take the project into the final design phase.

"We intend to go to the Farnborough International Air Show in July with a clear message," explained REL managing director Alan Bond.

"The message is that Britain has the next step beyond the jet engine; that we can reduce the world to four hours - the maximum time it would take to go anywhere. And that it also gives us aircraft that can go into space, replacing all the expendable rockets we use today."

Space Shuttle Enterpise i New York

New York (CNN) -- The space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a 747 jumbo jet, swooped across the New York City skyline on Friday before touching down at the city's John F. Kennedy International Airport, bringing an end to its final flight.

It took off from Virginia's Dulles International Airport with a flight plan that included fly-bys of the Statue of Liberty and other Gotham landmarks. It is ultimately bound for its new home at the city's Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

"This is going to be the largest NASA artifact north of Baltimore in the entire Northeast region," said Susan Marenoff-Zausner, the Intrepid's president. "For kids to be able to come and see this when they'd have to travel miles and miles to go somewhere else, it's right in their back yard."

Foto: CNN

Ganske oppsiktsvkkende dette. Til tross for to nylige havarier med maskinen, så har USN åpenbart stor tro på systemet. De ber nå NG bygge om maskinen slik at software puttes inn i en Bell 407. Bildet over er den orginale Fire Scout. Les dette:
Navy Orders Upgraded Northrop Grumman Fire Scout

The U.S. Navy has designated Northrop Grumman as the prime contractor to upgrade its MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The $262-million contact covers an expansion in payload and endurance as well as a greater flight range. The upgraded UAVs will carry the designation MQ-8C. Northrop Grumman plans to produce eight Fire Scouts based on the Bell 407 airframe as part of the agreement, two of which will be used for tactical vertical takeoff and landing maneuverability testing. A total order for 28 of the upgraded UAVs is expected from the Navy. The Navy anticipates completion of the work in May 2014.
Related: Unmanned News

UAS - Viktig utvikling på gang i Europa

SESAR launches study on Unmanned Aircraft

Published on 17 April 2012 by admin

In the future air navigation environment, it will be increasingly difficult to work on ATM concepts without integrating the different types of airspace users, including unmanned aircraft. The deployment of the new SESAR systems, procedures, technologies and standards requires a high degree of synchronisation among all stakeholders, and the UAS community has become also a relevant one. The military use of so-called Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) has grown exponentially in the past years. The European Commission’s 2011 UAS initiative aims at creating a regulatory framework that will allow the development of their civilian use – e.g. for environmental control, security and a variety of commercial services.
In view of this reality, the SESAR JU launched on the 11th of April a specific study on the integration of UAS in non-segregated airspace in a SESAR air traffic management scenario. The study, known as ICONUS (Initial CON OPS for UAS in SESAR) will be carried out by the ATM FUSION Consortium of Associate Partners to the SJU. The Consortium, led by France’s ONERA, includes five other European entities with long experience in the field of UAS: AVTECH (Sweden); CIRA and Deep Blue (Italy); ENAC (France) and INTA (Spain).
The study will allow the definition of the requirements in terms of capabilities and equipment which UAS users will need to operate in a SESAR environment safely and efficiently.
This study will allow the SESAR JU to understand for instance how UAS will be able to implement new flight separation modes. The study will also show how UAS operations will be influenced by the upcoming paradigm shift in ATM, from airspace-based operations (where airspace users are entirely subdued to all airspace constraints) to trajectory-based operations (where the different elements of air navigation can adapt to ensure the best possible trajectory).
It already appears that some SESAR concepts can be useful for the further development of unmanned flight operations. For instance, SESAR advances in remote control towers technologies and operation could support the UAS community for the development of its “detect and avoid” concept.

Ubemannede fly utvikles videre

Reaper UAV Upgrades Could Include Longer Wings

AIN Defense Perspective » April 27, 2012

by Chris Pocock

 

External fuel tanks and longer wings would extend the endurance of the MQ-9 Reaper UAV, according to maker GA-ASI. (Image: GA-ASI)

April 27, 2012, 1:15 PM

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) revealed two options to extend the endurance of the MQ-9 Reaper UAV, also known as the Predator B. Wing-mounted fuel tanks and a 22-foot wing extension could be installed in the field in the “near term,” according to the company. They would complement the modified main landing gear, announced previously, that increases the Reaper’s max takeoff weight to 11,700 pounds from 10,500 pounds.

According to various reports, including one by the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), the Reaper’s claimed endurance of 24 to 30 hours is reduced to 14 hours when the aircraft is carrying weapons (typically two 500-pound GBU-12 laser-guided bombs). GA-ASI said that its latest proposals would extend the UAV’s endurance to between 37 and 42 hours in an unarmed ISR-only mission.

T-38 Talon oppgradering

Turkey Upgrades the T-38 Jet Trainer

AIN Defense Perspective » April 27, 2012

by Chris Pocock

 

Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) has delivered the first upgraded T-38M advanced jet trainer to the Turkish Air Force. (Photo: TAI)

April 27, 2012, 1:05 PM

Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) has delivered the first of 55 Turkish Air Force (TAF) upgraded T-38M jet trainers to the service. TAI completed two prototypes and is upgrading three more aircraft. The other 50 will be modified at a TAF depot over the next three years, with TAI’s assistance.
The avionics modernization program was designed by TAI and includes 14 new features, including equipment supplied by Turkish defense companies Aselsan and Havelsan. The front cockpit has a head-up display, and both cockpits have upfront controllers and two large head-down displays.

The upgrade also extends to ground-based training, with a new simulator, cockpit procedures trainer and computer-based learning. According to a presentation at the recent Military Flight Training conference in London organized by Defence IQ, the TAF will take advantage of the T-38M’s improved avionics to save 12 sorties in its advanced flying training syllabus. The aircraft will also take over 20 fighter lead-in training sorties that are currently flown in F-5s.

Bernt Balchen Airshow

Emissions - Alvorlig for EU

China Eastern could be near to placing an order for up to 20 B777s, worth approximately $6 billion, while postponing its order for 15 A330s, said a Reuters report. The Airbus order, valued at £3 billion, had been announced in October 2011 with deliveries due to commence next year.

The apparent delay could be due to the ongoing dispute over the EU’s Emission Trading Scheme which China has been most critical. In February the Chinese State Council banned the country’s airlines from participating in the scheme.

Baumgartner: Move over Joe!

Vel, det er iallefall planen som Joe Kittinger selv er medspiller i.:

25 April 2012 Last updated at 10:02 GMT Help

Felix Baumgartner, the adventurer planning to skydive from an altitude of 120,000 feet (36.7 km) this summer, has spoken about the prospect of reaching the speed of sound while falling.
Mr Baumgartner told the Today programme "the biggest unknown... is what happens to the human body if it flies supersonic speeds", saying there is no way to simulate the experience before his jump.
One of his team advisers is US Air Force Colonel Joe Kittinger, who currently holds the record for the highest freefall for his 102,800 foot (31 km) leap in 1960.
He explained how he continued with his jump despite "a small malfunction on my pressure suit glove. My hand was not pressurised, it got to be rather large and I couldn't use it."
Sjekk video her: http://tinyurl.com/7c6r8ux

Handling skills

Extreme landings: jets touch and go in Spain

April 27, 2012 - 12:18PM

Sjekk video på BBC her: http://tinyurl.com/d7v3c7t

At Bilbao in northwest Spain plane passengers have been getting a heck of bumpy ride.
The region was buffeted by fierce winds on Wednesday, with the incoming flights getting the worst deal. A video posted on the internet captured the action.
While some pilots managed to touch down safely, many flights were diverted and one plane is shown aborting its landing at the last moment.

Fra Elektronikknett:

Park Air Systems blir spansk

Spanske Indra kjøper Park Air Systems for 320 millioner kroner. Det nye navnet blir Indra Navia AS.

Av: Bjørn Ø Andersen - 18.04.2012 11:21

Spanske Indra Sistemas SA har inngått en avtale om å kjøpe 100 prosent av aksjene til selskapet Northrop Grumman Park Air Systems AS, NGPAS, som leverer produkter, systemer og tjenester innen luftfartskontroll og flyplassovervåkning. Verdien av selskapet, som inntil nylig har vært eid av Northrop Grumman Corporation, har blitt fastslått til 320 millioner kroner.
I følge en pressemelding onsdag utfyller løsningsporteføljene til de to selskapene hverandre og gir mulighet for betydelige synergier.
Park Air Systems endrer navn til Indra Navia AS og vil drives som et uavhengig datterselskap av Indra under selvstendig ledelse og administrasjon. Navnet er for øvrig knyttet til det opprinnelige navnet Navia Aviation som selskapet ble grunnlagt under.
Med dette kjøpet utvider Indra sin portefølje av ATM-systemer (Air Traffic Management), samtidig som selskapet kompletterer de løsningene NGPAS tilbyr, noe som vil gi betydelige synergier for begge selskapene. Indra er en av markedslederne i det internasjonale markedet for luftfartskontrollsystemer med mer enn 1 200 installasjoner i flere enn 95 land og med over 30 års erfaring.
Det norske selskapet er internasjonalt anerkjent i markedet for luftfartskontroll og flyplass-overvåkning. Selskapet er global markedsleder for landingssystemer, som markedsføres under varemerket NORMARC. Det har også en betydelig posisjon innen talekommunikasjon og kontrollsystemer, inklusive flykontroll- og innflygningssystemer, som henholdsvis markedsføres under merkene GAREX og NOVA. NGPAS har mer enn 1 000 kontrakter i 111 land.
Det norske selskapet har en stab med 174 medarbeidere på avdelingene i Oslo og Horten og salgskontorene i Frankrike, Kina, Malaysia og De forente arabiske emirater. Virksomheten i NGPAS vil fortsette som normalt, og selskapets kunder, leverandører og medarbeidere vil ikke berøres av eierskiftet.
Selskapet omsatte for 400 millioner kroner 2011. Indra forventer at integreringen av NGPAS vil føre til at både omsetning og lønnsomhet i selskapet styrkes vesentlig.
Kjøpet er et ledd i en rekke oppkjøp Indra har foretatt for å styrke sin posisjon i markedet for ATM-systemer. I 2007 ble det australske navigasjonssystemselskapet Interscan kjøpt og i 2008 og 2009 kjøpte Indra de tyske selskapene AC-B og Avitech som styrket posisjonen i markedet for flykommunikasjon.

Svimlende luftfartstall

27. april 2012 kl. 08:00 av Sindre Ånonsen

Hvert år reiser over to og en halv milliard mennesker med fly. Og til sammen tilfører luftfarten rundt 3000 milliarder kroner til klodens bruttonasjonalprodukt.

Luftfarten genererer mer verdier globalt enn både tekstil- og farmasibransjen, og om luftfarten var et land, ville den representert den 19. største økonomien i verden – på nivå med Polen. Over 8 millioner arbeidsplasser er direkte knyttet til luftfarten, og flere millioner jobber i bransjer som er avhengig av luftfartstransport. Tallene er hentet fra ATAG (Air Transport Action Group) sitt kompendium «Aviation benefits beyond borders» som ble publisert tidligere i år.

2 prosent av BNP Norsk luftfart står ifølge en rapport fra Oxford Economics («Economic Benefits from Air Transport in Norway») for en verdiskapning som utgjør i størrelsesorden 2 prosent av bruttonasjonalproduktet i Norge.

Over 60 000 arbeidsplasser I rapporten «Bærekraftig og samfunnsnyttig luftfart» fra 2011, framgår det at norsk luftfart bidrar til mellom 60 og 65 000 arbeidsplasser, og at effektene på sysselsettingen er særlig stor i distriktene. Norsk olje- og gassvirksomhet er helt avhengig at et godt luftfartstilbud, og 13 prosent av innenriksreisene gjennomføres i tilknytning til denne bransjen.

Legger igjen 13 milliarder 34 prosent av innkomne turister til Norge kommer luftveien – og disse turistene legger igjen over 13 milliarder kroner.

Globalt reiser 35 prosent av alle turister med fly, og den direkte effekten på sysselsettingen utgjør over 14 millioner arbeidsplasser, ifølge statistikken til ATAG.

Utfordrer Norwegian folks intelligens?

Selskapet opptrer unorsk, og når en også leser at folk opplever unorsk service, så er selskapet åpenbart på farefulle veier. Sjekk leserinnlegget i Stavanger Aftenblad i dag:

Foto: Ole Åsheim

På banen i Norwegian-saken

Torsdag møter statssekretær Erik Lahnstein (Sp) flygerforbundene for å få vite mer om den betente Norwegian-striden.

Jostein Larsen Østring

Publisert 25.04.2012 kl 21:52 Oppdatert 25.04.2012 kl 21:59

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LES OGSÅ

Norwegian-strid til arbeidsrettenNHO Luftfart mener Norwegian-pilotenes krav i lønnsoppgjøret er ulovlige, og stevner pilotene inn for arbeidsretten.23.04.12 - 21:15

- Kan bryte norske skatteregler22.04.12 - 22:00

- Norwegian omgår norske lover20.04.12 - 22:00

Her hylles Kjos i Tromsø17.04.12 - 21:59

- Dårlig av de ansatte15.04.12 - 22:16

- Får ikke snakke om kontrakten 15.04.12 - 22:00

Her ber Bjørn Kjos pilotene holde kjeft15.04.12 - 21:15

Piloter må betale egen forsikring11.04.12 - 22:00

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Nordlys har skrevet en rekke saker om Norwegians praksis med å bruke innleide piloter fra utenlandske vikarbyråer.

LES MER: Her ber Bjørn Kjos pilotene holde kjeft

LES MER: Betaler for å få jobb

LES MER: Piloter må betale egen forsikring

Pilotene gjør samme jobb som sine fast ansatte norske kolleger, men opererer med rammevilkår langt dårligere enn det som er vanlig i Norge. Både Norsk Flygerforbund og fagforeningen Parat er klare på at praksisen er i strid med norske lovverk, og bør forbys.

Nå kommer regjeringen på banen i saken. I dag møter statssekretær i Norwegian, Erik Lahnstein, Flygerforbundet og Parat for å få en orientering om striden.

- Vi har selv tatt initiativ til møtet, sier Lahnstein til Nordlys.

- Vi har registrert at det har vært flere medieoppslag, blant annet i Nordlys, om dette. Derfor føler vi et behov for å sette oss nærmere inn i saken. Vi ønsker nå å høre hva fagorganisasjonene mener, og hva som er deres syn på norsk lovverk og myndighetenes rolle i saken.

LES MER: - Kan bryte norske skatteregler

LES MER: - Norwegian omgår norske lover

Prinsipielle spørsmål

For tiden forhandler Norwegian-pilotene med selskapet om ny tariffavtale. Forhandlingene ble brutt etter at Norwegian nektet å etterkomme pilotenes krav om at de såkalte kontraktspilotene skal få vilkår tilsvarende det lovverket i landene de opererer fra tilsier.

Avinor med i UAS arbeide internasjonalt

Successful Conclusion of ICAO UAS Seminar in Lima, Peru

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Peter van Blyenburgh

05 12.00 - 12.30 Current status of work in the field of UAS-related standards in Europe

Tore Kallevig, AVINOR (on behalf of EUROCAE WG73), Norway

Bio data:

Tore B. Kallevig (36) works for Avinor, the Norwegian Air Navigation Service Provider. He started out his career as Officer in the Royal Norwegian Navy, but in 1994 aviation caught his interest and he started in Luftfartsverket (now Avinor). After completing his ATCO training at Serco IAL, Bailbrook College, Bath, England in 1996 he worked both Tower and Approach Control in several parts of Norway. Since 1997 he has worked Area Control, and for the last six years, he held the position as Chief Air Traffic Controller at Stavanger Air Traffic Control Centre

in the south western part of Norway. Mr. Kallevig was also responsible for the operational implementation of a new automated radar control system for 8 ATS units in 2004, as well as the training of relevant operational staff. Amongst other positions he held, he has also been the Centre’s Head of Training and Procedures Specialist.

Mr. Kallevig is the newly elected chairman of EUROCAE Workgroup 73 UAS, and he is also representing Avinor in the NEAP project NEFAB. NEFAB is the North European Functional Airspace Block with member states Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Norway and Sweden. NEFAB is organised under the umbrella of North European ANS Providers (NEAP) and is one of the improvement initiatives in the NEAP ATM Master Plan. Mr. Kallevig is a member (observer) of the UVS International Board of Directors.

Abstract:

One might say that the UAS Standards Development for some time now has moved forward at a slow although firm pace, just like a glacier. In the wake of the now published Concept Document (Deliverable 3), which identifies the main topics and the possible conceptual ways to address them, the past year’s activities were mostly dedicated to defining and agreeing on realistic and affordable medium term WG73 objectives to establish the corresponding Work Plan and to organize and start the related tasks. Transatlantic discussions with RTCA Special Committee 203 leadership team (the US WG73 counterpart) helped defining a common global perspective, thus establishing further cooperative and collaborative activities in order to maintain progress and to enhance harmonization of outputs of the two standards groups. Discussions also took place during the last year to identify the most efficient way to progress towards recommendations and standards for Visual Line Of Sight (VLOS) flight operations with an ‘external pilot’ controlling the unmanned aircraft using his own eyes, taking into account the request from the European Commission to consider establishing a separate group working on small UAS. Indeed VLOS operations with small UAS are identified as a short term promising market.

Norwegian med langdistanseselskap i Thailand

Vely low plice

Ikke overraskende. Det er snakk om et selskap med innleide kontraktsflygere. Det har etter min mening mange negative konsekvenser som Norwegianflygerne og flygerne som er med i Norsk Flygerforbund har redegjort for. Parat er alt ute med kritikk. Når det gjelder endringer i luftfarten så stiller jeg meg alltid følgende spørsmål: Hvordan kan denne endringen føre til sikrere luftfart? Vel, svaret er opp i dagen. Følg med.

Voldsomt behov for flygere

Foto: Wikipedia

Direct entry captains.Yep, og behovet for flygere i Midtøsten er enormt og økende!
Siste nummer av Flight Intl. tar for seg jobber og hvordan det er å leve i Emiratene. En engelske kaptein skriver: Moving to Dubai allowed me to begin my career as a long-haul pilot, guranteed job security and promised rapid career progression". Skattefrie lønninger koplet med gode karrieremuligheter er trekkplasteret. I en annonse i nevnte blad fra selskapet Amiri Flight som er en VVIP operatør, så står det at dee tilbyr møblerte leiligheter, de dekker boutgiftene, medisinske tjenester og andre excellent benefits. Sjekk ut bladet og les om Middle East careers.

Norwegian med kvartalsresultat

Foto: Norwegian

Fra Dn.no

Norwegian skuffer

Underskuddet ble større enn ventet i første kvartal.

Marte Iren Kristiansen

Publisert: 26.04.2012 - 08:36 Oppdatert: 26.04.2012 - 08:52    

 

Antall passasjerer økte med 19 prosent og inntektene med 25 prosent. Likevel gjorde flyselskapet Norwegian det svakere enn ventet i årets tre første måneder.

Rapporten for første kvartal viser at drftsresultatet før nedskrivninger (ebitda) endte på minus 497 millioner kroner etter inntekter på 2,3 milliarder kroner. På forhånd var det ventet et noe lavere ebitda-underskudd på 422 millioner kroner.

Ifølge en pressemelding fra Norwegian preges resultatet av høy oljepris. Til tross for 15 prosent høyere drivstoffpriser, bidro en mer effektiv flyflåte isolert sett til drivstoffbesparelser sammenlignet med fjoråret, opplyser selskapet.

Ifølge meldingen ga nye fly drivstoffbesparelser på 25 millioner kroner i kvartalet.

Norwegian fløy 3,65 millioner passasjerer i løpet av årets tre første måneder. Dette er en oppgang på 19 prosent sammenlignet med tilsvarende kvartal ifjor. Fyllingsgraden økte med 3 prosentpoeng til 77 prosent. Inntektene på 2,3 milliarder kroner var opp 25 prosent sammenlignet med tilsvarende kvartal ifjor.

- Dette har vært et utfordrende kvartal, ikke minst på grunn av den høye oljeprisen. I tillegg er første kvartal normalt sesongmessig svakt. Vi har også hatt ekstra kostnader i forbindelse med tilbakelevering av eldre fly, men utskiftingen av flyflåten er en investering som vil bety mye for oss i fremtiden. På den positive siden er resultatet noe bedre enn i fjor, vi har vi god passasjervekst og høyere fyllingsgrad, sier administrerende direktør Bjørn Kjos i pressemeldingen.

Fare for flystreik Forhandlingene mellom Norwegian-pilotene og ledelsen i flyselskapet ble brutt forrige tirsdag. Blant pilotenes fremste krav, er faste ansettelser.

Boeing 787 representerer en ny generasjon fly (foto: Per Gram)

Stadig mindre flystøy

26. april 2012 kl. 08:00 av Sindre Ånonsen

Siden 1999 har støy fra norsk luftfart gått ned med nesten 20 prosent, tross en betydelig trafikkvekst.

Jetflyene som trafikkerer det norske og internasjonale luftrommet i dag er hele 75 prosent mer stillegående enn da den første generasjon ble lansert, og nye flymodeller i årene framover vil redusere støyen ytterligere.

-Nye rapporter forteller oss at fram mot 2030 vil utviklingen av mindre støyende jetfly gi inntil 4,5 desibel mindre støy under avgang enn dagens vanlige jetfly i sivil trafikk. Tilsvarende kan støy fra landing ventes å ligge nærmere 6 desibel under dagens flytyper, opplyser seniorrådgiver innenfor området flystøy i Avinor, Kåre Helge Liasjø.

Flere tiltak Samtidig som flyene og motorene blir mer stillegående, innføres det nye prosedyrer innenfor kontrollen med luftrommet som gjør at færre mennesker blir eksponert for støy.

-Støyhensyn er med i betraktningene ved utformingen av de prosedyrene og rutene vi forholder oss til ved inn- og utflygning. Og der det registreres avvik, ser vi på årsakene til dette med mål for øyet om å redusere støy, sier seniorrådgiver i Flysikringsdivisjonen, Torbjørn Henriksen.

Ifølge Nasjonal transportplan 2014-2023 er det forventet at framtidige endringer i inn- og utflygningsmønsteret ved lufthavnene kan redusere støymengden ytterligere i årene framover.

Helikoptersikkerhet internasjonalt - Gledelig utvikling

Bildet viser et eksempel på allsidig bruk av helikopter. I dette tilfellet fra 1974 på et tankfartøy. Fotograf ukjent.

Story of the Week

IHST: 30% Lower Accident Rate ‘Step in Right Direction'

According to the International Helicopter Safety Team, the rotorcraft accident rate has fallen 30 percent in the past five years (from 2006 to 2011/early 2012) when compared to 2001-2005. Describing the decrease as a “strong step in the right direction,” IHST notes that despite making progress, “if our current statistical trend continues, the industry will not meet its goal of an 80 percent reduction by 2016.” The organization points out that on average, a helicopter accident happens once a day worldwide, adding that 91 of the accidents that took place during 2010 resulted in the deaths of 222 people.

IHST analysis indicates that higher accident rates are evident among general aviation, training and small operators than for commercial missions such as EMS, law enforcement and tour operations.

According to a report from the U.S. Joint Helicopter Safety Analysis Team that studied 523 NTSB accident reports from three different years (2000, 2001 and 2006), personal flying and training accounted for the two highest percentages of the total helicopter accidents by industry/mission type, at 18.5 and 17.6 percent, respectively.

Aerial application is the only other mission type to reach a double-digit share (10.3 percent), with many larger operators coming in lower, including EMS at 7.6 percent, commercial at 7.5 percent, law enforcement at 6.5 percent and air tour at 5.9 percent. Offshore (at 4.2 percent) and firefighting (at 3.6 percent) are among the lower half of the 15 categories.

IHST is calling for the entire helicopter community to get involved in raising awareness. The organization offers a series of safety toolkits, reports and presentations at www.ihst.org and is seeking to launch a “more expansive” grassroots campaign targeted at improving safety. “When the entire helicopter industry steps up to voluntarily address safety, everyone benefits,” the group notes in a statement.

B737MAX vingetupper

Fra Flight:
737 Max wingtips kept under wraps

 

Boeing is yet to settle on a wingtip configuration for the 737 Max despite having last week firmed up several key design attributes of its revamped narrowbody twinjet family.
Current 737s are offered with Aviation Partners Boeing (APB)-supplied blended winglets, while the US Navy's 737-based P-8 features 777-style raked wingtips. Boeing's 737 Max chief project engineer and deputy programme manager Michael Teal says the manufacturer is "testing a possible revision to the wing tips on the Max" in the wind tunnel to "see if this new technology could further benefit the airplane".
Boeing says it will continue with aerodynamic, engine and airframe trade studies to optimise the design of the 737 Max by mid-2013.

© Boeing The US Navy's 737-based P-8 uses 777-style raked wingtips, while current artist impressions of the Max show blended winglets

F-35 Pentagon rapporten

Incredibly dense and frustrating to read, står det å lese på en blog som er gjengitt i AW&ST. Bottom line er at ingen vet når flyet er ferdig testet, kanskje i 2019. Ingen vet hva flyet vil koste.

Sjekk dette som kom sammen med masse annet for tre uker siden: :JSF - SAR Discloses Another Three-Year SlipPosted byBill Sweetman1:17 PM on Apr 03, 2012

I spent some time this weekend on the latest Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) for the Joint Strike Fighter. It was an old-school job with a highlighter, yellow Post-Its, pencil and ultrafine rollerball. It hurt my head, but I am in good company: the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments’ budget expert, Todd Harrison, calls it “incredibly dense and frustrating to read.”
Lockheed Martin and its consultants are upset by the $1.5 trillion dollar figure for the program’s life-cycle cost. That's ironic, because the first person to talk about JSF being a trillion-dollar program was Micky Blackwell, in 1996, and he was president of a major company aeronautics sector located not a million miles from Fort Worth.

Other details in the document are more interesting.

There have been rumblings over the past year about another “SDD replan”, and here it is: Another three-year slip to initial operational test and evaluation, the culmination of system development and demonstration, which now is due to be complete in 2019 – the target date is February but the threshold date is October.

The program has not made progress, it’s gone backwards: completion of IOT&E is farther off than it was two years ago. In the early 2010 restructuring, IOT&E was expected to be complete in April 2016. The services are not going to announce initial operational capability dates until next year, according to the SAR.

From a Reuters report last Friday, it appears that the main culprit is software and hardware, mainly in terms of the integration functions – sensor fusion and emission control – that take place in the fighter’s main processor banks.

Completion of IOT&E should be followed by a Milestone C full-rate production decision in April or October 2019 – but this is a misnomer, because the plans call for the program to be most of the way to full rate in the 2018 buy year. The FY18 budget is planned to fund the F-35B and C at their full 50/year rate, and the USAF will buy 60 F-35As, against an FRP level of 80. And that means committing to those 110 jets in early 2016, three years before MS-C, to get advance procurement funds into the 2017 budget.

UAV med sivile applikasjoner - Canada har skjønt dett

Foto: CAE

Har du fulgt med på bloggen, så har du lest at ubemannede fly og helikoptre har enorm verdi for det sivile samfunn. Canada har skjønt det og bruker nå en  Diamond DA42 i forsøkene. Maskinen integreres i såkalt sivilt luftrom for å utføre viktige samfunnsoppgaver. Norge er helt på hæla når det gjelder dette; vi synes helt paralyserte etter 2207. Sjekk http://tinyurl.com/2c6wq7y og http://tinyurl.com/7tc268q

F-35 - Canada har problemer. Fasitsvar uten utfordrere

I siste AW&ST er det en artikkel som heter Stacking the Deck. Stokkingen går ut på å frata forsvarsdepartementet kontrollen av kjøpet siden revisor stiller spørsmål ved fremgangsmåten. En har åpenbart hatt et fasitsvar og stillet krav ut fra dette. Det er ingen konkurrent til F-35, og det er heller ikke invitert slike til å komme med anbud. Minner meg litt om Eurofighterfolkenes reaksjoner i den norske prosessen. Artikkelen er veldig kritisk.

Ethiopian sjekker ut på B787

Ethiopian Pilots Complete Training for 787 Dreamliner

Source: Ethiopian Airlines

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Ethiopian Airlines, the first African airline to operate the 787, has trained eight pilots on the 787 Dreamliner at the Boeing Flight Services campus located at Gatwick, London. Additional batches of trainees are conducting 787 training in the same facility.

Boeing has been granted approval by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to provide flight training for pilots preparing to operate the new Boeing 787. With 787 training, pilots can transition to the new airplane in five to 20 days, depending on previous pilot experience. Boeing 777 pilots can qualify to fly the 787 in as little as five days, given the high level of commonality between the two airplane types.

"This is an important milestone in the history of Ethiopian Airlines," said Captain Desta Zeru, Senior Vice President of Flight Operations for Ethiopian Airlines. "Our pilots are now qualified as the first African pilots to fly the 787.

Det er bare to år siden Ethiopian hadde sin siste stor ulykke, da med en B737 som flygerne åpenbart ikke mestret å fly. I rapporten står bl.a.
The final report released by the Lebanese Civil Aviation Authority blamed the pilots for the accident and recommended that the airline changed its pairing policy to prevent two relatively inexperienced pilots flying together. The airline challenged the statements as biased, firmly convinced that the aircraft experienced an onboard explosion, but failed to provide any evidence to support this theory