Drones the American way.... Let it have it!

Man shoots down drone hovering over house

This article, Man shoots down drone hovering over house, originally appeared on CNET.com.

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.

Man shoots down drone hovering over houseWilliam Merideth, drone shooter. WDRB-TV screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

We need to talk anti-aircraft weaponry.

More and more so-called enthusiasts are sending drones into the sky. This means that more and more normal humans are becoming enthusiastic about shooting them out of the sky.

Especially, as in the case of William H. Merideth, the drone is hovering over your house.

Merideth, 47, lives in Hillview, Kentucky. As WDRB-TV reports, a neighbor heard gunshots and called the police. Merideth allegedly told the police that a drone was hovering over his house, where his teen daughter (he has two) was sunbathing. So he pulled out his gun and gave it a merry death.

The drone's owner, police say, said he was flying it to take pictures of a neighboring house.

However, Merideth told WRDB: "Well, I came out and it was down by the neighbor's house, about 10 feet off the ground, looking under their canopy that they've got under their back yard. I went and got my shotgun and I said, 'I'm not going to do anything unless it's directly over my property.'"

And then it allegedly was.


Merideth explained: "I didn't shoot across the road, I didn't shoot across my neighbor's fences, I shot directly into the air."

He says that shortly after the shooting, he received a visit from four men who claimed to be responsible for the drone and explaining that it cost $1,800.

Merideth says he stood his ground: "I had my 40 mm Glock on me and they started toward me and I told them, 'If you cross my sidewalk, there's gonna be another shooting.'"

There appears not to have been another shooting. However, Merideth was arrested for wanton endangerment and criminal mischief. There is, apparently, a local ordinance that says you can't shoot a gun off in the city, but the police charged him under a Kentucky Revised Statute.

I have contacted both the Hillview Police Department and the FAA to ask for their view on proceedings. I will update, should I hear.

The FAA's recommendations include not flying above 400 feet and "Don't fly near people or stadiums." The FAA adds: "You could be fined for endangering people or other aircraft."

For his part, Merideth says he will sue the drone's owners. He told WRDB: "You know, when you're in your own property, within a six-foot privacy fence, you have the expectation of privacy. We don't know if he was looking at the girls. We don't know if he was looking for something to steal. To me, it was the same as trespassing."

It is, indeed, hard to know whether things that buzz in the sky have positive or negative intentions. Amateur drones disrupted efforts to fight recent California wildfires to such a degree that there's now a $75,000 reward for anyone who identifies those responsible. A Southern California lawmaker has created a bill that would make it legal for the authorities to shoot these drones out of the sky.

Allegiatn Air`s safety problems grows - With the assistance of management pilots

Allegiant Air execs at controls of flight that landed with low fuel

An Allegiant airplane takes off from McCarran International Airport on Sunday, July 26 2015. (James Tensuan/Las Vegas Review-Journal) Follow James Tensuan on Twitter

Two Allegiant Air executives, the vice president of operations and the director of flight safety, were at the controls of the flight that made an emergency landing last week because it was nearly out of fuel.

Greg Baden, Allegiant's vice president of operations, and Michael Wuerger, director of flight safety, government affairs and quality assurance, were flying Allegiant's Flight 426 from McCarran International Airport to the Fargo, N.D., Hector International Airport on July 23.

A representative of Allegiant confirmed that Baden and Wuerger were flying the plane, adding it is not uncommon for members of operations management to take flights to maintain their pilot status.

Allegiant said it is cooperating with the Federal Aviation Administration in an investigation of the emergency landing, which was complicated by the closure of the Fargo airport for a practice session of the Navy's Blue Angels precision flight team, which was preparing for an air show.

Flight 426, with 144 passengers and six crew members on board, left Las Vegas an hour behind schedule and couldn't reach Fargo before closure of the airspace.

While a transcript of the conversation between the Allegiant cockpit and Fargo's air traffic control center indicated the twin-engine MD-80 jet was dangerously low on fuel as it approached Fargo, Allegiant officials say the plane had 42 minutes of fuel remaining when it arrived at 1:02 p.m., Central Daylight Time.

Exchange with tower

The exchange between the plane and the tower, posted Tuesday on the LifeATC.net website, indicated that airline officials were trying to contact the tower by phone to get clearance to land, but were unsuccessful, leading to further conversation once the plane was within range of the Fargo tower. A portion of the conversation:

Flight 426: "Our company has been trying to call and we're down circling Fargo. We don't have enough fuel to go anywhere else. Our guys are trying to get in touch with the tower manager to coordinate our landing or I'm going to have to declare an emergency and come in and land."

Fargo tower: "There'll be a window opening in about 20 minutes for a landing."

Flight 426: "Yeah, I don't have 20 minutes."

Fargo tower: "Roger, unless there is an emergency, there's Grand Forks Airport which is 70 miles to the north."

Flight 426: "Yeah, listen we're at bingo fuel here in about three to four minutes. I've got to come in and land."

("Bingo fuel" is a military slang term meaning "running on empty.")

Fargo tower: "You'll have to declare an emergency for that and we would coordinate to get you in."

The controller then told the pilots they should have known the airport was going to be closed before they left Las Vegas. Notices about the Fargo airspace closing were first posted in December and the FAA issued an advisory for pilots 72 hours before the closure. Pilots are required to review such notices before flying.

The cockpit responded, "OK, yeah. We'll follow up on that."

Allegiant said the pilot made the decision to declare an emergency, allowing the flight to land immediately at Fargo rather than continuing attempts to coordinate a landing, which would have caused the aircraft to begin burning its reserve fuel.

Tower asks Navy planes to move

The tower asked the Navy flight team to move out of the way of the arriving Allegiant plane.

"It is unsafe for pilots to land aircraft with minimum fuel reserves, which would have been the situation had our pilot waited 20 minutes to land," an Allegiant spokesman said in an email. "In order to avoid any risk to the safety of the passengers and crew, our pilot wanted to land the plane with more than sufficient fuel available and declared an emergency in order to land as quickly as possible."

Federal regulations require airlines to have enough fuel to get to their destination airport, a pre-designated diversion airport plus an additional 45 minutes of flying time.

An Allegiant pilot who requested anonymity said Baden has been an advocate for the airline's flights operating with minimal fuel reserves to enable the aircraft to be lighter and more efficient.

Pilots can request additional fuel for flights in preparation for diversions due to bad weather or other unexpected conditions. But pilots say acquiring additional fuel often results in an argument with dispatchers and delays, and they instead take off with less fuel than they initially wanted.

The pilot said the two executives flew Flight 426 because the airline is short of qualified pilots.

T-38 Talon - Replacement process gaining momentum

T-38 Abbotsford 1997 - Foto: Per Gram

Boeing Prepares T-X For First Flight As Competition Intensifies

Four teams could be in the running

Jul 30, 2015Bill Sweetman, Bradley Perrett and Amy Butler | Aviation Week & Space Technology

 

As the U.S. Air Force refines its requirements for T-X, formally known as the Advanced Pilot Training Family of Systems program, competition is intensifying, with competitors and other observers noting that the service is looking for a capable, high-performance aircraft to prepare pilots for the F-35Joint Strike Fighter.

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is studying a further package of improvements for the T-50 Golden Eagle, offered for USAF together with Lockheed Martin, while Alenia Aermacchi is still in talks with a new U.S. partner, telling Aviation Week that a deal should be announced “very soon.”

Meanwhile, Boeing and Saab could fly their T-X advanced trainer demonstrator before the end of the year, says Debbie Rub, Boeing vice-president for global strike. She said on July 28 that the company’s T-X demonstrator is close to its first flight. “Can I say we will fly next year?” she asked, glancing at public relations officials during the question-and-answer session of a briefing on strike programs in St. Charles, Missouri. “We will fly this year or we will fly the year after,” she added. “We want to win. We have a partnership with a great company, Saab, [and] we will do what it takes to win.”

Boeing and Saab have moved quickly, having announced their teaming agreement less than two years ago. Northrop Grumman CEO Wes Bush told financial analysts on July 29 that the company would be unveiling its new clean-sheet demonstrator, built by its Scaled Composites subsidiary, “in the coming months.”

In recent clarifications to the request for information (RFI) originally released in March, the Air Force says that a flight demonstration may be required as part of the source-selection process. In the case of Boeing-Saab and Northrop Grumman, the demonstrator need not be a production-standard aircraft but should be “highly relevant to the production configuration.”

Alenia Aermacchi’s T-100 proposal, based on the M-346, has been in limbo since its original partner, General Dynamics (GD), backed out in March, and it is not disclosing the identity of its potential teammate. A leading possibility is Textron, the only U.S. builder of jet aircraft, aside from GD, that is not already committed to T-X. It has become a more likely T-X partner since Alenia Aermacchi’s former link with GD dissolved. Meanwhile Textron has moved into the fixed-wing military business, acquiring Beechcraft and the T-6 program and launching the Scorpion reconnaissance and attack aircraft. Asked whether it is in talks with Alenia Aermacchi, the company says only: “It is Textron’s policy not to comment on market rumors.”

Alenia Aermacchi is exploring aggressor applications for the M-346; the aircraft has flown such missions with Italian air force Typhoons. Credit: Alenia Aermacchi

A key to Alenia Aermacchi’s revived proposal is that the Air Force, in a July 10 amendment, clarified the sustained g-performance requirement contained in the initial RFI, which seemed to eliminate the M-346. Rather than the common definition of sustained g-force as being achieved at constant speed and altitude, the T-X requirement is to perform a specific maneuver, designed to evaluate and improve the student pilot’s performance at high g, in which 6.5g or more is sustained through a 140-deg. turn.

The RFI states that the maneuver must start at or above 15,000 ft. and end no lower than 13,000 ft. while the aircraft loses no more than 10% of its initial speed. The maneuver has to begin with at least 80% internal fuel, so that it can be performed at any time during a training sortie.

The M-346 is compliant with this requirement but “on the line,” says company chief test pilot Enrico Scarabotto, and Alenia Aermacchi is planning to increase its performance before any T-X flight demonstration takes place. He adds that the RFI requirement as originally interpreted would be hard for any aircraft short of a fighter to achieve, and that the M-346 has proven itself to handle well at such g levels, with minimal buffet. “That allows the pilot to concentrate on the g-straining maneuver, rather than fighting the aircraft to hold 6.5g.” The specified maneuver “is extremely dynamic.”

Having passed the sustained-g hurdle, Alenia Aermacchi is positioning the M-346 as the most modern in-service training system in the contest, with features such as live, virtual, constructive (LVC) training (in which a real-world training sortie can be combined with simulated adversaries, targets and allied assets) already in development.

The Italian air force has an initial-service version of LVC; the full version will be delivered next year, the company says. The training tool has already been used to allow the M-346 to simulate beyond-visual-range adversaries while acting as an aggressor for the air force’s Typhoon fighters. The M-346 is equipped with the Elbit Targo helmet-mounted display (HMD), which can be installed in both front and rear cockpits and can be used in LVC to provide what the company calls “dome in the air” experience, with simulated targets projected onto the visor.

Engineers working on LVC infrastructure technology at Rockwell Collins’s Advanced Technology Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, confirm that the Air Force is asking more rather than less from the T-X as the process of defining requirements continues. “In the last couple of months,” says LVC strategy leader Chip Gilkison, the customer has started to see a need for the T-X to act as a lead-in fighter trainer for the F-35, as more pilots join the new program. “They have recently started taking pilots from the T-38, directly to the F-35. Previously they would go from the T-38 to the F-16 and then to the F-35.” A combination of LVC and high-performance companion trainers, Gilkison says, is needed to train pilots to the full potential of the F-35’s sensor suite.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s trade and industry ministry is launching development of key improvements to the T-50—including inflight refueling and software—offering contracts that cover about 60% of their cost. The ministry does not mention the competition as the reason for upgrading the T-50, but the purpose is clear, since the defense ministry is not paying for the work and because the South Korean air force is not known to have asked for these improvements. However, the changes could make the T-50 more appealing to other export customers.

The T-X requirement calls for the ability to refuel from a boom-equipped tanker—not provided on any previous trainer and missing from both the M-346 and T-50. The South Korean government program calls for a single dorsal-mounted unit combining a refueling receptacle and a 600-lb. fuel tank, apparently in order to minimize redesign of the structure or loss of fuel capacity to the receptacle. The target development cost is 6.9 billion won ($5.94 million), of which the government will pay $3.6 million. The project is expected to run from August 2015 to July 2018.

The separate avionics work will support a large cockpit display, an HMD, an improved head-up display (HUD) and embedded training system for a trainer aircraft. The industry ministry is seeking bids for the 7.95 billion won project, with the government paying $4 million.

One of the main goals is to simulate the high-off-boresight air-to-air missiles. Beyond fuel and software, the industry ministry is calling for work on the T-50’s air data system and is seeking a carbon-fiber leading edge for the fin. 

Spennvarsling - Mislykte OCAS får sin renessanse

• 
  Selv om BKK Nett nå skal få Ocas-anleggene sine i drift igjen, blir de fleste av selskapets spenn konvensjonelt merket med blåser, som på bildet. Foto: BKK

FLYVARSLINGSSYSTEMET OCAS

Nå skal det igjen bli drift i flyvarslingssystemet Ocas

BKK samarbeider med Vestas.

Av  Øyvind Lie (@LieOyvind)

Publisert 31. juli 2015 kl. 08:00 - Oppdatert 31. juli 2015 kl. 09:04

Etter at Ocas-systemet for merking av kraftlinjer ble lagt ned i Norge for to år siden, har mange kraftspenn stått umerket, i strid med Luftfartstilsynets forskrifter. Statnett, med hele 250 forskriftsstridige spenn, er verstingen.

Mens Statnett har forkastet Ocas-teknologien, har BKK omfavnet den. Siden systemet ble lagt ned, har de jobbet for å få det i drift igjen. Nå ser de ut til å lykkes.

Samarbeider med Vestas

Det var selskapet Highlight Safety som hadde ansvaret for Ocas-systemet i Norge fram til varslingssystemet ble skrudd av i Norge i september 2013. Nedleggelsen skjedde etter at en rekke anlegg i lang tid hadde vært ute av drift i mange måneder.

Denne gangen skal imidlertid ikke Highlight Safety få noen rolle. Nå skal BKK isteden samarbeide direkte med Vestas, som eier Ocas-teknologien og bruker den til merking av vindturbiner.

– Vi samarbeider med Vestas om å bygge opp igjen varslingssystemet for fjordspenn, og har den kompetansen og utstyr som skal til, sier kommunikasjonsrådgiver Anne Mette Tuvin i BKK Nett til Teknisk Ukeblad.

Les også: Luftfartstilsynet krever merking. – Bortkastet, mener selskapet

 

Søkte om frekvenser

For to uker siden søkte BKK Nett Nasjonal kommunikasjonsmyndighet om radarfrekvenser til 16 Ocas-radarer som skal sikre 14 av BKKs fjordspenn i Hordaland.

I søknaden ber BKK Nett om rask behandling, fordi anleggene etter planen skal settes i drift igjen fra 1. september.

Tuvin opplyser at anleggene vil bli satt i drift fortløpende når BKK Nett får søknadene om radarfrekvenser godkjent. Hun sier selskapet vil gjøre det det kan for å få alle anleggene tilbake i operativ drift innen fristen myndighetene har satt for å oppfylle den nye merkeforskriften, 15. oktober.

– Vi er glade for at vi har kommet så langt med å få i drift varslingssystemene på våre anlegg. Vi har jobbet iherdig med å få dette i havn innen myndighetenes frist, og nå er vi veldig optimistiske med tanke på å nå fristen, sier hun.

Les også: En av verdens travleste flyplasser synker og slår sprekker

Slet med reservedeler

En av årsakene til at Highlight Safety slet med å holde Ocas-anleggene i drift, var dårlig tilgang på reservedeler. Våren 2013 ble BKK Nett underleverandør for Highlight Safety for å gjennomføre oppgradering og vedlikehold på alle Ocas-anleggene i Norge.

I tillegg fikk selskapet ansvar for driftsovervåkingen av anleggene, som altså ble tatt ut av drift september 2013.

Tuvin vil ikke si om BKK Nett igjen vil satse på å drifte Ocas-anleggene for andre norske kraftnettselskaper, slik de gjorde i 2013.

– Først og fremst må vi få våre egne anlegg operative, og så tar vi det derfra.

Les også: Slik skal kollisjoner mellom droner og fly unngås

Tror på teknologien

Statnett søkte nylig om å få utsette merkingen av spennene til utgangen av 2019, fordi det er vanskelig å merke linjene med blåser. Også Troms Kraft og SFE Nett har søkt om utsettelse.

– Tror du andre kraftselskaper enn dere vil ta i bruk Ocas-varslingen på sine luftspenn i Norge?

– Det får andre kraftselskaper svare for. Vi har veldig tro på dette varslingssystemet, som både er en rask og rimelig måte å få merket luftspenn på en god måte. Det er dette som er grunnen til at vi klarer å merke spennene innen fristen. Vi har hele tiden hatt tro på denne teknologien, sier Tuvin.

– Hva har skjedd som gjør at den nå kan fungere?

– Det er en kombinasjon av at vi har fått en del kompetanse på området, nødvendig utstyr og et godt samarbeid med Vestas, sier Tuvin.

– Blir det dyrt å sette Ocas-anleggene i drift igjen?

– Den kostnaden er vi villig til å ta.

– Hvor mye koster det?

– Det kan vi komme tilbake til det når vi har fått spennene i drift, sier hun.

Droneproblematikken og kommersielle flygere II

ALPA’s Flight Plan for Safe and Fair Skies

The US Air Line Pilots Association’s (ALPA) white paper
published last week, A Flight Plan for Safe and Fair Skies, looks
at, among other issues, the safe integration of unmanned aerial
systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS). 

ALPA is urging the industry not to put economics ahead of safety
in a rush to add drones to theNAS. ALPA said, “No UAS should
be allowed unrestricted access to conduct flight operations into the
NAS unless it meets all of the high standards currently required for
every other airspace user.”

ALPA wants drones to carry the same type of collision avoidance
technology demanded of current commercial and general aviation
aircraft. The pilot group also wants to be sure air traffic controllers
 can clearly identify airborne UAS on radar. The association also
advocates a higher level of UAS pilot certification than the FAA is
considering. “Pilots of UAS flown for compensation or hire in
airspace mixed with commercial aircraft must hold a commercial
pilot certificate to ensure they possess the appropriate skill and
experience to ensure the safety of the NAS,” ALPA said. “UAS
operation in the NAS must not introduce any hazard that would
negatively impact the unparalleled safety record of U.S. aviation.”

Drone - Noe for vår egen marine - Vidreutvikling av ScanEagle

Insitu Gets $78M US Navy Blackjack Contract

The US Navy has awarded a contract modification of $78 million—actually, officially 78 million and one dollar—to Insitu for a half-dozen more RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aircraft systems, small aircraft the Navy and Marines use for tactical reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition at sea and on land.

The modification, which covers the vehicles themselves, ground control stations, launch and recovery equipment, spares, and system engineering and program management, is to a contract awarded in December 2014 for three RQ-21A. Both the Navy and the Marine Corps will contribute funding.

The rail-launched RQ-21A Blackjack is a twin-tailed UAS 8.2 feet in length with a wingspan of 16 feet. First selected in 2010 to be a larger follow-on to the Scan Eagle, it can fly for up to 16 hours at speeds reaching 80 knots, and has a minimum range of 50 nautical miles. Balckjacks initially were launched from land; moving to RQ-21A model also enabled shipboard launches.

Plans call for the Marines to have 32 Blackjacks and the Navy to have 25. The Marines took delivery of its first two Blackjack systems in 2011. The UAS’s first shipboard flight came in February 2013, launching from the USS Mesa Verde amphibious transport dock ship.

På tur med YAK-3

WW2 Russian Fighter: Yakovlev YAK-3

Graeme Frew takes his Yak-3 for a spin at the Classics Of The Sky airshow in Tauranga, New Zealand.

The Yakovlev Yak-3 is a World War II Soviet fighter aircraft. Robust and easy to maintain, it was much liked by pilots and ground crew alike. It was one of the smallest and lightest major combat fighters fielded by any combatant during the war, and its high power-to-weight ratio gave it excellent performance.

Droner - UK med kart over ulovlige områder

Prototype UAV Flight Restriction Map for UK

Aerial mapping company Bluesky has produced a prototype map of the UK showing where it may be unsafe or even illegal to fly Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Bluesky has combined an expertise in flight planning and 3D aerial mapping with various geographic datasets to come up with the concept of a UAV Flight Restriction Map.

The map is designed for commercial operators of UAVs and includes ‘No Fly Zones’, areas where further advice should be sought as well as areas where no restrictions on flying are currently in place.

“The UAV industry is rapidly expanding with new operators offering a wide range of services launching every day,” commented James Eddy, Technical Director at Leicestershire based Bluesky. “With nearly twenty years’ experience in planning large scale aerial surveys, combined with some of the most up to date and accurate geographic data and advanced processing techniques, we have been able to produce this prototype map. It is, however, designed just as a guide to where you can and cannot fly, so UAV operators should still check with the appropriate authorities.”

Currently operators of UAVs in the UK must comply with Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulations if they plan to undertake ‘aerial work’, while those equipped for data acquisition and or surveillance must obtain permission before ‘commencing a flight in a congested area or in proximity to people or property’. An overriding, all encompassing CAA Article also provides guidance in that a ‘person must not recklessly or negligently cause or permit an aircraft to endanger any person or property’, while other restrictions cover the dropping of articles or animals, minimum distances when flying near people or properties, and references to the Data Protection Act.

Bluesky’s UAV Flight Restriction Map is designed to provide a ‘first stop’ reference for commercial operators of UAVs in addition to CAA guidelines. The colour coded map uses a traffic light system to identify different zones: ‘No Fly Zones’ in red, areas close to no fly zones where further advice should be sought in amber, and ‘Free Fly’ zones in green. This easy to use resource takes into consideration population densities based on small scale postcode units, and congestion based on road location and type. The Bluesky UAV Restriction Map also considers the location and impact of aerial obstacles, such as overhead power lines, and restricted airspace including no fly zones around airports.

The launch of the prototype UAV Flight Restriction Map by Bluesky follows attempts around the world to develop control systems for commercial UAV, UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) or drone deployments. NASA, working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with input from government, industry and academic partners, has recently announced plans to develop a UAS Traffic Management System (UTM) that will keep track of and communicate important information to UAS operators in real time.

Droneproblematikken og kommersielle flygere

ECA wants EASA to Prioritise Safety in UAV Regulations

 

 

 

The European Cockpit Association (ECA) has published a paper calling for regulations on unmanned air vehicles proposed by EASA to focus on the safety of people and manned aviation, and not the rights of recreational operators to fly such Aircraft.

First outlined in March 2015, the safety authority’s proposal suggests that the operation of UAVs in civil airspace be proportionate to the risk each poses, and recommends they be divided into three categories – open, specific and certificated – that take into consideration the variety of types and operations.

According to the proposed regulations, those aircraft categorised as “open” would not require authorisation from an aviation authority, but would need to stay within defined boundaries.

While the ECA acknowledges that UAVs have potential benefits, it notes that it is “absolutely critical that the technology is introduced safely, in particular with regard to existing manned aviation”.

Given the damage just one accident involving UAVs in which people are harmed would do to the development of the industry, “thought-out, effective, efficient regulation” is required, the association says.

“Most drones in the open category will be mass-market consumer products [and] may have significantly different capabilities in a few years, and any regulation needs to deal with this,” the ECA says in its position paper on the proposed regulations. “This cannot happen without proper risk assessment, especially of mid-air collision risk.”

It adds that scientific and engineering research on the effects of unmanned and manned aircraft collision is lacking, so this “must be conducted as a matter of urgency”.

The ECA proposes a number of mandated requirements for “open” UAVs, including: a maximum distance from the pilot of 500m (1,640ft) horizontally and 164ft in height; automatic avoidance of restricted areas; automatic recovery; a 500g weight limit; speed limitations; visibility standards for recognition and avoidance; and marking and registration of the UAV.

It adds that a UAV should be obliged to avoid manned aircraft; be operated within visual line of sight and not near third parties without consent; and stay away from manned aircraft sites. Pilots should also be sufficiently trained, and the UAVs that fall into the open category should only be operated for recreational purposes, says the ECA. This would leave the specific and certificated categories for commercial flight.

A draft regulatory framework is to be presented to the European Commission by EASA by the end of 2015. This will be followed soon after by the safety authority’s presentation of a final regulatory proposal for the open category.

Helikopter - Ny type næring

Germany Gets 1st H135 Configured for Offshore Hoist

Airbus Helicopters has delivered the first H135 configured for offshore hoisting duties to Germany-based operator HTM Travel Munich GmbH. The H135 fulfills all requirements for offshore missions, with equipment that includes a rescue hoist, an external life raft system, Helicopter Emergency Egress Lighting, Automatically Deployable ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter), 3-Axis-Autopilot, Weather Radar, Underwater Locator Beacon and Emergency Floatation System certified for Sea State 6. HTM will use the helicopter for the maintenance of wind turbines located off the German coast in the North Sea, and has also contracted with 10 wind farms and customers like DONG, EWE, EON, Siemens, DOTI, ADWEN and Senvion.

 

MH370

MH370 search: Reunion debris 'very likely' part of plane

• 23 minutes ago
 
• From the sectionAsia

Media caption

It is "very likely" debris found on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion is that of the missing flight MH370, a top Australian official has told the BBC.

Martin Dolan, who heads Australia's search efforts, also said the operation was continuing "in the right place" in the southern part of the ocean.

The wreckage, said to be a wing part, is to be flown to France for analysis.

The Malaysia Airlines flight - a Boeing 777 travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing - vanished in March 2014.

There were 239 passengers and crew on board the plane when it went missing.

French examination

The debris washed up on Reunion island on Wednesday, some 4,000km (2,500 miles) from the area where MH370 is thought to have gone down.

Mr Dolan, who heads the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, told the BBC that he was "increasingly confident that the wreckage... is associated with a 777 aircraft".

Media caption

Aviation experts who have studied photos of the debris say it resembles a flaperon - a moving part of the wing surface - from a Boeing 777.

"There is no other recorded case of a flaperon being lost from a Boeing 777," Mr Dolan said.

"We are confident we have the quality of the search to cover that area and find the missing aircraft," he added.

Guided by signals from the plane that were detected by satellite, authorities believe it went down in the southern Indian Ocean.

However, no physical evidence of this has ever been found and in January Malaysian authorities declared that all on board were presumed dead.

Location of a flaperon on a Boeing 777

Earlier, Australian officials and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the location of the debris was consistent with drift analysis provided to investigators.

The wreckage is expected to be flown to the French city of Toulouse later on Friday. French media quote officials as saying it will be examined by experts it next week.

The BBC's Chris Bockman in Toulouse says aviation authorities have a huge hangar facility to store and study wreckage - as they did with the Air France airliner that crashed on its way from Brazil to Paris in 2009.

BBC transport correspondent Richard Westcott says the object may have a data tag with a serial number that could be directly traceable to MH370. Even if there is no tag, it should have a traceable manufacturer's stamp, he adds.

Media caption

Simulation of where debris in search area could end up

Missing Malaysia plane: What we know

What on earth happened to the good ol` NAS Moffett? The drones are taking over

Norwegian P-3B at NAS Moffett in 1969 With the blimp hangar still in one piece - Picture: Per Gram

 

 

Amazon, NASA and what's holding the drone economy back

The flat, sprawling expanse that once served as Silicon Valley's federal airfield - and has since been leased to Google for the company's own aerospace and robotics research - provided a fitting backdrop this week for a meeting of the aviation and high-tech sectors. 

In a far-flung corner of the guarded campus at Moffett Field, past the retro military commissary and other relics from facility's heyday as a hub for government-powered space exploration, a series of white tents have been arranged behind a high barbed wire fence. 

 Despite the low-tech ambiance, the meeting convened by NASA and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International has a decidedly high-tech focus: charting a more coherent path forward on the deployment of drone technology. 

 "This is really a call to action," said Gur Kimchi, vice president and co-founder of Amazon Prime Air. "We need to come together as an industry."

Maritime Patrol Aircraft - Besøk på 133 Luftving

I P-3C - Foto: Dag Jørgensen

 

Det har rent en del vann i havet siden sist jeg satt i venstresetet i maskinen. Det var et veldig interessant besøk jeg hadde på 333 skvadron, nå del av 133 Luftving, den 23. juli. Jeg fikk en oppdatering på maskinen og fant at det i cockpit var veldig få endringer fra B-modellen jeg fløy.Ny ADI og HSI var det, men de dominerende motorinstrumentene var de samme. GPS var kommet på styrmannens sidekonsoll og varsling for trusler koplet til flares var der. Plottebordet var elektronisk. Kabinen bar preg av at den er modulær, altså lett å ominnrede/modifisere. Flyene har fått nye vinger og holder i 20 år til.
Skvadronen var preget av at den var veldig sterkt beskåret fra da jeg var skipper på det 8. crewet. Jeg vil føle ubehag ved å fortelle mer i detaljer om dette, men det er åpenbart for undertegnede at skvadronen lider under gjentatte kutt.
Relokaliseringsspøkelset går i gangene og legger også en klam hånd over investeringslysten i kommunen. Gatene i Andenes bærer preg av nedgangstider selv om det er aktivitet i havna og at deler av Storgata har blitt miljøgate. Flere butikker har lagt inn årene. Mange av husene i Merket I og Merket II er fraflyttet.
"Noen" ønsker at P-8 Poseidon skal overta rollen til P-3. Vel, undertegnede har fått detaljkunnskap om P-8 gjennom besøk hos Boeing Renton hvor den bygges og annet. Jeg tror at vårt Forsvar  er best tjent med å beholde P-3 i 10 år til, minst, og å opprettholde samt styrke basen på Andøya.

Foto: Per Gram