mandag 30. november 2015

Drones - Smaller types a threat to safety - AIN News

Study Cites ‘Significant Threat’ of Toy Drones to Manned Aircraft

Toy drones pose a “significant threat to manned rotorcraft in all phases of flight,” according to a new study released by aerospace and defense firm Aero Kinetics. The study, titled, “The Real Consequences of Flying Toy Drones in the National Airspace System,” examined what could happen in the event of a collision between a toy drone and manned aircraft, including the potential for damage and death.

It further compared a toy drone strike with historical data on bird strikes, which are proven to cause significant damage to manned aircraft and loss of human life. According to current estimates, bird strikes cost $951 million per year in the U.S. alone. “Therefore, the impact of a toy drone—made of plastic, metal and engineered materials—with a manned aircraft would be even more catastrophic,” the report notes.

“Make no mistake; lives are at stake,” said Aero Kinetics CEO W. Hulsey Smith. “This study is meant to bring the risk into perspective, and inform consumers of the dangers that exist. Safety matters, and is the driving force that can bring together the FAA, the aerospace industry, and the toy drone industry so that we can find the best ways to put meaningful regulations in place for toy drones.”

ATC - Norway part of new developments under SESAR - Avionics

INEA Approves 318.5 Million Euros for Pilot Common Project Activities

Woodrow Bellamy III

[Avionics Today 11-30-2015] The Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) "green lighted" several Air Traffic Management (ATM) modernization deployment activities related to the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) program on Nov. 27, according to the European Commission. INEA announced the availability of funding for the deployment activities ahead of its 2015 CEF Transport Calls Info Day, where the European Commission provided updates on several major European transportation modernization projects, including the Single European Sky initiative.

SESAR Deployment Manager Managing Director Massimo Garbini (bottom left) signs CEF approval for Pilot Common Project (PCP) ATM implementation activities.

The activities that have been awarded CEF grant funding total more than $336 million, and are defined under the Pilot Common Project (PCP) in the latest version of the Single European Sky Deployment Program issued by the SESAR Deployment Manager last week.

According to INEA, the activities selected for funding include 87 implementation activities within five of the six ATM functionalities identified by the PCP. These activities include:

• Extended arrival management and Performance Based Navigation (PBN) in high density terminal maneuvering areas;

• Airport integration and throughput implementation;

• Flexible airspace management and free route implementation;

• Network collaborative management implementation; and

• Initial System Wide Information Management (SWIM) implementation

INEA also notes that these activities will be implemented across 23 total European Union (EU) member states, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Norway.

During the European Commission's 2015 CEF Transport Calls Info Day, Cristobal Milan de la Lastra, head of Unit INEA-C2, made clear the types of implementation activities that will be prioritized as the Single European Sky project moves further into its deployment phase.

"Importance will be assigned to those categories of projects that are aiming to deploy new technologies and best practices aiming to support interoperable ATM systems and equipment,” said de la Lastra. “The second priority aims to specify and deploy a new generation of flight and radar data processing systems based on European standards, open source and modular systems. The third priority is addressing the optimal provision of air navigation services in the context of the Functional Airspace Blocks [FABs].”

The INEA expert also stressed the importance of the FABs, which are an essential aspect of the Single European Sky program. The goal of this initiative is to reduce the number of individually state run notional Air Traffic Control (ATC) centers throughout Europe from 29 to nine.

While progress has been slow in this area, there have been some recent updates reported by the Ministers of Transport of the member States of Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland (FABEC). During the first nine months of 2015, there have been 240 new direct routes (DCTs) implemented across the FABEC airspace. FABEC also reported in October that current forecasting for its Free Route Airspace Project suggests "potential annual reductions in flying distances of approximately 510,000 nautical miles, saving airlines 3,000 tons of fuel, which will lead to a reduction in CO2 emissions on the order of 10,200 tons."

Outside of stressing the importance of more progress with the FABs, Marco De Sciscio, policy officer for Single European Sky Unit of the European Commission, also reiterated some of the overall goals of the Single European Sky program. The initiative aims to "triple the current capacity of the ATM system, to improve safety by a factor of 10, to enable a 10 percent reduction of the environmental impact by flight and to cut by half the cost of the provision of air traffic management services," said De Sciscio.

"It's not just a question of developing high tech and highly performing aircraft; in fact the performance of these highly performing aircraft could be seriously compromised if they're forced to fly sub optimal flight trajectories or obliged to circle above airports because of highly congested airspace or because of the fragmentation of the air traffic management system in the [European] Union today," he added.

Lufthansa and SIA in Joint Venture - AIN Online

SIA-Lufthansa JV Aimed at Gulf Carriers’ One-Stop Strength

by Chris Kjelgaard

- November 24, 2015, 9:00 AM

Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa Airlines both fly Airbus A380s.

Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines (SIA) expect their recently announced proposed joint venture to prove “highly competitive” with the strong one-stop service offerings the Middle East ‘Big Three’ have established in Europe-Australasia and Europe-Southeast Asia markets.

“The joint venture enables us to increase our customers’ benefit[s] beyond what each airline could have done on its own…in terms of seat availability, connectivity and choice of fares, particularly on one-stop itineraries,” a Lufthansa Group spokeswoman told AIN. “Improved competitiveness will certainly then also be a consequence of these two strong brands joining forces.”

In announcing on November 11 the planned non-equity JV, which requires regulatory approval by European Union and Singaporean competition authorities, SIA and Lufthansa said the two groups intended to cooperate in key European, Southeast Asian and Australian markets.

Both Lufthansa and SIA operate A380s on the Frankfurt-Singapore route, while SIA operates A380s from Singapore to Auckland and Sydney and to various Asian destinations. Their joint offering to Australasia and Southeast Asia would compete with, for instance, the Emirates-Qantas combination’s one-stop offering via Dubai.

The Lufthansa-SIA JV plans to coordinate schedules to provide better one-stop connections between the two groups—Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines and SIA subsidiary SilkAir also would participate in the JV—at hubs at Singapore, Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich.

The partners also envision joint fare promotions, aligned corporate-sales programs, enhanced loyalty-program ties and expansion of mutual codesharing to more destinations in the Lufthansa and SIA group networks. The JVwould involve revenue-sharing arrangements, which remain unspecified.

While SIA doesn’t serve Zurich, Swiss International does operate Singapore-Zurich non-stops. The JV would include that route, hence Zurich’s inclusion as a JV hub. However, neither SIA nor Austrian Airlines operates between Singapore and Vienna, so Austrian’s initial role in the JV would be to provide feed at Frankfurt and Munich.

No flights operate between Singapore and Brussels, so Brussels Airlines remains one of three sizable Lufthansa Group carriers—along with Eurowings and Air Dolomiti—not initially included in the planned JV.

“The joint venture is designed to enhance and increase the flight offer between Lufthansa’s home markets and Singapore Airlines’ home markets,” said the Lufthansa spokeswoman.

Other than Swiss International’s long-haul role, “the Lufthansa Group carriers will be offering feeder flights for the joint venture,” she added. “But they are not parties to the agreement as they do not sell or price any flights or connections between Europe and Singapore Airlines’ home markets. If it makes sense commercially, other airlines of the Lufthansa Group might be included moving forward.” That seems likely. The JV would include SIA’s recently announced new Singapore-Düsseldorf route—scheduled for launch on July 21 using A350-900s. Since Düsseldorf Airport serves as Eurowings’ main hub, Eurowings also stands as a likely participant.

Oslo Lufthavn - Et besøk på byggeplassen - NRK

– Dette blir mye mer effektivt, og gir mye høyere kapasitet, lover Gudmund Stokke, arkitekt i Nordic arkitektbyrå.
Det som startet med blyant og papir sommeren 2012 er i ferd med å ta form, med 7000 tonn stålkonstruksjoner, 170 tonn limtrebjelker og 10 400 tonn armering i betong.
– Det er jo en fantastisk følelse for alle oss som jobber med denne saken å se at tegningene blir transformert til et byggverk, sier Stokke.

Åpner i 2017

Den nye hallen skal stå ferdig i april 2017.
– Nå er det ikke lenge til vi begynner å ta ned de provisoriske byggeveggene, slik at folk kan begynne å titte inn og se hva som er bak, sier Thorgeir Landevaag, direktør for terminaldrift i Avinor.
Sikkerhetskontrollen utvides med 12 nye sluser og vil være samlet i ett område, som i dag. Det skal bygges flere serveringssteder og butikker, flere toaletter og stellerom.

Ett bygg

Terminalen vil fortsatt henge sammen i ett bygg, for den nye delen skal integreres i dagens terminal.
Den skal beholde samme karakteristiske takform og volum, med bruk av mye naturmaterialer, ifølge arkitekten.
– Nå er vi kommet så langt at vi begynner å se resultatet av det vi tegnet. De fleste av oss er ganske håpefulle om at dette blir bra, sier Stokke.

Chinese ATC - No Chinese spoken here - AIN Online

Chinese ATC to Adopt English-only Policy

by William Dennis

- November 26, 2015, 9:00 AM

Beijing Capital International Airport ranks as China's busiest. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY-SA) by Kentaro IEMOTO@Tokyo)

China will mandate that its air traffic controllers use only English when communicating with pilots of any airline starting in 2017, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

According to Zhao Yun, an official at the CAAC in Beijing, the move will improve situational awareness for foreign pilots. By ATC communicating in English pilots will be aware of the position of every aircraft in the airspace,” said Zhao.

Currently, ATC at all airports across China use English to communicate with pilots of foreign airlines and Mandarin with those flying for Chinese carriers. Zhao said the CAAC will announce the exact date for implementation later, ensuring the readiness of all stakeholders involved in the process.

He added that the CAAC does not expect any problems with the implementation because most Chinese pilots and air traffic controllers have taken mandatory six-month English courses before starting their initial training. That rule took effect in 1998.

Zhao characterized the English-only mandate as another step forward for China’s aviation industry.

Early this year pilots from three Southeast Asian airlines had expressed concern about the lack of a common language among all pilots tuned in to the frequency to communicate with ATC at Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA). “We took the feedback from the pilots of the three airlines seriously to make the decision for a common language to be used,” Zhao said.

BCIA, with its three parallel runways, two extending 12,500 feet long and the other 11,302 feet, is the busiest airport in China.

Volocopter flies tethered

E-Volo Flies, Unmanned And Tethered

By Mary Grady

The one-of-a-kind E-Volo volocopter came outside for its first flight tests
recently, the company announced in a news release today. The volocopter
was controlled remotely, and the crew tested for automatic altitude control
and position hold, and automatic landing. Weights of about 265 pounds
were placed in the cockpit to test for payload capacity. The tests were
completed in Karlsruhe, Germany. “In the process, the company’s CEO
Alex Zosel remotely flew the Volocopter for the first time – single-handed
and only with a joystick,” the company said. “Zosel himself is extremely
impressed by how easily and intuitively the VC200 is operated.”
Zosel said, “For years, we have claimed that the Volocopter is super-easy
to fly, now we’ve proven it in a very impressive way. I did not have any
experience flying the VC200 before the flight. Nevertheless, it was extremely
easy to control and land from the ground. This is a revolution in the history of
helicopters. I thank our fantastic development team, which made this possible.”
The flight-test program so far has already comprised “multiple unmanned
flights” during the month of November, the company said, using an airfield
adjacent to the company workshop.
The aircraft’s automatic altitude control, position hold and landing systems
enable it to hold position accurately and automatically, even in turbulence or
crosswinds, the company said. To land, the pilot only needs to operate the
altitude control. The Volocopter will descend toward the ground,
automatically slowing when close, until it touches down softly. “As soon as
all requirements of the responsible aviation authorities are fulfilled, first
manned flights will follow shortly,” the company said.

view on YouTube

Volocopter flies tethered - AVweb video

E-Volo Flies, Unmanned And Tethered

By Mary Grady

The one-of-a-kind E-Volo volocopter came outside for its first flight tests recently, the company announced in a news release today. The volocopter was controlled
remotely, and the crew tested for automatic altitude control and position hold, and
automatic landing.
Weights of about 265 pounds were placed in the cockpit to test for payload capacity.
The tests were completed in Karlsruhe, Germany. “In the process, the company’s
CEO Alex Zosel remotely flew the Volocopter for the first time – single-handed and
only with a
joystick,” the company said. “Zosel himself is extremely impressed by how easily and
intuitively the VC200 is operated.”Zosel said, “For years, we have claimed that the
Volocopter is super-easy to fly, now we’ve proven it in a very impressive way. I did
not have any experience flying the VC200 before the flight. Nevertheless, it was
extremely easy to control and land from the ground. This is a revolution in the history
of helicopters.
I thank our fantastic development team, which made this possible.” The flight-test
program so far has already comprised “multiple unmanned flights” during the month
of November, the company said, using an airfield adjacent to the company workshop.
The aircraft’s automatic altitude control, position hold and landing systems enable it
to hold position accurately and automatically, even in turbulence or crosswinds, the
company said. To land, the pilot only needs to operate the altitude control. The
Volocopter will descend toward the ground, automatically slowing when close, until it
touches down softly. “As soon as all requirements of the responsible aviation
authorities are fulfilled, first manned flights will follow shortly,” the company said.

view on YouTube

Whilst Amazon goes for your doorstep - Curt Lewis video

Amazon unveils new Prime Air drone prototypes

Amazon revealed the latest prototype of drones it will deploy as part of its Prime Air service using the unmanned aerial devices to deliver packages in under 30 minutes.

According to details released Sunday by the online retailing giant, Amazon says the drones weigh 55 pounds and can carry packages weighing up to 5 pounds. The drones fly under 400 feet and use "sense and deploy" technology to dodge potential obstacles en route to its delivery destination.

"We are testing many different vehicle designs and delivery mechanisms to discover how best to deliver packages in a variety of environments," reads a statement from Amazon. "We have more than a dozen prototypes that we've developed in our research and development labs. The look and characteristics of the vehicles will evolve over time."

A video released by Amazon shows the drone scanning an area near the delivery address to find a landing spot, followed by a hatch opening from the bottom to drop the package. Amazon says they are testing drones in "multiple international locations."

The company says the service will launch once the company has "the regulatory support needed to safely realize our vision."

In March, the Federal Aviation Administration granted Amazon approval to fly drones for research into the Prime Air service after first revealing plans to work with drones for deliveries two years ago.

Other companies are also exploring drones as a new method of package delivery. Earlier this month, Walmart sought permission from the FAA to start drone testing, while Google reportedly revealed during an air traffic control convention in Washington, D.C., that it wants to launch a drone service in 2017.

Google and Facebook goes for altitude - Curt Lewis

Google, Facebook in race to build high-altitude aircraft

MOUNTAIN VIEW -- Its visionary founder is in prison. Its most heralded invention crash-landed in the New Mexico desert this spring.

Titan Aerospace, bought by Google last year, is experiencing some turbulence on its way to the stratosphere.

In its quest to build a solar-powered drone that can beam the Internet down to Earth from 12 miles above, Titan is racing to beat a sleek rival, Facebook's boomerang-shaped Aquila plane, which is complete and awaiting testing over the United States.

Tech giants Google and Facebook are dabbling in experimental aviation for the same reason they have invested in undersea cables and communications satellites: They hope to connect a larger portion of the world's people to the wonders -- and advertising -- of the Internet. But of all the risky "moonshot" experiments Silicon Valley is throwing money at this year, few seem as odd and starry-eyed as the race to dominate the cold, lonely reaches between the highest commercial jets and disintegrating meteors.

"There's not a whole lot up there," said Brian Wynne, president of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. "It's really cold, so the operational environment is pretty harsh. The idea is you can get -- particularly using solar -- real endurance out there and fly for months on end."

søndag 29. november 2015

Avgiftskåte politikere - DN

IATA: - Flyskatt vil ødelegge norsk økonomi

NTB

Publisert: 29.11.2015 — 09:23 Oppdatert: 29.11.2015 — 09:24

Flyselskapenes internasjonale organisasjon IATA går ut mot den nye norske flyskatten og sier den vil ødelegge norsk økonomi og turisme.
Organisasjonen ber myndighetene droppe avgiften som er en del av budsjettavtalen for neste år, skriver Aftenposten.
– Andre land har forsøkt seg med en slik avgift tidligere, blant annet Nederland og Irland. De har fjernet den igjen, sier visepresident for IATAs Europa-region, Rafael Schvartzman.
IATA sier norsk luftfart allerede betaler to ganger for CO2-utslipp, gjennom EUs kvotesystem og gjennom CO2-avgift på drivstoff. Organisasjonen mener ytterligere en avgift ikke er veien å gå.
– Den nye passasjeravgiften er tull og vil bli et mislykket tiltak. Flyselskapene står for 2 prosent av de globale CO2-utslippene, sier Schvartzman.
Han ber Norge heller jobbe for en karbonnøytral luftfart innen 2030, som er målet for globale klimaforhandlinger.

lørdag 28. november 2015

Syriakrigen - Putin trapper opp - BBC

Turkey-Russia jet downing: Moscow beefs up defences in Syria

Seaman on the Russian missile cruiser Moskva near the Syrian city of Latakia on 27 November 2015 — Image captionThe Russian missile cruiser Moskva has moved nearer to the Syrian coast, near the city of Latakia

The Moskva cruiser's long-range air defence system will provide cover for Russian aircraft, as will the S-400 missiles which arrived on Thursday.Russia has strengthened its anti-aircraft defences in Syria by moving a cruiser towards the coast and deploying new missiles at its main base.

The row over Turkey's downing of a Russian combat jet on Tuesday rages on.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Russia not to "play with fire" with its operations in Syria.

Russia has suspended its visa-free arrangement with Turkey and is planning to introduce a wide range of economic sanctions. President Vladimir Putin wants an apology from Turkey before he will speak to Mr Erdogan.

Moscow rejected Turkey's assertion that its SU-24 fighter jet had flown into Turkish air space for 17 seconds after ignoring repeated warnings to change course.

A senior Russian commander said the jet had in fact been "ambushed" by two Turkish F-16s patrolling the area for more than an hour beforehand.

He said Russian and Syrian radar data proved that a Turkish jet had fired a missile from 2km (1.2 miles) inside Syria. Turkey did not respond to the allegation.

Map of Syria showing approximate location of Russian Su-24 crash site

Russian S-400 air defence missile systems at Hemeimeem air base in Syria on 27 November 2015 — Image captionThe S-400 is Russia's most advanced missile defence system

Footage from the Moskva missile cruiser on 27 November 2015 — Image captionThe Moskva will help provide cover for Russian bombers on combat missions

A rocket aboard the Moskva cruiser — Image captionThe Moskva is equipped with Osa surface-to-air missiles

The long-range S-400 system was delivered to Russia's Hmeimim air base just 50km from the border with Turkey.

Russian aircraft have been using the base to attack opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since 30 September.

Turkey, which is a member of Nato and of a US-led coalition in the region, insists Mr Assad must step down before any political solution to the Syrian conflict is found.

Both countries say they are trying to rid the region of the so-called Islamic State (IS) group, which claimed the recent attacks on Paris and also on a Russian airliner.

'Playing with fire'

In a televised speech, Mr Erdogan warned Russia it was "playing with fire to attack the Syrian opposition, who have international legitimacy, under the pretext of fighting against Daesh [another name for IS]".Media player help

He accused Moscow of seeking to use the downing of the jet as an "excuse to make unacceptable accusations against us", and accused Russians of "mistreating" Turkish citizens who were in the country for a trade fair.

Mr Erdogan said he hoped to meet Mr Putin face to face on the sidelines of the climate summit in Paris next week "to bring the issue to a reasonable point. We are disturbed that the issue has been escalated".

Anti-Putin demonstrators in Istanbul, 27 November — Image captionAnti-Putin demonstrators turned out in Istanbul on Friday

While he has refused to apologise, Mr Erdogan did say on Thursday that had Turkey known the plane was Russian, "maybe we would have warned it differently".

But Mr Putin has firmly rejected any suggestion Turkey did not recognise the plane as Russian. He said it was easily identifiable and its co-ordinates had been passed on to Turkey's ally, the US.Media player help

President Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said the Kremlin had received Mr Erdogan's request for a meeting but he would not say whether such a meeting was possible.

"We have seen that the Turkish side hasn't been ready to offer an elementary apology over the plane incident," he said.

Announcing the suspension of a visa-free travel regime with Turkey from 1 January, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he believed the Turkish leadership had "crossed the line of what is acceptable".

Russia on Thursday said it was drafting a wide-ranging list of economic sanctions against Turkey that would hit food imports and joint investment projects among other things.

Turkey and Russia have important economic links. Russia is Turkey's second-largest trading partner, while more than three million Russian tourists visited Turkey last year.

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