Douglas Royce (Forecast International/www.forecastinternational.com)
Until very recently, the world’s manned bomber market was essentially dormant. There are only a few air forces around the world that maintain these fleets, and development of new bombers has for decades been the province of the U.S. and Russia. Until recently, neither nation had been working on new manned bomber designs. One that is underway in the U.S. would be based on an existing concept for an unmanned combat air system.
All Nippon Airways says it will extend implementation of a Line Operations Safety Audit developed by the University of Texas and being implemented by 30 major carriers. In 2006, ANA was the first Japanese carrier to implement the human factors study, which involved an observer riding in the cockpit jump seat to assess crew performance in normal flight operations. Pilots for the other five carriers in the ANA Group will now undergo the critiques, which will extend to the end of May.
John S. Edwards/Forecast International/www.forecastinternational.com
The commercial communications satellite market is no longer dominated by the companies that once were perennial favorites: Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Thales Alenia Space, EADS Astrium and Space Systems/Loral are now capturing big blocks of market share.
Air Force Beech 99A (6) Beech B100 (1) Bell Helicopter Textron 206B (3) Bell Helicopter Textron 412 (4) Bell Helicopter Textron 412EP (3) Bell Helicopter Textron UH-1H (13) Boeing 707 (1) Boeing 707-320C (1) CASA C-101BB (4) CASA C-101CC (1) CASA C-212-200 (2) CASA C-212-300 (2) Cessna A-37B (6) Cessna CitationJet CJ1 (4) Cessna O-2A (3) Cessna OA-37 (7)
Air Force Aero Vodochody L-39C (1) Aero Vodochody L-39ZA (7) Antonov An-26 (2) LET L-410UVP (6) LET L-410UVP-E (1) Mikoyan MiG-29 (10) Mikoyan MiG-29UB (2) Mil Mi-2 (6) Mil Mi-8 (1) Mil Mi-17 (14) Mil Mi-24 (18)
Raymond Jaworowski (Forecast International/www.forecastinternational.com)
The business jet market has experienced tremendous growth since 2004, but a downturn is on the way. Deliveries will likely hit the peak of the current growth cycle this year and then begin declining.
Feb. 11–15Society of British Aerospace Companies’ Aero India 2009. Yelahanka AB, Bangalore. See www.sbac.co.uk Feb. 19-20Aerial Firefighting Conference & Exhibition 2009 Incorporating Fixed & Rotary Wing Aircraft and Unmanned Air Vehicles. Crowne Plaza Hotel, Anaheim, Calif. See www.tangentlink.com/event.php?ekey=AFF%20California
Army Air Wing Aerospatiale SA330C (1) Aerospatiale SA330G (1) Bell Helicopter Textron 206L II (2) British Aerospace HS.748-2A (1) Britten-Norman BN-2T (2) Eurocopter AS332 (1) HAL Dhruv (2) HAL SA316B (2) Mil Mi-17 (5) PZL M-28 (2) Shorts SC-7 (1)
The Irish government has rejected Ryanair’s offer to purchase its 25.12% stake in Aer Lingus. Transport Minister Noel Dempsey last week said: “The Ryanair offer greatly undervalues Aer Lingus. There were a number of other issues considered by the government in coming to this decision. Competition was a major consideration.” Aer Lingus is also broadening its relationship with United Airlines by cooperating on new transatlantic routes. The airlines will begin daily operations between Washington and Madrid in March 2010.
Mar. 3—Aviation Week Laureate Awards Dinner. Andrew Mellon Auditorium, Washington. Mar. 11-12—Defense Technology & Requirements. Washington. Apr. 21-23—Aviation Week MRO and MRO Military Conferences. Dallas. Oct. 1—Green Europe. Hamburg, Germany. Dec. 8-10—MRO Asia. Hong Kong. Feb. 24-25—Lean Six Sigma for Military. Washington/San Diego.
A prototype lightweight synthetic aperture radar supplied by NASA has generated its first data from the bottom of a permanently dark crater at one of the Moon’s poles. The Mini-SAR rode India’s Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter to test its ability to search for water ice and other volatiles that might help support a human presence. The instrument produced this image of the never-before-seen floor of the south polar Haworth crater, here overlaying an image of the region collected with the Arecibo Observatory radar telescope in Puerto Rico, on Nov. 17, 2008.
Air Force Aerospatiale SA316B (32) Aerospatiale SA365 (6) Antonov An-32 (94) BAE Systems Hawk 100 (6) BAE Systems Hawk 132 (2) Boeing 737-200 (3) Boeing 737-700BBJ (1) British Aerospace HS.748-100 (64) Dassault Aviation Mirage 2000H (36) Dassault Aviation Mirage 2000TH (11) Embraer ECJ-135 Legacy (5) Gulfstream III (3) HAL Dhruv (22) HAL Do 228-201 (28) HAL HJT-16 (85) HAL HPT-32 (82)
