We are told there is no silver bullet for aviation biofuels, and that the best choice of feedstock-to-fuel pathway will be regional, even local, not global, as petroleum-based jet fuel is today. But there is an option the aviation industry hopes could work pretty well, almost anywhere, and that is algae.
Once gain, Alitalia, the perennially ailing Italian carrier, finds itself in the unenviable position of needing to restructure. It must come to terms with the fact that it needs new investors and a strong partner. Being a SkyTeam member has not brought about the salvation the carrier hoped for, and the survival plan put in place in the late 1990s, although welcome, certainly does not ensure a workable future. In the short term, Alitalia, which posted a €294 million ($397 million) loss in the first half of 2013, reportedly needs €400-500 million to avoid bankruptcy.
The price of European Union carbon dioxide allowances (EUA) under the EU Emissions Trading System made strong gains in September in the run-up to and following German elections Sept. 22. The national vote handed Chancellor Angela Merkel a resounding victory, with her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) attracting 41.5% of the vote, the party's best result in 23 years but still a few seats short of an overall majority.
There always has been a clear objective for potential human space explorers who are alive today—Mars. After the lunar landings, the red planet was the next natural goal. If the papers presented in Beijing at the 64th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) are an indication—and they are—nothing has changed in the subsequent 40 years.
Russia's Proton M launch vehicle returned to flight Sept. 30, nearly two months after a July 2 mishap sent the heavy-lift rocket and three Russian Glonass M satellites crashing to the ground at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
A consumer buying a car views the quality of the product simply: Does it work as promised and will it last? But the Pentagon inspector general's (IG) recent review of the Defense Department's most costly procurement program reveals that the military's definition of “quality” in its weapon systems is far more nuanced and tricky to manage.
The Pentagon's newly signed deals for two lots of F-35s codifies for the first time that it will cost the U.S. Air Force less than $100 million per airframe for the single-engine, stealthy aircraft. The cost for all the aircraft in low-rate initial-production (LRIP) Lots 6 and 7 will be $8.4 billion. Prime contractor Lockheed Martin has delivered the first two of 32 aircraft in LRIP 5.
With its first Airbus A400M Atlas handed over, attention is now being focused on how the French air force will put the new European airlifter through its paces.
The U.K. Royal Air Force has retired the last of its vintage Vickers VC10 aerial refueling tankers, which opens an unlikely capability gap. For almost 50 years, the VC10 provided strategic transport, airlift and an aeromedical capacity. In the 1980s, with the arrival of several secondhand ex-airline VC10s, the role was extended to provide air-to-air refueling, a capability for which the type became best-known. Of the 54 VC10s produced by Vickers, the RAF operated 28, in four different versions.
Delta Air Lines is breaking ranks with its three major U.S. airline rivals, selecting Microsoft as its electronic flight bag provider over Apple. The airline announced Sept. 30 that it will purchase 11,000 Microsoft Surface 2 tablets for its pilots as part of a move to increase productivity and situational awareness, as well as to cut costs by replacing paper manuals and charts.
By modernizing a component as rudimentary as a mechanical circuit breaker, Albuquerque, N.M.,-based Vertical Power has opened the door to a wealth of new applications and safety features for the experimental market, including an automatic landing system that flies to the threshold. The offering is similar to new systems being developed for high-end business jets, but at a much lower cost.
A light bulb went off in Dan Miller's head several years ago as he struggled to complete the avionics behind the panel of his company's newest light sport aircraft, the Spirit Grand Edition. Miller, sales manager for World Aircraft Co., based in Paris, Texas, had an idea that was so obvious it seemed silly that no one had thought of it before.
