Report Says He Complained About Sleeping Only An Hour Before The Flight

The pilot of the A330 flying as AF447 in July of 2009 had slept only an hour before departing Rio de Janeiro for Paris. The information was revealed this week in the French news magazine Le Point, which according to the U.K. newspaper The Daily Mail obtained a previously-unreleased judicial report that indicates pilot Marc Dubois told the other pilots on board the flight that he had slept only an hour the previous night.

Special Livery Designed For New Airline Brand

Air Pacific, Fiji’s national airline, has formally rolled out its soon to be adopted new ‘Fiji Airways’ identity with the delivery of its first new A330-200 aircraft. While the carrier will officially adopt the ‘Fiji Airways’ brand in June, the aircraft will begin commercial services on April 2nd. The aircraft was officially accepted by Nick Caine, Air Pacific’s CFO, at Airbus’ delivery center in Toulouse.

Brings The Service's Owned Or Leased Eurocopter Fleet To Four Aircraft

The acquisition of an EC145 by the Police Service of Northern Ireland will add another helicopter to this agency’s all-Eurocopter fleet, and reinforces the company’s impressive presence with law enforcement agencies in the British Isles.

Aircraft On Long-Term Lease To AeroLogic GmbH

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings has announced the acquisition of a Boeing 777 Freighter by its dry-leasing subsidiary, Titan Aviation. The aircraft is currently on long-term lease to AeroLogic GmbH, a cargo airline based in Germany and a joint venture of DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo AG.

V-Bat Demonstrates Ability To Deliver Small Payloads In Challenging Environments

DARPA funded research to demonstrate precision autonomous delivery and placement of payload has recently been completed by MLB Company using its vertical take-off and landing UAV, the V-Bat.

Gives K-12 Students An Opportunity To Influence Human Spaceflight

NASA unveiled an Exploration Design Challenge on Monday to give students from kindergarten through 12th grade the opportunity to play a unique role in the future of human spaceflight. The innovative educational opportunity was announced in a special event at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Retired Airplanes Sold To Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force

Retired Marine Corps KC-130R aircraft will live to fly another day as part of a foreign military sales (FMS) case between the U.S. Navy and Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force. Six KC-130R excess defense articles, extra to the needs of the U.S. government, are on a journey to restoration and active-duty status with the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force, or JMSDF.

Two-Year Fellowships Open To Labs Carrying Out Space-Related Research

he application period for the National Space Biomedical Research Institutes's (NSBRI) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program is now open. The two-year fellowships are available in any U.S. laboratory carrying out space-related biomedical or biotechnological research. Applicants are required to submit proposals with the support of a mentor and an institution, and all proposals will be evaluated by a peer review panel.

Public And Invitation-Only Events Planned

NASA is heading back to Austin for a week-long salute to space exploration featuring educational and interactive exhibits, inspiring speakers, astronaut appearances and legislative proclamations highlighting the International Space Station and the future. Space Week Texas is March 18-22 in Austin.

It Appears To Be Older Than The Accepted Age Of The Universe

A team of astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken an important step closer to finding the birth certificate of a star that’s been around for a very long time. "We have found that this is the oldest known star with a well-determined age," said Howard Bond of Pennsylvania State University in University Park, PA, and the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD.

Next-Generation Unmanned Helicopter System Provides Greater Endurance, Range And Payload Capacity

The U.S. Navy has awarded a contract valued at more than $71 million to Northrop Grumman Corporation to produce six additional next-generation Fire Scout unmanned helicopters. The Fire Scout endurance upgrade, designated the MQ-8C and based on Bell Helicopter's 407, will provide ship commanders with increased range, endurance and payload capacity over the current MQ-8B variant.

The Open Group's "FACE Edition 2.0" Furthers Interoperability And Portability Of Military Avionics Software

The Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) Consortium, an Open Group managed consortium, has announced the immediate availability of the FACE Technical Standard, Edition 2.0, an enhanced version of the open avionics standard for making military computing operations more robust, interoperable, portable and secure.

Circum-Polar Quest Completes Recife-Punta Arenas Leg

Awaiting just the right conditions, globe-girdling Lancair IV pilot, Bill Harrelson, made the LONG over-water trip from Recife, Brazil, to Punta Arenas, Chile... where he prepares for one of the most challenging and potentially hazardous legs of the journey. The 28,000 hour aviator did do an interesting TV interview (http://rob.com/lancair/2013.03/n6zq.mp4) in Brazil but otherwise spent his time resting up and preparing the path ahead. The leg from Recife to Punta Arenas appeared to go well (based on the data presented from Spidertracks)... with N6ZQ spending most go the flight between 10,500 and 12,500 feet... but with apparent headwinds prod

Also: Wichita's B-29, Fantasy Of Flight, Cirrus Behavior/War Gets Stranger, Gordon Bennett Balloon Race, A400M, Satellite Collisions

Finally! Progress. The FAA has approved the Boeing Commercial Airplane Company's certification plan for the redesigned 787 battery system, after thoroughly reviewing Boeing’s proposed modifications and the company’s plan to demonstrate that the system will meet FAA requirements. Florida's Treasure Coast has long been where fortune hunters went to seek untold riches. Now for the Sky Pirate in all of us, Florida's Fantasy of Flight has just opened Phase II of its "Golden HIll" project revealing a 20,000 square f

Expedition 35 Takes Over

Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford and Flight Engineers Evgeny Tarelkin and Oleg Novitskiy landed their Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft in the steppe of Kazakhstan, northeast of the remote town of Arkalyk Friday at an estimated time of 11:08 p.m. EST. Despite fog, low visibility and below freezing temperatures Russian recovery teams were on hand to help the crew exit the Soyuz vehicle and adjust to gravity after 144 days in space.

Klyde Pictures The Next AOPA President

FMI: www.klydemorris.com

Provides Additional Details About Performance, Price

The Scott's-Bell 47GT-6 that was announced at Heli-Expo earlier this month will be more than just a refurbishment of old helicopters. The company says the aircraft will be a brand new SB47 factory built helicopter. The program's general manager Chris Meyer said the reference to an STC in the initial announcement was only to describe the likely certification approach.

Jetstar Japan Welcomes Its 10th A320

With the latest delivery of an A320 to Jetstar Japan, the total number of Airbus aircraft delivered to Japanese carriers has risen to 100, underscoring the rapidly growing number of Airbus single-aisle aircraft in the country. In just nine months since beginning operations in July 2012, Jetstar fleet has grown to 10 aircraft.

NASA Funding Depleted, Private Donations Sought

An effort to restore and enhance analog images taken during unmanned Lunar Orbiter missions in the 1960s is seeking donations from the public to continue its work. The LOIRP was started with funding by several volunteers in 2008. The original volunteer effort was followed by financial support from NASA which has now been exhausted.

FAA Grounds Business That Catered To The Minneapolis Real Estate Market

It seemed like a pretty simple concept. Two friends that have been RC aircraft enthusiasts since they were kids, and who later  started a video production and photography business, decided to put their two interests together ... and developed a thriving concern offering aerial views of homes and pretty much anything else to Realtors and other customers in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

Nondirectional Beacon An L/MF or UHF radio beacon transmitting nondirectional signals whereby the pilot of an aircraft equipped with direction finding equipment can determine his/her bearing to or from the radio beacon and "home" on or track to or from the station. When the radio beacon is installed in conjunction with the Instrument Landing System marker, it is normally called a Compass Locator.

Aero Linx: National Biplane Fly-In We are the Flint Hills EAA Chapter 1364 presenters of the National Biplane Fly In held annually on the first weekend of June on Freeman Field, 3JC, Junction City, Kansas. We are one of a worldwide network of chapters of the Experimental Aircraft Association, commonly known as EAA, headquartered in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. We have members througout Kansas with our focus on the communities of Manhattan, Junction City, Abilene and surrounding areas. We are a social organization serving the Kansas Flint Hills made up of aviation enthusiasts, aircraft builders, and pilots who get together with like minded people to share ideas, exchange information, encourage safety and have a lot of fun doing so.<

"Kinda like watching Lindbergh." Source: Experienced Lancair jock, Jeff Edwards, comments while watching the progress of Bill Harrelson's Circum-Polar journey. Bill is the amazing guy that recently flew from Guam to Jacksonville, FL... and has now completed two legs of his journey around the world... via both poles.