Organization Says FAA's Inability To Meet A Deadline Shouldn't Be Industry's Problem

Perhaps it's the Aircraft Electronics Association's way of telling the FAA, "Failure to meet a deadline on YOUR part should in no way constitute an emergency on OUR part."

From The Birthplace Of The Space Age, A Space-Age Airplane

By ANN Senior Correspondent Kevin "Hognose" O'Brien The importance of the island of Usedom to aerospace depends on your frame of reference. To an aerospace historian, it's where guided ballistic and cruise missiles got their start, at the German Army and Air Force test centers on the island's tip at Peenemunde. For an 80-year-old RAF Bomber Command vet, it's a memory of a tough, well-protected target. For a Cold War vet, it might have been a home base or a target folder (depending on what side you were on). For modern Germans, it's a nice place for a summer vacation on the Baltic Sea. But for us, today, it's the birthplace of a GA twin like none you've ever seen, the TT62 Alekto by High Performance Aircraft (

Aviation Services Group Sends Supplies To Nations Hard-Hit By Tsunami

Aviation Services Group, a Dallas-based expeditionary logistics service provider, completed on January 1st a full cargo plane-load shipment of relief supplies for the Indian Ocean area Tsunami relief effort on a charter flight donated by Aviation Services. Aviation Services arranged the pick-up of critical basic necessity materials from Dubai, United Arab Emirates for subsequent non-stop air transportation to Colombo, Sri Lanka. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided the approximate 20,000 pounds of disaster relief supplies destined for use by Red Cross workers in Sri Lanka.

Helicopter Deemed "Irreplaceable" In Firefighting Operations

Russia's JSC Kamov-Holding says it has a contract for delivery of two Kamov Ka-32A11BC utility helicopters to Helicopteros de Sureste (HSE), the largest helicopter operator in Spain. Valery Lukin, Kamov's director general of JSC Kamov-Holding said the contract "is a logical development of our cooperation with the Spanish customer. The first two machines purchased by HSE past July proved extremely efficient in fire-fighting, so this decision to expand the Ka-32 fleet is no coincidence."

Plan: Modify 747-400 To Test Engines

L-3 Communications says its Integrated Systems (L-3 IS) subsidiary has been selected by Rolls-Royce for a contract valued at approximately $20 million. The job: develop a flying test bed for risk-reduction flight testing of the Trent 1000 engine, which Rolls-Royce has developed for the new Boeing 7E7 aircraft.

SEACOR Holdings Is The New Owner

Rowan Companies says it's sold Era Aviation to SEACOR Holdings. The deal was finalized last Thursday. The purchase price was approximately $118.1 million in cash, subject to post-closing working capital adjustments, according to Rowan.

AD NUMBER: 2004-26-11 MANUFACTURER: Bell SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2004-26-11 SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the specified Bell Helicopter Textron (BHTC) model helicopters. This action requires certain checks and inspections of the tail rotor blades. If a crack is found, before further flight, this AD requires replacing the tail rotor blade (blade) with an airworthy blade.