AIRBUS A380
An Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger jet, lands at Los Angeles International Airport on the inaugural visit of the superjumbo jet to Los Angeles, Monday, March 19, 2007. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, Pool)
An Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger jet, passes a taxiing Qantas Airlines Boeing 747 after touching down at Los Angeles International Airport on the inaugural visit of the superjumbo jet to Los Angeles, Monday, March 19, 2007.
BOEING 747 COME TO AN END
With the stroke of a pen, the production life of the Boeing 747-400 passenger jet came to an abrupt end last week, but it’s hardly the end of the line for the aircraft family that started the jumbo movement in 1969. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Boeing technically had four more -400s to build but it appears Philippine Airlines changed its order and asked for 777s instead. That brought the 747-400 line symbolically to an end (about 450 were delivered), but there are dozens and perhaps hundreds of other types of 747s on the order books that will keep the folks in Washington state busy for years to come.
NEWS ON HONDA JET
Honda Aircraft on Thursday disclosed it forged agreements with GKN Aerospace, Avcorp and Garmin as major component suppliers for the HondaJet. GKN’s Tallassee, Ala. facility will supply the jet’s composite fuselage structural subassembly; Olathe,Kan.-based Garmin will provide a state-of-the-art avionics system “specifically tailored” for the HondaJet; and Avcorp of Delta, British Columbia, will build the aluminum wing structural subassembly. “We are pleased to be entering into collaboration with some of North America’s top aviation industry suppliers, as we continue to focus on developing an innovative aircraft of the absolute highest quality for our customers,” said Honda Aircraft President and CEO Michimasa Fujino. On February 9, Honda Aircraft announced plans to establish its world headquarters and jet production plant in Greensboro, N.C.
NEW FLIGHT SAFETY TRAINING PROMOTED
An Arizona upset recovery training school, says it has developed a single set of in-flight procedures to recover from virtually any uncontrolled flight attitude, outside of a fully developed spin. Called the All-Attitude Upset Recovery Technique, the deceptively simple protocol is aimed at reinforcing the correct, and usually counterintuitive, actions to take when the airplane is doing something that neither the pilot nor manufacturer intended. APS President Paul “B.J.” Ransbury, in a letter to customers, said that while there are numerous factors affecting the successful recovery from those life-changing moments, a decade of experience teaching those skills has shown him and his instructors that there are also some basic similarities. What’s more, he said, the resulting technique works in everything from light singles to heavy transports. “The All-Attitude Upset Recovery Technique Checklist is a logical single-procedure checklist that, when combined with proper knowledge and skill, effectively deals with a wide variety of stalls, upsets, wake turbulence encounters and unusual attitudes encountered in fixed-wing aircraft,” Ransbury said.
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