subject: Flight News On World Air News Round UP [print this page] Flight News On World Air News Round UP Flight News On World Air News Round UP
We have air news around the world on airlines, aircrafts, technology, training and many others as follows for November 2010,
Partnership Remembered
LG Electronics South Africa and South African Air Forces Korean Veterans Association handed over a commemorative painting of the South Korean Ambassador to South Africa at a function held in Sand ton recently to mark the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean conflict in 1950.
No.2 Squadron, SAAF.-The Flying Cheetahs supported the Korean War effort with a distinguished record of service in Korea. The Flying Cheetahs piloted P-51D Mustangs and F-86F Sabres during this time which are the subjects of the painting by Professor Derrick Dickens.
The Korean electronics giant, LG Electronics, donated money to the SAAF Korean Veterans Association for the painting of the two types of aircraft flown by South Africans in the liberation efforts in Korea between 1950 and 1953 .The painting was later handed over to the President of Korea, Lee Myung-bak by the Korean ambassador to South Africa, Hansoo Kim.
The pilots and men of the squadron were highly decorated heroes who received a total of 797 medals. These included two silver stars-the highest award to non-American nationals-three Legions of Merit for meritorious conduct,55 Distinguished Flying Crosses for heroism in aerial combat and 40 Bronze Stars for bravery.
No.2 Squadron flew a total of 12 067 sorties for a loss of 34 pilots and two other ranks. Its role was mainly flying ground attack and interdiction missions as one of the squadrons making up the United States Air Forces 18th Fighter Bomber Wing.
Thunder City to Cease Flying
Well-known Thunder City, which has the worlds largest civilian-owned fleet of ex-combat jets including three English Electric Lightings, three BAe Buccaneers, five Hawker Hunters, a Strike master and two retrofitted Puma helicopters, ceased flying operations shortly before the opening of the Africa Aerospace and Defense exhibition in late September at which it was widely expected to perform .
Making the announcement founder and CEO of Thunder City, Mike Beachy Head said:"Established under the name Thunder City 2000, the brand has gone on to become one of the most globally recognized as a home-grown South Africa one. Seen by an estimated 1, 5 billion TV viewers in countries across the planet, the iconic Thunder City, jets have inspired many to travel to Cape Town to experience the thrill and adrenaline-rush of flying in a supersonic ex-military jet."
Beachy Head added that it had not been an easy decision to make, but that a number of factors such as the current slow economy, high cost of maintenance, difficulties with inconsistencies from the authorities and short to medium term prospects, had influenced the closures. He says that the 14 aircraft would be mothballed until a final decision is made as to the future of this valuable and historic collection.
During the past decade the Thunder City jets have flown more than 2000 sorties and generated revenue in excess of R100-million.
Longest Flight
Embraers ultra-large Lineage 1000 executive jet demonstrator aircraft recently made company history by completing the longest distance ever flown by an Embraer aircraft.
In its first nonstop flight from Mumbai, in India, to London's Luton Airport, in England, the Lineage 1000 covered a ground distance of 4015 nautical miles in nine hours and i5 minutes. This distance is equivalent to 4400 nautical miles with no headwind.
Future Star Alliance Member
Star Alliance has announced that the Chief Executive Board has unanimously approved the application of Ethiopian Airlines to join Star Alliance.
This means that, in future, the alliance will have three main hubs in Africa-Addis Ababa, Cairo and Johannesburg-allowing for an ideal access to the continent from either North, Centre-East or South.
Ethiopian Airlines will add five new countries (Chad, Congo, Djibouti, Mali, and Niger) and 24 African destinations to the Star Alliance network, which will then encompass a total of 29 carriers, offering a choice of more than 21380 daily flights to 1196 destinations in 186 countries.
SAA Drops CT-DBN Route
SAA and Mango have concluded a code share agreement on the route between Cape Town and Durban.
This code share agreement has enabled SAA to withdraw its aircraft from the Durban-Cape Town route effective from the beginning of this month and still continue servicing this market with SAA customers flying on the Mango aircraft.
US/Angola Flights
Delta Air Lines add an eighth destination to its growing Africa route network in January, with the first-ever scheduled direct service between the United States and Luanda, Angola.
Flights will operate three times per week with 243-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft flying between Deltas hub at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Luanda with an intermediate stop in Dakar, Senegal.
Another B737 for Air Algerie
Boeing has delivered to Air Algerie its 11th 737-800 which operates a fleet composed primarily of B737s and some 767s.
Boeing is scheduled to deliver two additional 737-800s before the year-end, as well as four more in 2011.Air Algerie will be operating 17 B737-800s in 2011 for a total of 22 Next-Generation B737 airliners to complement its fleet.
Honeywell Operator Conference
Honeywell Aerospace in conjunction with two of its South African channel partners recently hosted an operator conference for operators, pilots and maintenance personnel.
The focus of the conference was to provide information and training on various Honeywell products and services.
The programme consisted of a review of Honeywell's customer and products support services including; MySpace website update, services issues, entry-into service, training, maintenance service programmes and HAPP.
In Addition, brief updates and technical presentations on current RMUs and maintenance and operational issues were conducted, followed by an open-floor session.
A pilot training session was also held as part of the conference.
Terrafugia Preps for Production
The developers of the Transition folding-wing "road able" aircraft are preparing a 1765-square-metre area at its local facility for low-volume production to begin in late 2011.
The company is currently working on construction of two of its newly redesigned vechicles, which will serve as road test and light sport aircraft certification flight test vechicles, respectively .Terrafugia is currently targeting a low-to mid -$200000 purchase price for the Transition, and says construction of the two test prototypes will help finalize final pricing.
If all goes well, the company hopes to provide "fifty skilled manufacturing jobs" at its new facility by 2013 as it ramps up toward high-volume production .But those plans have not yet been finalized and will similarly be affected by the lessons of low-volume production, according to the company.
To date it has about 80 orders for the aircraft.Terrafugia is accepting reservations with a $10 000 refundable deposit.
HBV VP for Africa
Hawker Beech craft Corporation (HBC) has announced the appointment of Scott Plumb as vice president, Hawker Jet Sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa(EMEA) region.
In his position, Plumb is responsible for all Hawker jet sales for the EMEA region.
He joins the company's sales leadership team alongside Peter Walker, the recently appointed vice president of Beech craft Sales for the EMEA region.
Plumb has more than 20 years of aerospace sales and marketing management experience gained in variety of roles at Gulfstream Aerospace ,Airbus Industrie and British Aerospace .Most recently, he worked for Vista Jet Aviation Services, A, where he was Chief Commercial Officer and a board member, responsible for all sales and marketing activities in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Etihad Airways General Manager
Etihad Airways has appointed Maurice Phohleli at its general manager for South Africa.
He assumed the position recently and, based in Johannesburg, he has taken over from Craig Thomas, who has become Etihads country manager for Thailand.
