850 AIRBUS ORDERS THIS YEAR: EADS
EADS expects its Airbus unit to secure orders for more than 850 new aircraft this year, after the aerospace giant posted much-improved nine-month results. Strong operational performance at Airbus, coupled with savings from its Power8 programme, contributed "positively" to the improvement, it adds. Revenues for the airframer were up by 3% to €19.4 billion. Earnings reached €1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) against last year's loss of €677 million. Overall EADS made a €1 billion net profit for the period on a 7% rise in revenue to €29.4 billion. Last year it lost €2 billion for the period.
NORTHROP TESTS QANTAS A330 DESCENT COMPUTER
Northrop Grumman is testing the flight computer system that on 7 October caused a Qantas Airbus A330 to suddenly descend several hundred feet. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau says tests of the system's three air data inertial reference units aim "to understand what led to the pitch-down events in order to provide basis to eliminate the problem at its source". It adds that "possible external sources of electromagnetic interference are also being explored and assessed, including the Harold Holt very low frequency transmitter near Exmouth in Western Australia."
PAY PAUSE SIGNALS ECLIPSE "FINANCIAL PROBLEMS"
The US Federal Aviation Administration has increased oversight at Eclipse Aviation after the VLJ manufacturer told officials on 12 November that it was having "some financial problems" but had a short-term solution. Eclipse on 13 November told employees they would not be paid for the previous two weeks. The company has been seeking hundreds of millions of dollars of new investment. Calls and emails to Eclipse went unanswered.
GKN DELIVERS FIRST FUTURE LYNX AIRFRAME
AgustaWestland has taken delivery of the first of 70 complete Future Lynx airframes assembled by GKN at its Yeovil, UK facility. GKN made extensive use of monolithic machine components and three-dimensional digital modelling to reduce the part count by 80% compared with the Super Lynx airframe.
EUROPEAN BLACKLIST EXTENDED TO CAMBODIA
Cambodia's Siem Reap Airways International and all carriers from Angola have been added to the European Commission's "blacklist" of banned airlines. Siem Reap does not operate directly to Europe, but meets neither Cambodian nor International Civil Aviation Organisation safety standards. Ukrainian carriers Ukraine Mediterranean Airlines and Ukraine Cargo Airways remain on the list.
MOON ROCKET PASSES CRITICAL DESIGN REVIEW
NASA's Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne-developed J-2X rocket engine successfully completed its critical design review last week. The J-2X is the first element of NASA's return-to-the-Moon Constellation programme to pass this design milestone. The engine will power the upper stage of the Ares I rocket and the Earth departure stage of the Ares V heavy cargo launch vehicle.
ALTEON'S FIRST MPL CADETS GRADUATE
Alteon's multi-crew pilot license (MPL) programme has produced its first crop of graduates. Six cadet pilots completed the MPL beta test at Alteon's Brisbane campus they will be assigned to either China Eastern Airlines or China's Xiamen Airlines.
Source: Flight International
