Hundreds of thousands of aviation enthusiasts are making the annual trek to Oshkosh, Wis., this week for the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual AirVenture air show.
Last year, the show drew 578,000 attendees, 750 exhibitors and 10,000 airplanes. The show runs today through Sunday.
Wichita planemakers and others in the local general aviation industry will be on hand with products.
It’s a fun, casual show where many pitch tents under the wings of their aircraft.
If you go and take photos, e-mail to me at mmcmillin@wichitaeagle.com with an explanation and I’ll post them on this blog this week.
A Dallas pilot leaves today on an nine-day flight in a 2003 Columbia 350 to the North Pole. He’s stopping in Wichita to fuel.
His mission is to raise awareness and funds for Grace Flight of America, which provides free flights to people in need for medical and humanitarian reasons. And, of course, the adventure is part of the fun.
On his way home, he’ll stop at the Experimental Aviation Association’s annual AirVenture, which opens Monday in Oshkosh, Wisc.
He’s created a website about the journey.
Cessna Aircraft delivered four airplanes – one Citation Mustang and three Caravans – into the People’s Republic of China this month.
Repeat customer Deng Bin took delivery of the Mustang, the first of its kind to be delivered in China. Bin owns and flies a Citation CJ1+.
The Caravans were delivered to Shanghai HaoHai General Aviation Co., Zhongshan Eagle General Aviation Co. and Hainan Asia Pacific General Aviation Co.
Cessna supports 24 Citations in China, about 35 percent of the total business jet fleet, excluding Hong Kong and Macau.
Boeing unveiled what it calls an “ecoDemonstrator Program” for accelerating environmental technologies in the areas of fuel efficiency, noise reduction and operational efficiency.
Commercial aviation is in rapid pursuit of its goal of carbon-neutral growth by 2020, which will primarily be driven by technology advancements, Boeing Commercial Airplanes managing director of environmental strategy Billy Glover said in a statement.
The Federal Aviation Administration recently awarded Boeing a $25 million matching cost contract for technology development under its Continuous Lower Energy Emissions Noise (CLEEN) program. Under the contract, Boeing will deliver the flight test portion of the program and targeted technologies, the company said.
Bombardier, meanwhile, announced that Porter Airlines’ Q400 aircraft will fly using fuel from an oilseed crop by the 2012. The flight is part of a new biofuel test program.
Bombardier Aerospace‘s business aircraft division has taken orders for 16 business aircraft, the company said. The orders were placed in the week leading up to the Farnborough International Airshow and during the show. The planes are valued at about $800 million based on 2010 list prices.
Missing were orders for Wichita-built Learjet products. The company took orders for 12 Global Express XRS aircraft, two Global 5000s and two Challenger 605 jets.
“This has been a great show for Bombardier Business Aircraft,” Steve Ridolfi, president of the division, said in a statement. “Coming off a challenging year, this is a phenomenal accomplishment and we are thrilled to be announcing orders once more, and multiple orders at that.”
Piper Aircraft has a new interim CEO to replace the company’s outgoing Kevin Gould.
Geoffrey Berger, managing director of Imprimis’ operations in Brunei, will serve as the company’s interim CEO. The change is effective immediately, Piper said.
Imprimis, a private equity firm based in Singapore, bought Piper in 2009 from American Capital.
Gould joined Piper in 2005 as vice president of operations. He was promoted to CEO in June 2009.
“Kevin Gould has been a strong and valued member of the Piper team and we know we will benefit from his counsel in the future,” Berger said in a statement.
Machinists union members who work at Cessna Aircraft ratified a strike sanction on Saturday.
The strike sanction vote is a procedural one required by the union’s Constitution. It does not mean there will be a strike. It gives members the right to vote in favor of a work stoppage should they reject the company’s contract proposal when they vote in September.
Ninety-nine percent of members who voted approved the strike sanction. Cessna’s contract with Local Lodge 774 expires Sept. 19.
Had I not known already that today was opening day of the Farnborough International Airshow, it would have been apparent the minute I opened e-mail this morning. My inbox was full of press releases, many of them from Hawker Beechcraft, Bombardier, Embraer and Boeing.
Here are some highlights:
Hawker Beechcraft announced the sale of a King Air B200 turboprop to Aerodata AG of Braunschwig, Germany, for modification and delivery to the Armed Forces of Malta for use in maritime border patrol missions. An order for a second aircraft is pending.
The company is proposing its King Air 350ER to potential prime contractors vying for the U.S. Army’s newly announced Enhanced Medium Altitude Reconnaissance Surveillance System. The Army is planning to acquire a manned multi-intelligence airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance system that can detect, locate, classify, identify and track surface targets.
Hawker Beechcraft rolled out the first of 24 T-6C military trainers ordered by the Royal Moroccan Air Force. Production of the aircraft is on track.
The company has surpassed a number of significant milestones in the development of its AT-6 Light Attack and Armed Reconnaissance aircraft. The plane is on display at Farnborough.
Bombardier provided updates on its C-Series aircraft. The company said it has captured 50 percent of net orders in the 100- to 149-seat marekt segment over the past two years. The program is on schedule for entry into service in 2013.
Cessna business jet operators will spend the next two Saturdays transporting 800 athletes competing in the Special Olympics USA National Games in Lincoln, Neb.
For 10 hours of those two days, a Cessna Citation will take off or land every two minutes in Lincoln or at the athletes’ home airport.
“For these world-class athletes, the airlift is their only means of transportation and the only way for them to have the opportunity to compete as world-class athletes,” Charles Cooper, president and CEO of the 2010 Special Olympics games, said in a statement.
It’s the sixth time Cessna has sponsored the airlift, and it’s taken a year of planning.
Flight controllers have given the flights a special call sign of “Dove.” And they’re giving them priority attention, the company said.
The jets will pick up athletes from around the U.S. and fly them to Lincoln Saturday, then fly them home July 24.
Boeing has chosen North Charleston, S.C., to build a new 787 Dreamliner interiors fabrication facility, where employees will build and assemble airplane interior parts.
The plant will create more than 150 new jobs and be located 10 miles from Boeing’s final assembly and delivery site in North Charleston. Construction will begin the fourth quarter of this year.
Workers there will build stow bins, closets, partitions, class dividers, floor-mounted stow bins used by flight attendants, overhead flight-crew rests, overhead flight attendant crew rests, video-control stations and attendant modules.
“The selected location for our new interiors facility will provide us with the continued flexibility we need to leverage our production capability and meet the needs of our 787 customers,” Boeing vice president and general manager of supply chain management and operations Ray Conner said in a statement.
