Grounding lifted for Army Black Hawks
A precautionary suspension placed on the Australian Army’s fleet of Black Hawk helicopters has been lifted, with the 34 machines returning to full flying operations. The fleet was grounded on January 19 following the identification of a number of fractured bolts during a routine maintenance check. An engineering investigation indicated that the defective bolts were
F-35B off probation
US Secretary for Defense Leon Panetta has announced the lifting of the F-35B STOVL variant’s probation, citing “tremendous amounts of testing” and “real progress towards fixing some of the known problems” with the aircraft. Speaking at Naval Air Station Patuxent (Pax) River, Panetta said the F-35B was now “demonstrating the kind of performance and maturity
Army grounds Black Hawks over fractured bolts
The Australian Army has suspended flying operations for its Sikorsky S-70A-9 Black Hawk trooplift helicopters following the identification of a number of fractured bolts during a routine maintenance check. Acting Director General Aviation COL Stephen Evans said the suspension – which took wffect from January 19 – was to ensure safety, and is consistent with
First night flight for F-35
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has made its first night flight, Lockheed Martin has announced. F-35A AF-6 took off from Edwards Air Force Base at 5.05pm on January 18, landing after sunset at 6.22pm, with the jet, flown by Lockheed Martin test pilot Mark Ward, flying a series of straight in approaches in twilight and
Citation Ten makes first flight
Cessna’s Citation Ten, an improved development of its popular Citation X business jet, made its first flight on January 17. The two hour flight, which operated from Wichita’s Mid-Continent Airport, assessed aircraft stability and control, the autopilot and autothrottle system, engine operability and avionics operation. “It took a significant amount of work by a large
QantasLink strikes a chord with special livery Q400
QantasLink has unveiled a Dash 8 Q400 featuring a special livery to promote the 40th anniversary of the Tamworth Country Music Festival. The Q400, VH-QOI, features a large golden guitar and the music festival’s 40th anniversary logo, and was revealed at a launch event in Sydney yesterday. Tamworth is the birthplace of QantasLink predecessor Eastern
