The World of Aviation

The fourth Airbus Military A400M development aircraft made its first flight on December 20, taking off from Seville, Spain, for a five hour 10 minute mission. The aircraft, dubbed Grizzly 4, the fourth of a planned five strong A400M test fleet, took off at a weight of 130 tonnes at 10.18am local time. It will

The C-17 Globemaster airlifter worldwide fleet has passed the two million flight hour milestone, manufacturer Boeing announced on December 20. Boeing says the two million hour mark – reached on a USAF C-17 airdrop mission in Afghanistan on December 10 – equates to 1.13bn nautical miles. Some 226 C-17s are in service, 206 with the

Boeing says it will lift the production rate for the 777 to 8.3 aircraft per month in the first quarter of 2013. “In response to strong customer demand globally, we are increasing our yearly production to 100 777s,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO Jim Albaugh. In March this year Boeing announced it would

The first Eurocopter Tiger HAD for the French army made its first flight at Eurocopter’s Marignane facility near Marseille on December 17. The aircraft, the first of 40 of the advanced HAD models France has on order, will add more powerful MTR390 engines and the ability to employ Hellfire anti-armour missiles. France is currently taking

Irish lessor Avolon has ordered eight Airbus A320s. The aircraft will feature Airbus’s new ‘sharklet’ winglets. No timeframe has been given on delivery.

Bell Helicopter has introduced an engine power and cockpit display upgrade package for its evergreen 412EP twin engined helicopter. The upgrade, comprising a 15 per cent power boost to its P&WC PT6T-3BE engines with electronic engine control, and glass cockpit displays common to the new 429 light twin, will be available from 2012 once a