The World of Aviation

Daher-Socata has begun an evaluation of the all-composite Grob SPn business jet which could see the business turboprop manufacturer move into the jet market. The SPn had earned more than 100 orders before one of the prototypes crashed in 2006, killing Grob chief test pilot Gerard Guillaumaud. Although the project continued after that, Grob fell

Air Tahiti Nui has announced that its regional director New Zealand, Mark Hutchinson, will take interim responsibility for the airline’s commercial activities in Australia following the passing of regional director Australia Craig Lee recently. Under the interim structure, Hutchinson will manage both regions until a new structure is formalised, with World Aviation Systems continuing to

The sixth Boeing 787 has made its first flight, while Boeing also notes that the flight testing program for the aircraft has been progressing well. ZA006, which is the second 787 powered by General Electric GEnx engines to fly, completed its maiden flight in one hour and four minutes on October 4, landing at Boeing

Qantas is reportedly in final negotiations to buy out WA charter carrier Network Aviation to gain greater access to the resource charter market. According to the Australian Financial Review, Network’s board met last week to consider the $30 million plus takeover offer. The newspaper did not name a source, but claims that at that price

The fleet of F-35 JSF test aircraft has been grounded for several days following the discovery of a software glitch which could cause a fuel boost pump to shut down in flight. Pentagon spokesman Cheryl Irwin said the software glitch, “could have possibly triggered a shutdown on the three boost pumps, which could potentially cause

The Pentagon’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) office has revised down its cost estimates of the JSF program after taking into account new modelling based on the international partner program and the economies of scale yet to be realised on the 3000+ aircraft program. The new estimates were revealed by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics COO