The World of Aviation

A highly modified Glasair III will be carrying Australian hopes when it takes part in the Reno Air Race Championships this month. The aircraft, known as the Baker Racer, is owned by Ian Baker of Advanced Aero Components of Bankstown. For its racing role, the Glasair III has been given a twin-turbo, six cylinder Lycoming

Queensland based flight simulator manufacturer SimJET has announced that it is adding Adacel’s ‘ATC in a Box’ (ATCiB) program on all its simulators, enabling pilots to include air traffic control conversations in their simulator training. “ATCiB integrates the ATC environment directly with the ownship’s scenario, providing traffic and ATC communications that are relevant and responsive

Airbus has begun flight testing a 15sq m carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) fuselage panel to evaluate its acoustic properties and help fine tune sound insulation for the A350 XWB. The composite panel, which has been fitted with microphone sensors, has been added in place of an aluminium fuselage section of an A340 and will

Boeing has completed assembly of the forward fuselage section of the first 747-8 Intercontinental, with the 27.2m section moved from an assembly tool for sealing and testing before beginning systems installation. The first Intercontinental is expected to be delivered to launch customer Lufhansa in the fourth quarter of 2011, while delivery of the first 747-8

Bell 407 operators are set to benefit from lower operating costs after the manufacturer made some changes to its Maintenance Manual, which it says will significantly lower its direct operating costs. The changes have seen Bell  remove 14 items from the life limited section of the manual, and also made an adjustment to the on-condition

Sir Richard Branson says that Virgin Blue could stop flying across the Tasman unless it gets permission for its proposed alliance with Air New Zealand to proceed. Branson told Radio National’s Sunday Profile program that the airline was currently losing money on its services to New Zealand, and that by working together with Air New