The World of Aviation

A Qantas A330 operating a flight from Sydney to Shanghai on February 18 returned to Sydney after burning off fuel due to a hydraulic issue which prevented the pilots from fully retracting the aircraft’s landing gear. Qantas says that the aircraft took off at 11:30am, and after the problem was noted by the pilots, the

QantasLink has announced that work has commenced on a new Regional Lounge at Coffs Harbour Airport which will cater to Qantas Club and Platinum and Gold Frequent Flyer members. The new lounge, which is the first for New South Wales, will feature complimentary wireless internet, plasma televisions and a selection of refreshments for passengers. The

Raytheon Australia has won a contract to provide training support services to the RAAF’s fleet of 24 F/A-18F Super Hornets at RAAF Base Amberley when they arrive next month. Under the contract, Raytheon will provide “maintenance, logistics, and training services to support the Super Hornet flight simulators, visual environment maintenance trainers and electronic classrooms,” according

The first Citation CJ4 to be built on the type’s new assembly line at Cessna’s Wichita, Kansas, plant, made its first flight on February 17. Meanwhile, Cessna has also confirmed that CJ4 performance will be better than early projections, with a maximum cruise speed of over 450kt (up from 435kt) and a maximum range of

The USAF is close to releasing a Request for Proposals for its oft-delayed KC-X program to acquire 179 air refuelling tankers to replace obsolete KC-135s in service. The RFP, the third effort by the service in eight years to acquire the KC-X after two previous programs were dumped in controversy, is due to be released

Boeing says it has completed stores ground vibration testing of its P-8A Poseidon maritime reconnaissance aircraft. The tests, conducted in Seattle in January and early February, comprised 18 different weapons configurations being loaded onto the T1 test aircraft and the aircraft being manipulated by external ‘shakers’ which induced vibration on the wings and horizontal stabiliser.