AIA - Resources

This Aerospace Industries Association page presents links to a variety of useful sources of information: market forecasts, expert presentations, statistical data books, space reports, federal budgets, contract awards, government statistics on the aerospace industry, and other resources. Pretty impressive.

Need a drink?

From Air & Business Travel News [ABTN]:

DRINKING WATER may sound an unemotional subject but it is causing trouble in the US and will no doubt make for worrying newspaper headlines this side of the Atlantic too. It seems that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found evidence of harmful bacteria in the water of one of every eight aircraft tested. Whilst for the most part bottled water is drunk by passengers ‘tap’ water is certainly used on scheduled flights for tea and coffee. Twelve major US airlines have agreed to sanitation improvements and increased testing of drinking water aboard aircraft. Two months ago, EPA tested drinking water aboard 158 randomly selected domestic and international passenger aircraft and found that 20 had drinking water that did not meet Federal safety standards. If coliform bacteria were discovered aircraft would have to be disinfected within 24 hours. In the UK, as in the States, it is not the CAA but the (local) health authority who hold the responsibility. However bottled water may not be that great either.

Their free email newsletter is a very good source of commercial aviation news and goings on, and is worth checking out. You can find other good free sources of aviation news by email at the Thirty Thousand Feet News Section.

NASA goes Mach 9.8

NASA's X-43A research vehicle screamed into the record books again Tuesday, demonstrating an air-breathing engine can fly at nearly 10 times the speed of sound. Preliminary data from the scramjet-powered research vehicle show its revolutionary engine worked successfully at nearly Mach 9.8, or 7,000 mph, as it flew at about 110,000 feet.

Read the latest news and view images at the NASA site.

Got a bar or nightclub? Want a helicopter?

I've got a guy who used to own a nightclub that featured a real helicopter DJ booth housing the audio gear. This attention grabber included two full-sized rotor blades. People came in just to see the thing. Now it's for sale.

This might be of interest to those who have a similar business, or to retail establishments like food sales or hobby shops or electronics goods. Use your imagination.

Click the Contact Me link on this page if you've got an idea and I'll put you in touch.

FCS UAV Technology Will Be Ready When Funding Is

This from Aerospace Daily & Defense Report:

Although the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program currently doesn't have funding to deploy its future unmanned aerial vehicles before the first scheduled full unit of action in 2014, much of the technology will be ready before that, a Boeing official said...

Two Class I UAVs, weighing a total of 35 pounds, will be carried in an individual soldier's backpack and be used for immediate situational awareness in urban areas for use at the platoon level... The UAV will be able to perch on tops of buildings and hover and stare into windows and have line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight vision...

I have seen the future of military aviation, and aircraft are flown by kids with joysticks!!

Aviation turning itself around

The Wichita Eagle reports:

The general aviation industry signaled that a recovery is under way with a 24 percent increase in third-quarter deliveries.

Worldwide, planemakers shipped 806 general aviation aircraft worth $2.9 billion in the third quarter of 2004, according to figures compiled by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association...

Shipments at Raytheon Aircraft and Bombardier Aerospace have risen this year. Raytheon Aircraft delivered 85 aircraft in the third quarter, up from 61 for the same three months a year ago. So far this year, Raytheon has delivered 186 planes, up from 162 for the first three quarters of 2003.

Bombardier Aerospace delivered 13 Wichita-built Learjet business jets and eight Challenger 300s during the quarter, compared to eight Learjets a year ago.
For first nine months of 2004, Bombardier delivered 57 Wichita-built business jets, compared to 32 for the same time a year ago.

Deliveries at Cessna Aircraft Co. are still down from last year, although the third quarter of 2004 showed improvement. Cessna expected deliveries to fall this year but predicts an increase in 2005.

For the first nine months of the year, Cessna shipped 528 aircraft, compared with 578 for the same period a year ago.

But during the third quarter, Cessna delivered 272 planes, compared with 192 in the third quarter of 2003.