The UK’s first F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has made its maiden flight, marking the first time an F-35 destined for a country other than the US has taken to the skies. Designated as BK-1, the short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B made a 45 minute sortie over Texas on Friday with a Lockheed Martin test pilot
Captain Grahame Mackelmann, the Captain of TAA DC-9 VH-TJJ which was involved in an attempted hijacking by an armed passenger on a Coolangatta-Brisbane flight in June 1979, passed away on April 11. “Grahame will be sorely missed by those of us who had the privilege to know and work with him,” says former colleague and
The uncontained failure of a Qantas 747’s RB211 engine near San Francisco in 2010 was caused by the fracture of an ageing engine turbine blade, the ATSB has confirmed. Engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce has already concluded that a fatigue fracture of a single stage-2 low pressure turbine blade inside the RB211 was to blame for the
Boeing has rolled out its 4000th Next Generation 737, a 126-passenger 737-700 destined for China Southern Airways. The milestone comes as Boeing ramps up 737 production to whittle down a backlog of more than 2600 orders. The US planemaker hopes to hit a production target of 42 aircraft per month by 2014. Somewhat confusingly, Boeing
Virgin Australia will end its thrice weekly flights between Townsville and the Gold Coast from May 3 due to poor demand. The airline said the route had been under review for some time and continuing revenue losses meant the flights would be scuttled in favour of increased services from the Gold Coast to Sydney and
A biofuel powered Qantas A330 took to the skies today in an Australian first as the airline announced a new government-backed effort to study the feasibility of an Australian biofuel industry. “Australia has the skills, resources and infrastructure to take the lead in this emerging sector,” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said in a press conference
