Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie, were part of a record-breaking flight from Brussels to Melbourne on his recent trip to Australia. The Blair’s chartered British Airways Boeing 777-200ER clocked the longest nonstop passenger flight by any aircraft, taking 18 hours 55 minutes to fly the 9200nm. The trip was 25 minutes and 300nm longer than the previous record passenger flight set by Singapore Airlines from Singapore to N ... more

A new British-designed jet engine has been successfully tested in Australia. The Hyshot III is designed to fl y at seven times the speed of sound. The supersonic combustion ramjet – scramjet for short – is a type of rocket engine with no moving parts. It burns hydrogen fuel using oxygen from the atmosphere, unlike a conventional rocket engine which has to carry its own oxygen supply. ... more

BAE Systems’ new Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer made its Far East debut at Asian Aerospace 2006 held in Singapore at the end of February. It was the start of a six-week tour for the Hawk through the Far and Middle East, and Europe to demonstrate the aircraft. BAE Systems said: “The proven reliability and low maintenance of the Hawk means the aircraft will be self-reliant throughout the tour.“A team of only five ground crew engineers will ... more

The opening round of the 2006 Red Bull World Air Race Series was won by American Kirby Chambliss last month, in the United Arab Emirates. Second was last season’s champion Mike Mangold (USA) followed by Peter Besenyei (Hungary). The race was held over the harbour of Abu Dhabi. Ten of the world’s top aerobatic pilots took part, racing through a course of air ‘gates’ while performing aerobatic manoeuvres. Mangold, a former US ... more

328ft high blades to be built under base leg at Strubby Wind turbines are threatening to make Strubby Airfield, near Mablethorpe, Lincs unsafe for future aviation.The former WWII airfield is used by various light aircraft and microlights of Strubby Aviation Club and Lincolnshire Gliding Club.Ten wind turbines have been built directly underneath the approach path, 4km from the airfield, and more are planned. The turbines were approved b ... more

5000 engines face ‘early retirement’ More than 5000 Lycoming Engines are facing early ‘retirement’ after a series of Service Bulletins (SBs) and Airworthiness Directives (ADs) regarding crankshaft problems.An AD was confirmed by the Federal Aviation Administration (US version of the CAA) last month affecting engines in the AEIO-360, IO-360, O-360, LIO-360, and LO- 360 series. The AD becomes effective on 27 April, giving six mon ... more

These spy photos show a new fixed-wing microlight aircraft due to be launched at the Popham Microlight Fair on 29 April. Known as the SLA 100 Executive, it has been designed by Medway Microlights of Rochester, Kent, one of Britain’s oldest manufacturers of fl ex-wing microlights. Boss Chris Draper said: “The newest British designed and built three-axis microlight will soon commence production on site at Medway Microlights. “It ... more

ALEX Henshaw, the famous WWII Spitfire test pilot, had a flight in a special two-seat ‘Spit’ last month as part of celebrations for the iconic aircraft’s 70th birthday. The 8-minute flight took place at Southampton Airport where the company which designed and made the aircraft, Supermarine, was based in 1936. The aircraft’s designer, R J Mitchell, died the year after it had its first flight. Alex, now 93, said: “For me this is r ... more

PIPER Aircraft has a new dealer covering the UK, Ireland and Spain. It is Piper Generalvertretung Deutschland AG (Piper AG), a long-standing Piper dealer based at Kassel Airport, Germany. Piper AG has already taken over the activities of the former UK Piper dealer, Senate Aviation, at Bournemouth Airport to handle UK sales and spares.“Piper AG, which has been a loyal and valued Piper distributor since 1968, brings a wealth of experie ... more

Italian hang-glider pilot and adventurer Angelo d’Arrigo was killed last month when the light aircraft in which he was a passenger crashed. The accident happened at an airshow in Comiso, Italy. The pilot, Giulio de Marchis, a retired airforce general and well-respected aviator, also died. d’Arrigo was the pilot of the hang-glider towed by British adventurer Richard Meredith- Hardy, featuredon page 72 of this issue, over Mt Everest. ... more

SOME of the most famous aircraft in aviation, designed and made by de Havilland, stand a chance of going back into production. Canadian company Viking Air has acquired the Type Certificates for seven de Havilland aircraft, including the famous DHC-2 Beaver and DHC-6 Twin Otter which are still used throughout the world. Viking, based in Sidney, British Columbia, has been making spare parts for the aircraft since 1982 but only took over ... more