TWO Europeans have joined the US-based Joint Helicopter Safety Analysis Team (JHSAT) which is seeking to reduce worldwide helicopter accidents by 80% over the next ten years.Marieke Van Hijum and Edmond Boullay from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) will help the Team analyse helicopter accidents in Europe. Until now, the analysis has all been of US accident data as 48% of the worldwide helicopter fleet operates in the US, and 36% of ... more

Black Hawk deal first step to full takeover of PZLUS GIANT Sikorsky is trying to buy Polish manufacturer PZL Mielec. The deal was going through as LOOP went to press but Sikorsky president, Jeffery Pino, has confirmed they want to acquire the whole company.PZL is already heavily involved with Sikorsky in the manufacture of an international version of the Black Hawk military helicopter.Speaking at the PZL factory, Pino said: "We are her ... more

CESSNA has won full FAA certification for its new twin-engine, single-pilot Citation Mustang, making it the first of the new breed of Very Light Jets (VLJs) to do so.Cessna was in a race with rivals Eclipse, whose 500 received part-certification last July. Several other manufacturers including Diamond, Grob, Embraer, Honda, and Adam are also working on VLJs. "The Citation Mustang will bring the benefits of jet ownership to more people ... more

HONDA will start taking orders for its HondaJet VLJ next month at the annual National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Convention. Price? About $3 million. W: http://world.honda.com/HondaJet/ ... more

Aircraft noise prompts NIMBYs into confrontation at GamstonGAMSTON Airport is facing a crisis after local residents discovered a condition that prevents local flying schools from carrying out training.A campaign against the airport started last summer after a non-resident flight school used the area for two weeks of intensive flying training. Since then, a small number of residents believe the disruptive flying has continued and have comp ... more

CROSSWINDS and a mixed weather forecast hampered but did not overly affect the British Aerobatic event at Fenland on 1-2 September. Rob Deeth beat himself to win the beginners class with a very acceptable score of 68.478%, but the Intermediate Fenland and Standard McAully classes were highly competitive.Luke Goddard won the Fenland Trophy by a very fine margin of 0.28% from Paul Tomlinson. Ed Harding took the McAully Trophy from Sibson's Ch ... more

RUSSIAN pilots - and planes - dominated the European Unlimited Aerobatic Championships, held at Grenchen, Switzerland from 29 August to 9 September.Winner Mikhail Mamistov beat an extremely competitive field including last year's world champion Sergey Rakmanin. It was Mamistov's second European championship - he won the last one in 2004. He's also a former world champion in both powered aerobatics (2001) and gliders (1995 & 1997).French ... more

Success for British WWII warbirds in annual air racesBRITISH-built Hawker Sea Furys took first and second in the Unlimited Class of the annual Reno Air Races, held in Nevada from 13 to 17 September. Three more Sea Furys were placed in the top ten.Mike Brown's 'September Fury' won outright with a speed of 481.619mph round the pylon course out in the desert. Second was Matt Jackson in 'Dreadnought' with a speed of 453.559mph.The Unlimited Class ... more

 WOLVERHAMPTON Airport has made a number of changes and offers aimed at the GA market:All classes of microlight are now welcome, with an unlicensed grass strip available running alongside runway 10/28 For every 10 litres of fuel purchased by single engined aircraft, a 10% discount is given off the next landing fee. Uptake 100 litres of fuel, the next landing is freeHelicopters taking a rotors running refuel only pay a 50% landing ... more

THE de Havilland Twin Otter moved a step closer to going back into production last month. British Columbia-based Viking Air, held a conference for operators to evalute demand for the 19-seat aircraft.Viking Air has specialised in de Havilland products for 30 years and recently acquired Type Certificates for seven aircraft including the DHC-2 Beaver, DHC-3 Otter and DHC-6 Twin Otter. “We have had positive discussions with Transport Canada ... more

New airline pilot licence cheaper but has less ‘real-life’ flying timeAIRLINE pilots could be taking their place in the right seat after just 70 hours of ‘real’ flying time when the new Multi-Pilot Licence (MPL) is introduced next month.The rest of the training - 250 hours - will take place in flight simulators, which will allow train organisations to slash actual flying hours in a real aircraft by more than half.The MPL is the resu ... more

"A SENSELESS waste of tax dollars!" That's the angry view of pilots in Texas - and elsewhere - to the news that the US Air Force has destroyed all 110 of the Slingsby T-3 Firefly single-engine piston aircraft it bought for training pilots.Reports say the aircraft were in flying condition when they were put into storage at a USAF base in Hondo, Texas nine years ago after a series of training accidents. The Slingsbys, which cost $32 ... more

MX Aircraft building special single-seater for 2007 seriesAMERICAN kitplane maker MX Aircraft is working on a new single-seat aerobatic aircraft for next year's Red Bull World Air Race Series.The new aircraft is a development of the Florida company's existing two-seat MX2. Designer Chris Meyer told LOOP: "The solid performance of the MX2 has prompted us to build a single-seat version called the MXS. This aircraft is designed for true u ... more