A total of 56 aircraft were p-resent at the EBACE 2014 static display Photo: Jacob Pfleger | AirlineReporter
In part 1 of my EBACE coverage I provided a brief background and some news from the event. This installment will cover the aircraft static display — and they were impressive.
There was a total of 56 aircraft on display, ranging from large airliner-type business aircraft such as the BBJ and Airbus A319CJ, right through to Very Light Jet (VLJ) models such as the Eclipse 500.
Both the Big and Small such as this Piaggio Avanti were on display Photo: Jacob Pfleger | AirlineReporter
Although there were the same amount of aircraft as last year at the static display, I did find last year’s show to have greater variety of aircraft than this year. Even so, this year’s display did not disappoint.
Most of the aircraft on display are generally offered for sale or charter, and of the 10 aircraft I viewed, at least three or four had already been sold at the show. This illustrates the importance of a static display; not just to please us AvGeeks, but also as a strategic selling point of the aircraft – think of it like a super luxury outdoor car lot.
From one flag on the tail to another, we get to see the transformation of an US Airways Airbus A319 from their livery to the new American Airlines livery. Now, are there still people out there who don’t like the new American livery?
Composite image of the Mitsubishi MRJ – Image: Mitsubishi
This story was written by John Cameron for AirlineReporter.
The MRJ will be the first airliner designed and produced in Japan since the 1960s.
A bright new day will soon be dawning in the world of commercial aviation as a new breed of narrow-body jets take to the skies in the coming years. Fittingly, one aircraft heralding this ’œnew day’ will be arriving from the land of the rising sun ’“ Japan.
The aircraft, dubbed the MRJ (Mitsubishi Regional Jet), has been in development since 2008 when Mitsubishi Heavy Industries formed a subsidiary (the aptly-named Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation) for the design and production work. Once complete, it will be the first airliner designed and produced in Japan since the venerable NAMC YS-11 ’“ a turboprop developed in the early 1960s to replace the aging DC-3s that were flying many of Japan’s domestic routes at the time.
The Slovak Government Tupolev Tu-154M – Photo: Jacob Pfleger | AirlineReporter
Not too many opportunities exist in this day and age where one can still take flight on a classic Russian aircraft, let alone in a VIP configuration. Recently, I was fortunate enough to be invited to take part in a flight onboard a Slovak Government Flying Service (SSG) Tupolev TU-154M. For me, this would be my first-ever flight on a Russian aircraft, and to say I was excited would be an understatement.
Time to board my first Russian aircraft – Photo: Jacob Pfleger | AirlineReporter
The flight would be an empty ferry sector from Prague-Bratislava, a short 40-minute hop, but I knew I would savor every minute. SSG presently has four aircraft in its fleet, but only three are in operational service. The fleet consists of two Tupolev TU-154Ms (reg numbers OM-BYO and OM-BYR), with the latter being used for spare parts.
The remaining two aircraft are Yakovlev YAK-40s (reg numbers OM-BYE and OM-BYL). The Slovak Government not only carries out various head of state and other VIP missions, it also participates in various humanitarian and troop-carrying missions on behalf of the Slovak Government.
The Airbus A350 endures -40 degrees Celsius during cold testing – Photo: Airbus
Airbus took MSN002, A350-900 test bed aircraft, to the US Air Force’s McKinley Climatic Laboratory to give it a bit of a chill. Eglin Air Force Base, which hosts the lab, is located in the sunny state of Florida, but is able to provide low temperature testing. The A350 XWB was subjected to “multiple climatic and humidity settings,” including temperatures from 113 deg F (45 C) down to -40 deg F (-40 C).
During engine tests, to keep the aircraft in place, it had to be chained down. But it was important to make sure the engines could start up and operate at different temperatures.
Many of the A350 systems were checked during the tests including the in-flight entertainment, air conditioning, galleys, and water & waste systems. Luckily for us, Airbus did a great job documenting the process via photos and video.
