STRATFORD, Conn., - Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. today delivered an S-76C++™ helicopter to Merck & Co., Inc., marking the 700th delivery of an S-76® helicopter since the program’s inception in 1977. Sikorsky is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX). The new aircraft joins Merck’s corporate fleet, which includes three Sikorsky S-76C+™ helicopters. A ceremony celebrating the 700th delivery milestone took place this morning at Sikorsky’s headquarters in Stratford, Conn. Michael DelMastro, Senior Director, Aviation Services for Merck & Co., attended the ceremony and said, “We’ve had a long and successful history with Sikorsky. In safety and capability, the S-76 is second to none.”

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The 9-11 catastrophe is still etched in the minds of many, including Captain Rob Hogarth. While Capt Hogan is a proud member of Canada’s Air Force, as the twin towers fell on September 11 and United Flight 93 crashed in a farmer’s field, Capt Hogarth was among those doing their utmost to secure the skies over the U.S. Along with 14 other Canadians, Capt Hogarth is assigned to the New York Air National Guard’s Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/ang/neads/neads.php, a division of NORAD responsible for orchestrating the air defense of the eastern U.S. He’s now on his second tour with NEADS and served with them on New York City’s most tragic day in 2001.

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General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and tactical reconnaissance radars, and SENER Ingeniería y Sistemas, S.A., a leading Spanish engineering, consulting and systems integration company, today announced that they have signed a teaming agreement that promotes use of the Predator UAS series to support Spain’s airborne surveillance and reconnaissance requirements. “Our reliable and affordable Predator UAS series has provided nearly 400,000 flight hours of superior Intelligence, Reconnaissance and Surveillance [ISR] support to customers worldwide, including Italy, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States,” said Thomas J. Cassidy, Jr., president, Aircraft Systems Group, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. “These aircraft offer a proven, versatile, and cost-effective solution that will meet Spain’s surveillance requirements and expectations. We are pleased to team with SENER Ingeniería y Sistemas, S.A. in this important venture.”

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MCMINNVILLE, Ore. - In the 1950s, when comics were dominated by action and adventure, slapstick and gags, Minnesota cartoonist Charles M. Schulz dared to confront a lifelong sense of alienation and insecurity by drawing the real feelings of his life and times. His Peanuts characters’ insights on life’s struggles and disappointment have resonated with readers for more than 50 years. Snoopy (who was based on Schulz’s childhood black-and-white dog, Spike) possesses a unique view of the world that stands out to readers, even in the quirky Peanuts cast. The traveling exhibit, Snoopy as the World War I Flying Ace, opening on Wed., Jan. 30, 2008 at Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, presents Charles M. Schulz’s lovable beagle, Snoopy, as his alter ego, the Flying Ace. The exhibit showcases 40 of Snoopy’s most exciting adventures in his transformed doghouse—now a Sopwith Camel airplane —from the time he faced a deadly bout of influenza to sparring with the Flying Ace’s archenemy, the Red Baron. Snoopy as the World War I Flying Ace is toured by ExhibitsUSA, the national touring division of Mid-America Arts Alliance, a non-profit regional arts organization based in Kansas City, Missouri.

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Europrop International, manufacturer of the engine that will power the new Airbus A400M, receives today its EASA Design Organisation Approval (DOA). The Approval is handed over by Francesco Banal, Director of Approvals and Standardisation, at a ceremony in the Agency’s headquarters in Cologne, Germany. The DOA process started in 2003 and was completed last November, after a comprehensive assessment of the organisation by the Agency’s experts. The EASA DOA confirms an organization’s ability to design aviation products according to European safety standards and establishes a global quality framework for the management, responsibilities, procedures and resources needed for their certification.

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EASA, Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA) and the three Scandinavian Authorities of Denmark, Sweden and Norway met yesterday in Cologne to discuss the situation in Scandinavia of the DHC-8-400 airplane after the three accidents related to the Main Landing Gear of this aircraft in September and October 2007. The exchange of views was cooperative, useful and productive. It was agreed that good communication lines between all authorities involved have to be considered as being essential for dealing with safety matters. Existing systems for reporting of service difficulties and the exchange of available safety data between competent Authorities in Canada and in Europe will be jointly reviewed aiming to confirm its effectiveness.

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Ukraine International Airlines brings its customers closer to Europe’s richest romantic traditions during the February-March romantic season. UIA announced today the start of a 1.5-month long promotion of its top nine European destinations during February-March 2008 period. Destinations include the following cities – Amsterdam, Rome, Berlin, Frankfurt, Vienna, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon and Tbilisi. Tickets for two for weekend tours or week-long getaways are made available for advance purchase, each at a symbolic fare of 214 USD in February and 308 USD in March.* Travelers can immerse themselves in rich, over one thousand year old, St. Valentine’s holiday traditions, participate in numerous carnivals and festivals signifying the start of spring, visit Europe’s and the Caucasus region’s most romantic places, participate in unique events and indulge in exquisite culinary treats and select wines.

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FRANKFURT, Germany- January 31st, 2008 - Star Alliance has received the Market Leadership Award from specialist publication Air Transport World®. This is the first time that the leading monthly magazine covering the airline industry has selected a global airline alliance for an award. “In choosing Star Alliance, the editors are recognising its leadership position in constructing a seamless travel product for the traveller. This is demonstrated by the introduction of collocated and joint check-in facilities at multiple airports, shared lounges, Star Connection Centres and the compatibility of loyalty programmes,” said Perry Flint, Editorial Director and Associate Publisher of Air Transport World. “Furthermore, the development of StarNet and the selection of a common IT platform have set standards on how to establish an IT infrastructure for 19 member carriers and three regional member carriers. Star Alliance’s combined efforts are symbolised through the common-branding of representative aircraft from each alliance member,” he added.

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Hallbergmoos - Following signature of the Aircrew Synthetic Training Aids (ASTA) Supplement 5 agreement between Eurofighter GmbH and NETMA on 13 December 2007, today marks the formal launch of the contract. Supplement 5 of Procurement Contract 7 within the Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) framework represents Tranche 2 for the ASTA programme and is the enabler for the next batch of 15 ASTA devices to be delivered to the four partner Air Forces. The Supplement 5 simulators will incorporate a new state-of-the-art visual system with improved performance, resolution and visual effects features. The devices will also include new sub-systems, for example an auto-calibration system. The new features will not only improve the fidelity of the system but will also lower the maintenance costs.

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PARSIPPANY, N.J. PARSIPPANY, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan. 31, 2008–DRS Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: DRS) announced today that it received a $23 million order from the U.S. Army’s Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, to provide engineering support, field service support and general depot repairs for the Mast Mounted Sights (MMS) on OH-58 Kiowa Warrior attack helicopters. DRS also will provide post-production, engineering assistance and depot support for obsolescence mitigation. The work for this award will be accomplished by the company’s DRS Sensors & Targeting Systems - Optronics Division in Melbourne and Palm Bay, Florida.

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Alitalia informs that, within the legal term of slot release, it has today released the slots by the Company held at Milan-Malpensa airport, which it will not use during the coming summer season (March 30-October 25, 2008). The above information has been communicated and clearly explained to the President of the Regional Council of the Lombardy Region, Roberto Formigoni, and to the Mayor of Milan, Letizia Moratti, through the meetings held and the correspondence exchanged since last month of September, after the approval of the Company’s Business Plan.

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Wichita, Kan., Feb. 4, 2008 – Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, has completed wing mate on the first Citation CJ4. First flight of the newest member of the CJ family is scheduled later this year, with entry into service planned for the first half of 2010.

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Brussels, 31 January 2008 – Aviapartner, Europe’s leading independent ground handler, announces the appointment of Heath White as Chief Operating Officer of the Business Unit Cargo for the whole Aviapartner network, effective 4 February 2008. In this position, Heath will have full responsibility of all operational and commercial aspects of Aviapartner’s 32-station cargo network. Heath will also play a leading role in continuing to establish strong partnerships with Aviapartner’s cargo customers and he will be instrumental in the further expansion of the company’s cargo-handling network. Aviapartner Cargo has booked significant growth in 2007, with volumes increasing from 973,000 T to 1,380,000 T and foresees considerable growth for 2008 as well. The growth in cargo volumes in 2007 is mainly thanks to the acquisition by Aviapartner Cargo of the Amsterdam-based cargo-handler Aero Groundservices in April 2007.

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Fly tourists to the Frisian island Sylt and then follow the chain of small islands along the East Frisian coast. Or fly the daily mail run to the small islands, even if the weather over the North Sea shows its ugly side. German Airfields 1 - Island Hopping is the perfect environment for your flight adventures. Designed to fit perfectly into Aerosoft’s other German scenery this is the first release of the ‘German Airfields’ range and created by the best designers we could find. German Airfields will cover the best known GA airfields and smaller regional airports like Essen Mülheim and Berlin-Tempelhof.

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ProFlight Emulator Deluxe brings back the all time favourite Flight Simulator ATC program for FS2004 and FSX. Namely Pro Flight 2000. Picking up on this great program and adding new features to it makes it a perfect stand alone tool for an exciting ATC adventure within Microsoft Flight Simulator. PFE Deluxe includes everything needed to enjoy ProFlight 2000 including a full working copy of the original ProFlight 2000 program. PFE basically uses the flight plan data generated by ProFlight 2000 and the original localized voice sets too. For the user, it will be just like running a ProFlight 2000 adventure but with the most recent Flight Simulator version.

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Many of those who came in contact with the Dornier Do-27, couldn’t leave their hands from this airplane anymore. The Do-27 celebrated its 50th birthday just a few weeks ago, and even today it fascinates thousands of enthusiasts around the world. This addon for Microsoft Flight Simulator is leaving known paths and is quite different to the other add-on aircraft you might have experienced. Besides the extraordinary visual model this add-on is equipped with features that have never seen before in FS! Today, flight simulation pilots can be divided in two groups. The first group is trying to simulate flights so that it is as real as it gets, and other uses fly for recreational purposes and mostly do short flights in their spare time. No matter which party you belong to this add-on can be used in two modes: Pro and Simple. In ‘Simple’ mode, this aircraft can be flown just for fun and recreation. In ‘Pro’ mode you always have to keep an eye on all the systems of the aircraft. It is an exciting challenge because operating errors will have consequences. Flight time will be logged in this mode only and the pilot is rewarded with certificates.

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PASADENA, Calif. – A study by NASA and Louisiana State University scientists finds that sediments deposited into the Mississippi River Delta thousands of years ago when North America’s glaciers retreated are contributing to the ongoing sinking of Louisiana’s coastline. The weight of these sediments is causing a large section of Earth’s crust to sag at a rate of 0.1 to 0.8 centimeters (0.04 to 0.3 inches) a year. The sediments pose a particular challenge for New Orleans, causing it to sink irreversibly at a rate of about 0.4 centimeters (0.17 inches) a year, according to data from a network of global positioning system stations and a model of sediment data collected from the northern Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi Delta. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 focused national attention on the Gulf coast’s vulnerability to hurricanes due to loss of wetlands and sea level rise. These new findings add another factor for scientists, government agencies and the public to consider when assessing the vulnerability of the region to hurricanes and large storms.

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Want a peek at Saturn as seen from space? A new interactive 3-D viewer that uses a game engine and allows users to travel to Saturn and see it the way the Cassini spacecraft sees it is now online at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/CASSIE and NASA’s Cassini page. The Cassini at Saturn Interactive Explorer makes the real Cassini mission data fully available in three colorful, easy-to-use expeditions. The “Where is Cassini Now?” expedition shows exactly where the Cassini spacecraft is and what it is doing each moment over the current 24-hour period. Viewers can see the spacecraft move in its orbit and maneuver according to instructions from mission scientists and navigators at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

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WASHINGTON - The recent flyby of Mercury by NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft has given scientists an entirely new look at a planet once thought to have characteristics similar to those of Earth’s moon. Researchers are amazed by the wealth of images and data that show a unique world with a diversity of geological processes and a very different magnetosphere from the one discovered and sampled more than 30 years ago. After a journey of more than 2 billion miles and three and a half years, NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging spacecraft made its first flyby on Jan. 14. The mission is the first sent to orbit the planet closest to our sun. The spacecraft’s cameras and other sophisticated, high-technology instruments collected more than 1,200 images and made other science observations. Data included the first up-close measurements of Mercury since the Mariner 10 spacecraft’s third and final flyby on March 16, 1975.

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Brussels, Belgium – The number of Very Light Jets (VLJs) is set to soar in Europe, with up to 100 additional aircraft coming into service each year and 700 in operation by 2015, according to recent research from EUROCONTROL. To ensure that this growth can be handled safely and efficiently, the Agency has launched a new forum - the European VLJs Integration Platform (VIP) – to propose solutions for integrating VLJs into the European air traffic system. A number of large VLJ manufacturers and operators participate in the VIP. EUROCONTROL’s studies show that there are about 440 VLJs currently on order for operation in Europe. Of these, at least 230 are expected for delivery by the end of 2010. The majority of VLJs are expected to be used for air-taxi type work. Typically, this would result in each aircraft making an average of 2 to 3 flights a day, adding 200 to 300 extra flights per day each year.

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Atlantic Airways, flag carrier of the Faroe Islands and based in Sørvágur, has signed a firm contract for one Airbus A319 plus one option, and becomes a new Airbus customer. Atlantic Airways’ Airbus A319s will feature a comfortable single-class cabin layout. The aircraft will be operated on the airlines’ network between the Faroes and Denmark as well as to other growth destinations in Europe. “We are very pleased to have selected the Airbus A319. We have considered several good alternatives in our selection process, but in the end we found Airbus to have the overall best solution for us”, said Magni Arge, Chief Executive Officer of Atlantic Airways. “Selection of this aircraft gives us the best possibility of running a viable operation on the existing short runway and also take the benefits from an extended runway on the Faroe Islands which we hope to have in place in 2011.”

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Atlantic Express, the Air Atlantique ATR division, is to be re-modelled for 2008. The aircraft will be operated by Skyblue Aviation Ltd, the company based at Exeter Airport best known for it pilot training services. Initially a single ATR 42 will be available. The aircraft will be configured 2+2 with 46 leather seats and a cold galley is provided. The aircraft is expected to be ‘on line’ from Monday 17 March. Based at Coventry Airport, Atlantic Express is part of the Air Atlantique Group, one of the UK’s longest established specialist airline organisations with a history dating to the 1960s. It has been an ATR operator for a number of years. It also runs the world famous Classic Flight vintage passenger aircraft collection, including Douglas DC3, de Havilland Rapide and Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer.

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WASHINGTON – NATCA honored Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., and Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., with its annual “Sentinel of Safety” award during each Congressman’s respective appearances Tuesday before more than 350 air traffic controllers gathered at NATCA’s annual legislative conference, “NATCA in Washington.” The “Sentinel of Safety” Award was created as a way to honor a member of the aviation and legislative communities who has displayed outstanding achievement in the advancement of aviation safety. The award is open to all leaders of the aviation community, with a special emphasis on those whose leadership on aviation safety issues has been historic, aggressive and courageous.

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airBaltic, Latvia’s national airline, has selected AD Aerospace Ltd, UK, to provide video based cockpit security systems for Boeing 737 and 757 commercial airliners. The CabinVu-123 Cockpit Door Monitoring Systems will enhance pilots situational awareness with a clear view of any activity outside the cockpity door and in the adjacent galleys, and enhances the secutiy of the cockpit. “We selected AD Aerospace as we have been very happy with the FlightVu and CabinVu 123 systems we already have on Boeing 737-500 and 737-300 aircraft and CabinVu-123 offers improvements in weight and installation ,” said Oleg Zarianski, Avionics Engineer of airBaltic. “This will add to the already high levels of safety and security we offer our passengers and crew.”

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BETHESDA, Md. – January 30, 2008 – Iridium® Satellite and the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Secretariat are pleased to announce the successful conclusion of a meeting at the Royal Society in London on January 22, 2008. The meeting, “Exploiting the New Earth Observation Paradigm,” organized by Trident Sensors Ltd., was a follow-up to the GEO IV Plenary and Ministerial Summit in Cape Town last November. The meeting brought together over 120 representatives from the international environment and climate science communities, leading U.S. and European weather and space agencies, and aerospace industry representatives to explore plans to host Earth observation payloads on Iridium’s NEXT constellation. The unprecedented temporal and spatial coverage of key variables in global climate and environment change was clearly demonstrated, filling voids in monitoring systems and highlighting critical missions. Participants also discussed the unique public-private partnership, the opportunity it affords, and funding methods for these missions.

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