SAN JOSE, Calif. (July 31, 2008) - Vision Systems International, LLC (VSI), has been awarded an initial contract at more than $17 million from Boeing for the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) in 145 F-15E Strike Eagles. The contract includes dual-seat capable JHMCS hardware and pilot equipment to include helmets and visors. Initial deliveries have already commenced and will continue through mid-2009. “The situational awareness capabilities afforded by JHMCS in the air-to-ground mission environment are necessities given today’s battlespace, and providing a dual-seat capability is phenomenally important,” said VSI President Drew Brugal. “Getting our JHMCS on the Strike Eagle has been a key company goal since we started developing the system in 1996.”

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TEWKSBURY, Mass., July 31, 2008 /PRNewswire/ — Two software products developed by Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) subsidiary Raytheon Solipsys are key components of a recently fielded system managing airspace in Iraq. The Battlespace Command and Control Center (BC3) employed by the U.S. Central Command for airspace management in Iraq uses the Raytheon Solipsys advanced track fusion engine, Multi-Source Correlator Tracker (MSCT), and tactical visualization powered by the Tactical Display Framework (TDF). Since its deployment to Iraq, BC3 successfully completed operational testing and was fielded in February 2008 in response to an urgent capabilities need for an improved command and control system to manage U.S. and coalition air traffic in Iraq.

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SELEX Galileo, of Finmeccanica, is pleased to announce the signing of a subcontract with CAE for work on the initial training capability for Alenia Aermacchi’s M-346 new generation advanced lead-in fighter trainer. CAE was selected earlier this year by Alenia Aermacchi (AAEM) as preferred full-mission simulator supplier for the M-346 aircraft. As part of the M-346 program, AAEM awarded CAE a contract for the design, development and validation of the Initial Training Capability, which includes the prototype M-346 flight training device. SELEX Galileo will contribute to the M-346 training programme through simulator systems development and delivery. SELEX Galileo will have responsibility for the Instructor Operating Station (IOS) and provide parts of the avionics simulation and the cockpit.

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Newport News, Va. –(July 31, 2008)—International Communications Group, Inc. (ICG) announced today that it has received Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA) from the FAA to produce an updated version of its NxtLink 200 Iridium Communications System with fax and Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) capabilities. The approval, which was granted during the first week of July 2008, expands the in-flight communications options for all aircraft, specifically for G150 and G200 operators. “ICG continues to lead the business aviation industry in providing versatility and added capabilities in satellite communications,” said Jeff Saucedo, Vice President of Product Sales for ICG. “With this version of the 200 now added to our long list of PMA products, our customers can easily upgrade their Satcom systems,” Saucedo states. “This upgrade includes a direct interface for fax and ACARS, and makes the transition from office to airplane virtually seamless for all operators.” ”The NxtLink 200’s added weather graphics feature can even enhance the safety and comfort of flight by providing the crew with an additional resource to use in avoiding threatening weather.”

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EAGAN, Minn. - (July 31, 2008) - Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA) announced today the final phase of its redesign of nwa.com, bringing customers an even more intuitive website with personalized products and easy navigation. The WorldPerks®, check-in and booking sections of nwa.com were previously launched in the new design. Today’s final launch caps an 18 month effort to build a design around customer needs and convenience. “The redesign of nwa.com took into account customer focus groups, feedback and our web tracking tools and analysis,” said Al Lenza, Northwest Airlines’ vice president of e-commerce. “With our latest online enhancements, we are bringing our customers an easier and more personalized way to manage their travel.”

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FORT WORTH, Texas, July 31st, 2008 — The U.S. Department of Defense has released $1 billion of funding to acquire six Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft as part of the second Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) contract for the F-35. The LRIP 2 contract, worth $2.2 billion for a total of 12 aircraft, was awarded in May. At that time the government authorized six conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) F-35As, with release of $933 million, and gave provisional approval for the STOVL jets pending certain requirements. Those stipulations were met by the first flight of the initial F-35B test aircraft on June 11 and by completion of a propulsion system review on July 22. The government exercised the option for the STOVL aircraft and released the $1 billion on July 22. The government had previously released long-lead funding of $158 million in July 2007 for the 12 LRIP 2 aircraft. An additional $110 million of sustainment options remains to be authorized in the 4th quarter of 2008.

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PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — Pikes Peak Lodge manages aging facilities, but one thing that keeps them looking younger than their years is the attentive care of its maintenance staff. One maintenance employee, Phil McCaffrey, received the Air Force Innkeeper Travelers’ Award July 19. The Innkeeper team made the announcement and presented the award at a farewell potluck for the team at the Spanish House here. The Innkeeper Travelers’ Award is presented to lodging team members who exemplify the highest standards of professionalism, attitude, customer service and job knowledge. “I was stunned. I didn’t know what to say,” said Mr. McCaffrey, known by many in his unit as “Mac.” “I was sitting at the picnic table and talking with some folks at the time. This took me completely by surprise.”"Mac represents our finest customer service and attention to detail that everyone in the Air Force should strive for,” said Joey Sanchez, Pikes Peak Lodge general manager. “He works in the oldest building in Pikes Peak Lodge, but it shines. You could have the best facilities in the Air Force but a staff that doesn’t support it. In our case, we have good but aging facilities and a superior staff that makes everything come together,”

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PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — Most people don’t like to lose things: keys, identification cards, their minds - but the loss of pounds or a few unwanted inches are often much more desirable. That’s exactly what participants in the 21st Space Wing’s Health and Wellness Center’s ‘Lighten Up’ program are doing. In fact, their recent group has lost over 100 pounds. The Lighten Up Program is an Air Force initiative derived from a program developed by the Diabetes Institute to prevent diabetes and help people make healthy life choices. The 12-week program covers a variety of subjects, like healthy eating, motivation, exercise and overcoming issues. Peterson is the first base in the Air Force to offer the class and it’s quickly gaining popularity. “I wanted to try something new,” said Staff Sgt. Tiffani Ball, 16th Space Control Squadron supply operations specialist. “I like that it’s low threat and voluntary. The support is great.” “There is a lot of good info, and checking in every week keeps you motivated,” said Michele Gaudreault, Air Force Space Command A9 Chief of Technology Assessment, who has lost two percent of her body fat so far.

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PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — Tierra Vista Communities is a partnership formed between the U.S. Air Force and Actus Lend Lease that is part of the Military Housing Privatization Initiative, a critical component in the effort to eliminate inadequate housing and foster a better quality of life for U.S. servicemembers and their families. Since the public-private partnership officially began more than six months ago, several significant changes have taken place, with many more happening during the next few years. When completed, 597 new and 53 renovated houses will serve as homes for Peterson’s military families.

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Some 150 experts from the aviation industry gathered today at the Singapore Aviation Academy (SAA) for the inaugural Aviation Insight Series, which was launched by Mr Lim Kim Choon, Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. The Aviation Insight Series, which will be held quarterly, provides a unique platform for both local and international aviation professionals to share their insights and experience on topical issues. The Aviation Insight Series kicked off with a talk by Mr William Voss, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Flight Safety Foundation. Mr Voss spoke on ‘Balancing Safety and Compliance in the Regulatory Environment’, discussing issues relating to balancing safety and compliance and the importance of the operator-regulator relationship.

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The Trust Thamesmead Summer Festival which took place in Birchmere Park was a huge success and attracted over 15,000 people for a family afternoon of fun in the sunshine. The festival was split into different zones which were jam packed with things to do. The Activity Zone included a climbing wall sponsored by London City Airport. Used to publicise The cAve, an indoor climbing wall centre in Thamesmead, the wall was popular throughout the afternoon with people of all ages eager to camber to the very top. Accustomed to helping people reach new heights, London City Airport has sponsored the Climbing Wall at the Trust Thamesmead Summer Festival for three consecutive years.

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As the NextGen initiative moves further into implementation, more locations are being established as test beds for its key components. The newest site is Charleston, S.C. Representatives from the FAA, the Air Force, and Delta Air Lines met last week to discuss what it would take to begin trying optimal profile descent approaches (once known as continuous descent arrivals) at Charleston International Airport. An optimal profile descent approach is designed to enable an aircraft to descend from en route altitudes to touchdown at the lowest power settings possible. Instead of the airplane repeatedly descending and leveling off in a stair-step fashion, it would continue to descend steadily all the way through to landing. The results are reduced financial costs by less use of fuel, fewer emissions, and noise mitigation.

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RESTON, VA, Jul 30, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) — Serco Inc. was awarded the Willie F. Card Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Contract Tower Service Award for delivering air traffic control safety and service excellence at the Phoenix Goodyear Tower in Arizona. Serco has been awarded this honor four of the past six years. The fourth busiest single runway operation in the United States, the Phoenix Goodyear Tower successfully managed more than 190,000 error-free operations in 2007, representing an 86% increase in traffic over the previous two years. Serco’s Air Traffic Controllers reported an unprecedented zero errors in more than 1.6 million operations since they assumed responsibility for the tower’s operations from the FAA in 1996. The Phoenix Goodyear Tower was recognized #1 among a pool of 240 Federal Contract Towers.

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At least seven people were reported dead in the crash Thursday of a plane in Owatonna, Minnesota, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said. The plane left Atlantic City, New Jersey, Thursday morning and crashed off runway 30 at Owatonna’s Degner Regional Airport, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said. The plane, a Hawker 800 series, was filled with customers for Owatonna architectural glass manufacturer Viracon, CNN affiliate KARE reported. It was not immediately clear if the plane was arriving at or departing from the airport, Cory said.

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Photography is continually changing, and this version of Photography reflects that change. Digital imaging dominates photography. In the image here, a computer screen displays a cutaway view of a view camera, a type of camera that has been in use since the invention of photography. This edition updates the traditional practice of photog¬raphy as well as updating current technologies. Throughout this new edition, you will find infor¬mation about both conventional film photography and digital capture. Techniques such as lighting and composition, central to both digital and film photography, are presented. This book shows how to make photographs, how to control photographic processes, and how different photographers employ them for their own creative purposes.

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GENEVA, 31 July 2008 – Airports report a slowing passenger traffic growth trend in June 2008, with worldwide growth at a modest 2 percent. High oil and jet fuel prices, stock market turbulences, inflation and an uncertain economic outlook have taken their toll on air traffic in June, also impacting half year figures. International traffic in June, although in previous months a strong driver of overall growth, has slowed to 3.2 percent compared to June 2007. The two largest international markets Europe and Asia-Pacific regions reported 2.4 and 0 percent increases respectively, whereas Africa and Middle East both increased by 13 percent, followed by Latin America & Caribbean region at 7 percent, North America at 5.4 increases. The bright spots in international traffic remain Egypt and South Africa, as well as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Lebanon. Asia Pacific international traffic contracted mainly due to China, Taiwan and Japan. Bangkok (+5.1%), Singapore (+2.9%), Kuala Lumpur (+6.5%) and Hong Kong (+5.5%) still show moderate growth, but are significantly down from previous levels.

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Airways New Zealand has, for the third year running, received national recognition for the quality of its software development in the Computerworld Magazine Excellence in ICT Awards. The Airways-developed Collaborative Arrivals Manager won the Excellence in the Use of ICT for Customer Service and Best Sustainable ICT Project award categories. Airways Collaborative Arrivals Manager (CAM) is a critical time management tool which enables Airways’ airline customers to jointly agree on priority flights and re-schedule their services into the most cost effective configuration they choose, by matching demand to capacity at various New Zealand airports. It does this enabling airline operators to manipulate their fleet and network configurations in real time, so that any delays are incurred on the ground rather than in the air, minimising fuel burn, CO2 emissions and noise.

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ST. LOUIS, July 31, 2008 — A team led by Boeing [NYSE: BA] Advanced Systems has been awarded a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract for the first phase of the Fast Access Spacecraft Testbed (FAST) program. DARPA’s FAST is a multiphase effort to design and develop a ground test prototype of a new High Power Generation Subsystem (HPGS) for spacecraft. During Phase 1, Boeing will develop a complete plan for a demonstration system. Team members include DR Technologies, Northrop Grumman Astro Aerospace, Texas A&M University, Spectrolab Inc. (a Boeing subsidiary), and key suppliers.

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BEIJING, July 31, 2008 — Students from Northwest Polytechnic University, Wuhan University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology earned the top three prizes in the 2008 Boeing Shanghai Challenge for their concepts about how to operate an aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in a more environmentally progressive fashion. The Boeing Shanghai Challenge, hosted by Boeing [NYSE: BA], Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services, Tsinghua University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, invited teams of students from across China to prepare “green” concepts for the Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services MRO operation.

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The nineteenth report of the UK Airprox Board (UKAB) was published today. It covers statistics for all of 2007 together with findings on recorded Airprox incidents within UK airspace between July and December 2007. During the last six months of 2007, 79 Airprox were reported and investigated, 21 fewer than the average of comparable figures recorded in each of the previous five years. The total number of Airprox in 2007 was 154 compared with 159 in 2006. Of these 154 incidents, 65 involved at least one Commercial Air Transport (CAT) aircraft compared with 74 in 2006. Five of the 65 incidents were judged as risk-bearing, the lowest number recorded in the period 1998 to 2007. For the second year running there were no Category A (actual risk of collision) events involving CAT aircraft recorded in 2007.

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TUCSON, Ariz. — Laboratory tests aboard NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander’s robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples. “We have water,” said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA. “We’ve seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted.” With enticing results so far and the spacecraft in good shape, NASA also announced operational funding for the mission will extend through Sept. 30. The original prime mission of three months ends in late August. The mission extension adds five weeks to the 90 days of the prime mission.

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NEW YORK, July 31, 2008 – Henri Courpron, President Seabury-Europe, today announced that Seabury has expanded its European presence and increased its scope of capabilities with the addition of Dr. Christopher J. Smith, Managing Director, to its Corporate Advisory Group. Dr. Smith will expand the capabilities from the London office to serve the City’s financial community by providing due diligence and support for transactions in the airline, airport and aviation-related business sectors. In addition, Dr. Smith is broadening Seabury’s capabilities by establishing an airports advisory practice. Dr. Smith most recently was Managing Director of SH&E Limited, with responsibility for the firm’s management consulting business focusing on airports, airlines and air traffic services in the UK and Europe. Seabury’s London office serves the global financial industry based in London and augments Seabury’s European Amsterdam headquarters and its office in Toulouse, France, where its aerospace business is based.

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Navigraph is proud to announce the release of terminal procedures (SIDs/STARs) for the Level-D 767 addon aircraft. This new addition will significantly enhance the experience of one of the most popular and realistic addons. The terminal procedures will be updated with each AIRAC cycle, every 28 days. After long and hard development work, Navigraph is proud to announce that the Level-D 767 FMS data now includes terminal procedures (SIDs/STARs). This is the first public version of the procedures. While the development team has spent much effort to eliminate bugs and anomalies, there might still be issues that need attention and correction. It is not possible to test every procedure at every airport, so users’ assistance is needed in order to make the final improvements of the data quality.

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MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. — NASA will fly two nanosatellites as secondary payloads aboard the SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket planned for launch in August or September. Spaceflight engineers and project managers at NASA’s Ames Research Center, and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., teamed together to arrange a fast-paced, low-cost mission. The mission provides an opportunity to demonstrate NASA-developed spaceflight technologies and the Ames-developed modular approach to constructing the PharmaSat Risk Evaluation (or PRESat) and NanoSail-D satellites. This same approach was used successfully on a previous mission, GeneSat, and will be used for the upcoming PharmaSat mission, scheduled to launch later this year. “This mission provides NASA with a unique opportunity to evaluate how our nanosatellite spacecraft and its payload perform, while demonstrating our ability to conduct fast turn-around, low-cost spaceflight projects,” said John Hines, chief technologist at Ames’ Small Spacecraft Division and PRESat-NanoSail-D technical director. “This collaborative mission has enabled NASA to demonstrate and support cutting-edge technologies.”

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Soaring oil prices have hit Airlines extremely hard, having a huge knock on effect within the aviation industry. Flight routes have been dropped, ticket prices have spiralled higher, ticket sales have fallen, profits are down and some Airlines face going under. In the current climate, how can Airlines reduce their overheads and operating costs quickly and efficiently? One answer to this questions lies with a company called newbow aerospace ltd. Newbow aerospace ltd is the World’s leading manufacturer and supplier of specialist aircraft and aviation tire service equipment, tooling and instrumentation. Currently supplying a vast range of aircraft tire inflation and pressure measurement equipment to more than 40% of leading World Airlines, Aviation Maintenance Companies and numerous World Governments across the Globe, their superior equipment is now being recognised as a cost effective solution to reducing airline operating costs.

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