Marc Joel Atrero

Worth the wait The Qantas A380 era began when the first of its double-decker giants, VH-OQA Nancy-Bird Walton, touched down at Sydney Airport at 9am on September 21. That historic landing (pictured above) marked the end of an eight year wait for the most anticipated commercial aircraft in decades. The A380 is the world’s biggest,

DSTO tests extend Hornet lives The DoD recently confirmed that plans to refurbish up to 49 of the RAAF’s F/A-18A/B Hornets with new centre barrel fuselage sections had been revised down to just 10 airframes. Scaling back the Air 5376 Phase 3. 2 plan allows project managers to ‘hand back’ up to $400 million in

Airborne training for the Navy The task of providing airborne training support to the Royal Australian Navy’s frigates is a complex and multi faceted one. In order to accomplish these ongoing and demanding tasks, the ADF relies on a range of specialist civilian operators and aircraft to provide electronic warfare (EW), target towing, range clearance,

Neat, light & dainty Jodels are neat, light, dainty and highly efficient, French designed, wood-and-fabric tailwheel aeroplanes. Mostly they use trusty four-cylinder Continental A65, A75, C-85, C-90 or O-200 engines, although some later, lighter versions have Volkswagens or Jabirus. This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members. Login Become a Member To continue reading

The race to build a super-jumbo In 1989, Boeing was supreme and the 747 was still “Queen. ” The 747-400 entered service with Northwest in January 1989 and the father of the 747, Joe Sutter, told this writer at the time that a 747-500 stretch was a “natural. ” Airbus and McDonnell Douglas (MDC) had

Power to the people mover Choosing an aircraft engine is always a complex process for airlines, but choosing an engine for an aircraft which pushes the boundaries of powered flight is even more complex. That was the situation facing Qantas in 2001 following its November 2000 order for 12 Airbus A3XXs, as the A380 was