Australian Aviation

Rolls-Royce has revealed details of new commercial engines it is developing for future airliners from next decade. The manufacturer said it is developing two new engines – the Advance and the UltraFan – to build upon and replace its Trent series of engines. This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members. LoginBecome a MemberTo

Airbus’s A350 text fleet doubled in size on February 26 when MSN2 and MSN4 made their first flights from Toulouse. The new aircraft join MSNs1 and 3 in the flight test program which is planned to comprise 2500 hours in the lead up to certification in September. This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members. LoginBecome

The Pentagon has released its proposed FY2015 defence budget, in which it plans to retire the USAF’s entire A-10C close air support and U-2S reconnaissance aircraft fleets. The FY15 budget commences on October 1 this year, and the planned cuts are designed to save money for higher priority programs such as the F-35 JSF, KC-46A

Bell has unveiled a full-scale mock-up of its new 505 Jet Ranger X at the Heli-Expo 2014 in Los Angeles. Previously known as the Short Light Single (SLS), the 505 will be feature a Turbomeca Arrius 2R engine with dual FADEC providing 376kW at takeoff, a high inertia rotor system, and the Garmin G1000H avionics

The Virgin Independent Pilots Association (VIPA) has echoed comments by airline CEO John Borghetti last week criticising a government proposal to offer a debt guarantee to Qantas. In a February 26 statement, VIPA questioned Qantas’s “ongoing capacity dumping” in order to maintain its 65 per cent ‘line in the sane’ market share, saying Qantas “added

The US Navy has awarded Boeing a production contract for 16 P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft, the first full-rate production contract for the 737 derivative. The order takes total US Navy orders to 53 P-8s, 37 of which had previously been ordered in low-rate production batches, and 13 of which have been delivered to date.