http://www.aviationtoday.com Aviation Today en-us 2013 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:58:39 EDT The North American arm of AgustaWestland uncovered plans April 30 to build the AW169 at its 275,000-square-foot U.S. manufacturing complex at Northeast Philadelphia Airport (PNE), becoming a second location to the OEM’s plant in Vergiate, Italy. (The company also lists its facility in Yeovil, UK as... http://www.aviationtoday.com/rw/issue/departments/rotorcraftreport/AgustaWestland-to-Bolster-Philadelphia-Production-Line-with-Addition-of-AW169_79350.html Sat, 1 Jun 2013 0:00:00 EDT Moving a step closer toward cleaner and quieter aircraft, Turbomeca displayed its core TECH800 demonstrator engine in public for the first time on Friday, April 26. This innovative core engine demonstrator was designed and tested by Turbomeca, although the program is the result of cooperation between 34... http://www.aviationtoday.com/rw/issue/departments/rotorcraftreport/TECH800-Engine-Demonstrator-Explores-the-Move-to-Cleaner-Skies_79351.html Sat, 1 Jun 2013 0:00:00 EDT The U.S. Army’s Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) procurement saga took another twist in May when Lt. Gen. William Phillips, Army acquisition advisor to the Secretary of the Army, appeared before a Senate Armed Services Congressional subcommittee on Airland. Commenting on last summer’s flying technology... http://www.aviationtoday.com/rw/issue/departments/rotorcraftreport/Army-Advisor-Pours-Cold-Water-Over-AAS-Tech-Demos_79352.html Sat, 1 Jun 2013 0:00:00 EDT Eurocopter “now fully understands the root cause of the cracking and need to go to validation of both the final and immediate fix,” said outgoing President and CEO Lutz Bertling at the company’s headquarters in Marignane on April 18. He was addressing the problem with the main gear bevel... http://www.aviationtoday.com/rw/issue/departments/rotorcraftreport/Eurocopter-Identifies-EC225-Gear-Bevel-Shaft-Cracking_79355.html Sat, 1 Jun 2013 0:00:00 EDT Products | R&D Eurocopter conducted the first public flight of its optionally manned capability in late April at the Istres air base, located in the south of France and near the company’s Marignane facility. The demonstration aircraft, an EC145 with 70 lbs of control equipment onboard, flew two... http://www.aviationtoday.com/rw/issue/departments/rotorcraftreport/Eurocopter-Demonstrates-Optionally-Piloted-Helicopter_79356.html Sat, 1 Jun 2013 0:00:00 EDT L-3 Wescam has conducted flight demonstrations for several new weapon systems at the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, using MD500 helicopters. The flight tests demonstrated L-3 Wescam’s MX series designator systems... http://www.aviationtoday.com/rw/issue/departments/rotorcraftreport/L-3-Wescam-Completes-MD540-Flight-Demos-for-MX-Series_79371.html Sat, 1 Jun 2013 0:00:00 EDT FAA has selected FreeFlight Systems to provide upgraded automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) avionics to fulfill the requirements of the second phase of its Capstone Project. The project was originally launched in 1999 as a joint government-industry research and development effort to improve... http://www.aviationtoday.com/rw/issue/departments/rotorcraftreport/FreeFlight-to-Provide-Avionics-for-Capstone-ADS-B-in-Alaska_79372.html Sat, 1 Jun 2013 0:00:00 EDT How do you get high-speed, efficient performance from a hybrid rotorcraft design? The U.S. Defense Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA) is looking for organizations to help answer that question as part of its vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) X-Plane program, and an Australian company is suggesting one... http://www.aviationtoday.com/rw/issue/departments/rotorcraftreport/X-Plane-Project-Gets-Early-Submission-Hybrid-RotorWing_79373.html Sat, 1 Jun 2013 0:00:00 EDT Marcus Bryson, CEO of GKN Aerospace, reports that the company’s sales are up 13 percent to just under £7 billion. GKN is a Tier 1 supplier to the aviation industry and operates through four divisions with facilities in 35 countries and an employee base of 50,000. Bryson said that GKN has turned... http://www.aviationtoday.com/rw/issue/departments/rotorcraftreport/GKN-Aerospace-Defense-Business-Remains-Strong-Despite-Civil-Emphasis_79374.html Sat, 1 Jun 2013 0:00:00 EDT The first OH-58F Kiowa Warrior has conducted its maiden flight at Redstone Arsenal, Ala. There are currently three aircraft with the U.S. Army—two OH-58Fs and one OH-58D with F model. Col. John Lynch, TRADOC capability manager, emphasized that the aircraft were the first to feature the CASUP (Cockpit... http://www.aviationtoday.com/rw/issue/departments/rotorcraftreport/Initial-OH-58F-Takes-Off-Following-CASUP-Upgrades_79375.html Sat, 1 Jun 2013 0:00:00 EDT