Russia latest country to challenge US air superiority

Russia has successfully tested the second prototype in its revolutionary new range of ‘fifth-generation' fighter planes, just weeks after China unveiled the J-20, its own ultra-modern jet fighter.

Russia has for the past two decades relied on out-dated Soviet-era aircraft, but the Sukhoi T-50 multirole fighter, which can sustain supersonic cruise, contains over-the-horizon radar visibility and integrated weapons and navigation systems managed by artificial intelligence, may change all that by 2013.

Russia's military claims the planes, made from space-age materials, will rival US counterparts, as well as new Chinese technology, which is said to dominate US superiority in some aspects, such as stealth capability.

According to the Russian Prime Minister Vladmir Putin, the government has invested US $1 billion in the development of the T-50 and will invest another US $1 billion producing it.

Only the US-made F-22 Raptor matches Russian claims about the T-50, although its staggering price tag, US $330 million per plane, is a significant deterrent to sizeable production of the model.

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HondaJet makes its Mark by Successfully Completing the First Flight of FAA-Conforming

In tough to crack at avionic market , Honda Aircraft Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honda Motor Company, made a foothold by introducing its first commercial aircraft HondaJet. HondaJet is an advanced light business jet incorporating many innovative technological advances in aviation design, including a unique over-the-wing engine mount configuration which dramatically improves aircraft performance and fuel efficiency by greatly reducing aerodynamic drag in flight. Furthermore, this innovative approach to airframe design would result in lower ground detected noise when overhead, allowing for more spacious cabin as well as larger cargo capacity. The HondaJet is powered by two GF Honda HF120 turbofan jet engines. The aircraft cost $4.5 million with over 100 orders scheduled for delivery by third quarter of 2012. The aircraft has top speed of 420 knots (483 mph) and a maximum altitude of 43,000 ft. in flight testing. The aircraft has successfully passed its first FAA-Conforming, during its 51 minute flight, when the aircraft was checked and analyzed for its flight characteristics and performance.
The aircraft flight deck features a Honda’s customized Garmin® G3000 next-generation all-glass avionics system incorporating a class-leading layout with three 14-inch landscape format display and dual touch screen controllers for overall avionics control and flight plan entries, making it the most advanced glass flight deck available in any light business jet. In addition to this, the aircraft has a stat of art integrated avionics functionality featuring split screen with MFD capability, satellite weather, graphical synoptic, digital audio, and optional Synthetic Vision

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Southwest Airlines posts $205M profit for 3Q

 Southwest Airlines Co. is making money as more people travel on the nation's largest discount airline.

Southwest said Thursday it earned $205 million in the July-through-September quarter.

Traffic was up about 5 percent, which along with higher average fares pushed revenue up 20 percent.

CEO Gary Kelly said the outlook for October is excellent too. He predicted revenue per passenger will rise in the fourth quarter even though that's usually a slow period for travel, other than the December holidays.

Dallas-based Southwest joined United, Continental, Delta, American, US Airways and JetBlue in posting third-quarter profits as the airlines benefited from higher fares and growing travel demand coming out of the recession. Combined, the leading U.S. airlines earned more than $2 billion in the quarter.

The airlines have helped themselves by limiting available seats, which makes flights more crowded and drives up fares. Southwest has set monthly records for high occupancy in 14 of the last 15 months.

After shrinking last year, Southwest has been adding flights in recent months, and it laid out plans Thursday to grow aggressively early next year. It figures to operate about 8 percent more flights in the first quarter of 2011 than it did in the same period this year.

Kelly said travel demand is growing fast enough to fill up the extra seats.

"We see very strong demand for the next 60 to 90 days, which we think will carry through to the first quarter of next year," Kelly said. He added that many of the new flights announced by other U.S. airlines are on international routes that Southwest doesn't serve.

Southwest said it earned 27 cents per share compared with a loss of $16 million, or 2 cents per share, in last year's third quarter.

Not counting specials items such as changes in the value of fuel hedges, Southwest would have earned 26 cents per share, a penny better than analysts expected, according to a Thomson Reuters survey.

Revenue rose to $3.19 billion from $2.67 billion a year ago, slightly higher than the $3.17 billion that analysts expected.

Southwest shares rose 46 cents, or 3.5 percent, to close at $13.62.

While revenue is rising, Southwest faces a challenge in controlling costs. Its cost for each mile flown rose more than 7 percent in the third quarter, partly due to losses from fuel-hedging contracts, and the company expects fourth-quarter costs to rise too.

Southwest flies only within the lower 48 states, which means it isn't benefiting from the sharp increase in international travel.

That could start to change with the deal it announced last month to buy rival low-fare airline AirTran for $1.4 billion, as AirTran flies to Mexico and the Caribbean. The deal would increase Southwest's size by 25 percent and put it in direct competition with Delta in Atlanta, the biggest U.S. city that Southwest doesn't serve already.

Ray Neidl, an analyst with investment bank Maxim Group, said Southwest will extend its geographic reach into the Southeast and pick up AirTran's fleet at a cheap price. Rivals will gain too, he said, because Southwest will be too busy absorbing AirTran to expand elsewhere.

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Orbital Technologies To Launch Earth’s First Commercial Space Spation

Orbital Technologies and RSC Energia ( Rocket and Space Corporate Energia ) just announced that they will launch the worlds’s First Commercial Space Station ( CSS ). We think that space tourism will be the next big thing so the station may be used by private citizens, professional crews, and corporate researchers interested in conducting their scientific programs. If everything goes according to the plan, CSS will become the world’s first commercially available human spaceflight platform.
Sergey Kostenko, the CEO of Orbital Technologies said that once the CSS is launched and operational it will provide a unique destination for commercial, state and private spaceflight explorations missions. We are very interested in working with corporate entities, state governments and private individuals from around the world.
The CSS will have a crew consisting of seven people. The CSS will be serviced by the Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, as well other transportation systems available in the global marketplace. This could be realized through the stations docking system that can allow any commercial crew and cargo capability developed in the United States, Europe and China.

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First Space Hotel – Three Nights Stay GBP2.70 Millions

The most expensive and the first hotel in the outer space ever created in the history of human kind, a three-night stay will cost you GBP2.7millions. The hotel is going to be launched in 2012 and you will have to “fly outside planet earth” to enjoy your three nights stay!

The staggering “sky high” price is actually including an eight-week training course on a tropical island before launching you to the Galactic Suite Space Resort.

During their stay, guests would see the sun rise 15 times a day and travel around the world every 80 minutes. They would wear velcro suits so they can crawl around their pod rooms by sticking themselves to the walls like Spiderman.
Critic have questioned the investment and time frame for the multi-billion pound project, but the Barcelona-based architects insist hey are on target for a grand opening in three years time.
The companies CEO, Xavier Claramunt, a former aerospace engineer, said the infant industry had a huge future ahead of it, and predicted space travel will become very common in the future.
‘It’s very normal to think that your children, possibly within 15 years, could spend a weekend in space,’ he said.

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Lockheed Martin builds DNA lab on a single chip

Lockheed Martin and ZyGEM have developed an advanced DNA analysis system powered by a single, small processor.
The platform - which has been dubbed RapI.D. - taps the latest microfluidic R&D to rapidly accelerate the DNA identification process.
"Our law enforcement, homeland security and defense communities face a significant challenge in how quickly they can confirm an individual's identity," explained LM spokesperson John Mears.
"[So], we essentially [designed] a [DNA] laboratory on a small, single chip that reduces the processing steps and time needed for analysis.
"[What previously took] days or weeks to complete [is now] an affordable, on-site process [lasting] less than an hour."


A prototype RapI.D. system is already operational at ZyGEM's Virgina MicroLab laboratories, with a beta version expected to be released for testing in select laboratories by early 2011.
It should also be noted that ZyGEM recently introduced a diagnostic algorithm capable of accurately identifying up to 30 types of microbes (simultaneously) from a single sample in less than an hour.  


The algorithm operates by scanning a catalog of "fingerprints," or DNA markers, for a broad range of microorganisms. 

It then uses the fingerprints to identify and discriminate between the microorganisms in mixed microbial populations - even from dilute samples.

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Boeing sees need of million pilots, mechanics over 20 years

Commercial aviation will need 466,650 pilots and 596,500 mechanics over the next 20 years to service aircraft coming on stream, according to Boeing's crew assessment forecast.

Airlines will need an average of 23,300 new pilots and 30,000 new maintenance mechanics per year from 2010 to 2029, said the Boeing statement. The crew assessment forecast is based on Boeing's current market outlook, a comprehensive analysis of the commercial aviation market.

According to the forecast, North America will need the most pilots and maintenance workers - 97,350 and 137,000 respectively - but the largest growth in both pilots and maintenance workers will be countries in Asia-Pacific - 180,600 and 220,000 respectively.

In Asia, China will experience the greatest need for pilots and maintenance personnel - 70,600 and 96,400, respectively. Europe will need 94,800 new pilots and 122,000 of maintenance personnel; Africa and the Middle East will need 32,700 new pilots and 44,500 maintenance personnel, it said.

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South Africa launches world first synthetic jet fuel

South African petrochemical giant Sasol (NYSE:SSL) has set a world record after flying the world's maiden commercial passenger flight powered solely by the company's 100 percent synthetic jet fuel, which is made by converting coal into liquid fuel.
The South African based company has been working over the 100 percent synthetic jet fuel, produced by its proprietary Coal to Liquids (CTL) process, for over 15 years.
The group's CTL fuel was produced on the South African land, by the country's scientists, using South Africa's home-grown technology.
In 2008, Sasol became the first company in the world to be given the go ahead by global aviation fuel specification authorities to use its 100 percent synthetic jet fuel on commercial aircraft.
''The fuel, produced by Sasol's proprietary Coal to Liquids process, is the world's only fully synthetic jet fuel to have received international approval as a commercial aviation turbine fuel," Sasol said in a statement.
To launch the CTL fuel, the company chartered four flights for the occasion. A Boeing (NYSE:BA) 737 flew from Johannesburg's Lanseria Airport to Cape Town for two hours. In addition to the 737 flight, Sasol CTL fuel was also used to power a two-hour Hawker 4000 flight. Both flights had passengers aboard. A King 350 and P-750 XSTOL light turboprop aircraft were also chartered for the occasion.
''While this has been a long journey, the delivery of a viable alternative jet fuel solution meets with the strict specifications of global aviation authorities is a proud acknowledgement of the enormous talent and expertise within the Sasol technology business, '' Sasol's CEO Pat Davies said.
''The approvals by international aviation fuel authorities of this product recognize the need to develop aviation fuel from feedstocks other than crude oil, in order to meet the world's growing needs," Davies added.
Sasol's CTL fuel is a positive step forward in the airline industry, especially since the industry in 2009 vowed to cut Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions by 1.5 percent per year over the next decade in order to make all industry growth carbon-neutral by 2020 and possibly reducing emissions by 50 percent come 2050.
Davies said the company had conducted extensive testing on the CTL fuel to ensure that the alternative jet fuel will give consumers better economic and environmental benefits compared to conventional jet fuel made from crude oil.
During the testing process 800, 000I of Sasol's CTL fuel was used on a jet engine, which replicated one year's flights between London and Johannesburg.
He also ensured that while flying around a CTL powered fuel jet, apart from lower soot and sulphur turbine-out emissions that result from virtually zero sulphur, consumers will enjoy the same kind of flight experience like when using a flight powered by conventional kerosene fuel.
In essence, CTL fuel does not produce lower CO2 emissions, but rather it is a cleaner burning fuel and place less stress on engine components.
''This is a very clean burning fuel and much better in terms of CO2 emissions, compared with conventional jet fuel. Sasol is always considering its environmental impact, and as a company we are looking at full cycle of reducing our carbon footprint, across our processes,'' Davies said.
According to Davies, the fuel will produce an alternative source of supply in the airline industry, where demand is always on the rise. However, he stated that the company would not be making the fuel 100 percent commercially available yet.
''Sasol is in the process of getting the technology in place to ensure that we are able to supply the markets with synthetic jet fuel as it starts making more commercial sense,'' he said.
Sasol's CTL fuel is just one of many environmentally friendly fuels the group is planning to produce. The company is currently is the process of finding environmentally friendly alternatives to crude-based kerosene.
At present, the company is looking to develop an algae-based fuel and looking at the possibility of mixing fuel from wood chips with its Gas to Liquids (GTL) fuel.
''Sasol, together with researchers at Rhodes University, is looking at developing an algae-based fuel and is currently working to improve the oil yield,'' manager of fuel technology at Sasol Paul Morgan said in a recent report.
However, Morgan pointed out that it will still be 10-15 years away before environmentally friendly fuels such as those they are working on will become available for widespread commercial use.
He explained that stringent parameters had to be taken when producing fuel for large commercial aircraft, in comparison to when producing fuel for cars. These strict measures had to adhere to the same specifications as that of fuel derived from traditional kerosene.
Sasol's largest facility, thus its home-base is located in the South African town of Secunda, east of Johannesburg. The company has operations across 30 countries, and with the increasing demand as well As growing need for its CTL and GTL services, Sasol is building plants in the Middle East and Nigeria, but its biggest potential venture will be set up in China.
''It's clear that the development of this 100 percent synthetic jet fuel has opened up a world of opportunities for Sasol, and while this has been a long journey for the group, the increasing demand and growing need for alternative fuel will soon turn these opportunities into a reality,'' Davies said.
Sasol is the world's leading producer of synthetic fuels from coal and natural gas. Sasol became the first company in 1998 to receive approval for the commercial use of a 50 percent fuel component blended with kerosene.
For the past 10 years, 50 percent of the aircraft departing from Africa's busiest airport, Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport, use Sasol's 50 percent synthetic jet fuel.
Sasol's CTL fuel is a major stepping stone for the South African company which seeks to secure domestic energy (OOTC:DMEC) supply not only in the country, but other countries with significant domestic coal and natural gas reserves. Therefore, earning the group a prime position to lead a new trend in the global energy market.
"South Africa is sitting on an abundance of coal and natural gas reserves, and Sasol consists of the technology, in line with what we are doing with petrol and diesel to convert these resources into jet fuel,'' Davies said.

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