Helicopter

15
Apr

Four lawmakers have urged Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski to find a solution that will allow LightSquared to launch its planned 4G network. In a letter obtained by The Hill, Reps. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.), Joe Pitts (R-Pa.), Jim Moran (D-Va.) and Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said the FCC should “examine all potential paths forward before closing the door on what could be an opportunity to increase competition and access in the nation’s wireless providers.” The lawmakers said that if the FCC walks away from LightSquared it would “ignore a decade of regulatory rules and orders on which this business relied in building their model. We hope that the FCC will examine all possibilities to allow this broadband competitor to move forward, while ensuring a more robust GPS system for the American consumer.” LightSquared argues it is the GPS industry’s responsibility to build receivers that only listen to their own designated frequencies, but GPS companies claim LightSquared is trying to build a cell phone network relying on frequencies that should only be used by satellites which transmit much fainter signals. source: Rotornews

08
Apr

According to the Office of Naval Research, helicopter UAVs already in use in the maritime war on drugs are to receive upgrades this summer, enabling them to be used in the fight against modern-day pirates. The U.S. Navy will upgrade its robotic Fire Scouts with Multi-Mode sensors that can automatically recognize small pirate boats spotted through 3D laser imaging. Advanced software will allow small boats to be compared to existing schematics in the Navy’s database. “Sailors who control robotic systems can become overloaded with data, often sifting through hours of streaming video searching for a single ship,” Ken Heeke, program officer in the Office of Naval Research’s Naval Air Warfare and Weapons Department told Military News. “The automatic target recognition software gives Fire Scout the ability to distinguish target boats in congested coastal waters using LADAR, and it sends that information to human operators, who can then analyze those vessels in a 3-D picture.” source: Rotornews April 6, 2012

08

The NTSB blamed the helicopter crash that killed 9 firefighters on the the helicopter's operator. Basically, the NTSB concluded that the helicopter crashed because it was overloaded. But today a jury disagreed, deciding that the Sikorsky helicopter crashed because one of its two engines failed. The jury handed down a $70 million verdict against GE, the engine's manufacturer. Why is a jury allowed to come to a conclusion totally opposite to that reached by the NTSB? In short, because the NTSB's findings are inadmissible in a court of law. And there's good reason for that. For starters, a victim's family is not allowed to participate in the NTSB investigation, while the manufacturers who may be to blame for the accident are. As a result, the NTSB's findings frequently favor the manufacturers. Is that what happened here? Did the NTSB unfairly favor GE? It seems that it may have. I spoke today with one of the participants in the trial held in Portland. He explained that, originally, the NTSB had determined that one of the helicopter's engines did, in fact, fail in flight. That report mysteriously "disappeared," however, shortly after it was ...

25
Feb

An agreement was signed with R&R Aviation on the last day of the Singapore Airshow for two brand new Eurocopter EC130 B4, marking Eurocopter’s breakthrough into the Bangladeshi market with its first new civil helicopter sale. This achievement capped Eurocopter’s successful outing at the Airshow this year, where it also inked deals for four new helicopters with other customers in the Asia region. The two EC130 B4 helicopters will be R&R’s first purchase of Eurocopter aircraft; this deal also marks a momentous breakthrough for Eurocopter in the Bangladesh civil helicopter market. To be delivered in September this year and first half of 2013 respectively, the two rotary-wing aircraft will be used primarily for emergency medical services, and can be re-configured for corporate passenger transport when the need arises. The EC130 B4 has an exceptional cabin size which can accommodate 1 stretcher and 2 medical attendants. The wide unobstructed cabin with large doors allows easy loading and unloading of patients and rapid access for medical personnel. The extremely low internal noise level and the flat cabin floor also offer a suitable environment to install fragile and bulky medical equipment. In corporate transport configuration, it can seat up to seven passengers, offering a panoramic ...