On Wednesday, Eclipse Aviation hosted city and state leaders at the dedication of its new Friction Stir Weld Center. Guests, including ANN Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell, toured the new 50,000 square foot facility, and witnessed a demonstration of Eclipse's friction stir welding process. Construction of the new facility, which is leased to Eclipse by Waterman, Inc. of Albuquerque, New Mexico, began in November of 2002. The operation is located in the Broadway Industrial Center on Albuquerque's Southwest side and is now fully operational. Friction stir welding is an advanced manufacturing process, which the company is the first to use in the assembly of thin-gauge aluminum aircraft.

Jim Campbell's visit to Eclipse Aviation, Wednesday, for the dedication of their high-tech, multi-million dollar friction stir welding facility also allowed him an interesting distinction... becoming the first journalist to test-fly an accurate aerodynamic model of the Eclipse 500 on a flight simulator. "Eclipse has collected a phenomenal amount of data on this aircraft thanks to in-flight data-gathering and an extensive ground-based telemetry system... this has allowed them to produce what has to be an amazingly accurate aerodynamic profile for the airplane." Jim noted, "...very pleasant control harmonies, good acceleration, modest control forces, a rudder that (thankfully) hasn't been dumbed down, a GREAT pitch stability and response profile, and excellent aileron response... th

Air Touring Will Promote Ae270 Propjet In The UK, Ireland

Ibis Aerospace announced on Thursday the appointment of Air Touring Limited as UK distributor for its Ae270 Propjet. Air Touring is based at Biggin Hill Airport, near London. The company will be responsible for sales and service to Ae270 operators in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company -- which was founded in 1998 --  will be responsible for sales, customer service, training, operations and maintenance on the Ae270 Propjet. In addition to the Ibis appointment, Air Touring is an exclusive distributor for the French manufacturer EADS Socata.  

Sonic Boom Modification May Lead To New Era

NASA and Northrop Grumman Corp. recently continued the quest to reduce the intensity of sonic booms by completing the collection of the largest set of sonic boom data recorded in 20 years. This effort is identifying and maturing technologies that could eventually enable unrestricted supersonic flight over land by future military and business aircraft, possibly ushering in a new era of supersonic flight. Last year, during the successful Shaped Sonic Boom Demonstration (SSBD) project, a government and industry team proved the theory that by carefully altering the contours of a supersonic aircraft, the shockwave and its accompanying sonic boom can be shaped. Using the same specially-modified F-5E aircraft used in the earlier research fl

Delivers Desperately Needed Relief

An AmeriCares cargo jet filled with more than 42,000 pounds of emergency supplies departed from Miami International Airport Wednesday for thousands of Haitians reeling from more than a month of violence and civil unrest. The cargo jet touched down in Port-au-Prince at 11:30 a.m. local time. Since its founding in 1982, AmeriCares has airlifted more than $3.5 billion of short-term and long-term assistance to more than 137 countries. The cargo consisted of medicines, medical supplies, pediatric nutritional supplements and other disease prevention medications. During the past two months AmeriCares has delivered to Haiti's capital and second largest city, Cap-Haitien, two shipments of antibiotics and other lifesaving supplies worth $1.1 million.

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