European Drone Dassault nEUROn UCAV MAIDEN FLIGHT


The news was broken this morning (December 1, 2012) thanks to this tweet:

 


 
Dassault-Aviation released the news a few minutes later:

 


 

 

 


 

 

The stealth drone demonstrator « nEUROn » designed by Dassault Aviation, performed her maiden flight this morning at Istres Dassault Flight Test Center.

Dassault along with DGA – French Defense Procurement Agency, and nEUROn customer – successfully conducted this first flight test of the European UCAV (Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle).

The nEUROn project FCAS (Future European fighter Combat Air System) , launched in 2005, involves France, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Greece and Switzerland. Some parts or elements of this aircraft – flight controls maybe – would come from the Dassault Falcon 7X.

nEUROn Drone - June 2007 © Xavier Cotton

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail

Future Airbus Aircraft Concept

This is what the next Airbus aircraft should be in the 40 years to come. The new Airbus concept is to match the passengers’ demand.

According to a consultation with the customers, 96% of them want more environmentally sustainable aeroplanes. The aircraft of the future will have to be fully recyclable, more sustainable ie eco-efficient, and less stressful:

Now, the leading aircraft manufacturer is using the feedback to paint its vision of sustainable aviation in 2050.

Airbus had unveiled a revolutionary concept cabin through images of a transparent airliner design, last year.

There is a need among the passengers to reduce the time spent in airports. The new Airbus concept cabin will integrate an additional door for faster boarding, and exit. This airliner of the future will reduce its noise, and carbon emmissions. It will use the latest technologies – bionic structure, blended airframe, enhanced laminar flow and noise reduction; blended U-tail, biomorphing seats able to collect the passenger’s body energy, cutting-edge relaxation systems, human body thermal recycling, dramatic panoramic view, World Wide Web access, round of golf, etc. Watch the video:

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail

AIRBUS VISIONARY PROJECT – TRANSPARENT AIRLINER

Airbus has just unveiled a revolutionary concept through images of a transparent airliner design.

This aircraft of the future will use the latest technology – bionic structure; blended airframe; enhanced laminar flow and noise reduction; blended V-tail; biomorphing seats; leading-edge relaxation systems; human body thermal recycling; dramatic panoramic view; round of golf; etc.

Airbus will showcase their project called Concept Cabin during the Paris Air Show, at Le Bourget Airport. A movie – Airbus Future of Flight – will also be shown in a 360° planetarium at the Musee de l’Air et de l’Espace from 20 to 26 June 2011. Watch what travelling by plane could be… 40 years ahead:

Special thanks to Thierry HERMAS – Aeronautical English teacher at the French Air Force Academy (EOAA, Salon de Provence) – who passed the video link on. Thank you very much indeed.

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail

INDIA’s Fighter Aircraft Deal – RAFALE & TYPHOON still incompetition

The Indian Air Force Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) should be a European fighter jet. India shortlisted the Eurofighter Typhoon and the French Rafale for a $12 billion fighter jet deal. 126 fighter aircraft are to be ordered! As controversial rumours have spread for months through the Internet and the Indian channels, nobody could be certain of the sort of decision that could be made. For instance, remember this idea of purchasing two different combat aircraft that was issued a few months ago. Then, the news came right out of the blue yesterday April 28, 2011. Indeed the American, Russian, and Swedish jetfighters have been discarded.

According to the video hereafter,

The high-flying American campaign to win the $10 billion multirole combat aircraft tender has crashed.

The Indian Defence Ministry confirmed that the F/A-18F Super Hornet and the latest F-16IN were out of the race. Neither of these U.S. fighters would have met the Indian Air Force’s technical requirements during the trials that were also submitted to the JAS-39 Gripen; the MiG-35; the Rafale; and the Typhoon.

RAFALE aerobatics at La Ferté Alais Airshow 2010
RAFALE La Ferté Alais 2010 - Xavier Cotton http://passiondesavions.blogspot.com/

One may wonder why the Gripen was not selected in this competition. Well, this excellent aircraft is not equipped with any arrestor hook, and that is probably why it has not been kept in the race for this tender.

According to previous articles in this very website, the assumption that a Rafale might have shot down an F-22 Raptor plus some other rumours about the French combat aircraft performance left my readers in utter disbelief two years ago.

It is important to notice that the Rafale purchase is a rather expensive option. However, it should also be noted that, in spite of the modest political clout of France in India, as well as its price tag – $90 million – the Dassault Rafale remains in the final competition. A transfer-of-technology amendment might be added to the contract.

As the Super Hornet and the Super Viper have been rejected, this is a deep disapointment for Lockheed Martin; McDonnell Douglas; Boeing; General Dynamics; as well as a real watershed in the geopolitical approach in Asia.

Photo courtesy: Xavier Cotton http://passiondesavions.blogspot.com/

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail

Qualification Pilote FCL .055 Anglais OACI en France – Ce qu’il Faut Savoir

cours anglais aviation Toni Giacoia FCL .055 OACI en ligne à distance

Cours d’anglais aéronautique sur FCL ANGLAIS

(Dernière mise à jour – 10 mai 2016)

Important: le FCL 1.028 et FCL 1.200 seront remplacés respectivement par les FCL .055 et FCL .055 D à compter du 9 avril 2013.

Depuis le 5 mars 2011, tout pilote désireux de quitter l’espace aérien français doit avoir validé les deux cases FCL 1.028 et FCL 1.200 (Cases XII et XIII) sur sa licence (FCL pour Flight Crew Licensing). Cependant ces exigences peuvent aller plus loin (lire les liens de la DGAC ci-dessous)

Certain pilotes étaient détenteurs de la QRI (Qualification de Radiotéléphonie Internationale) et ont bénéficié de la « loi du grand-père ». D’autres ont passé une FCL 1.200 (FCL .055D) qui leur a permis d’incrémenter le niveau requis pour le FCL 1.028 (FCL .055 IR ou VFR).

Désormais la qualification de radiotéléphonie en langue anglaise (QRI ou FCL 1.200 en VFR ou IFR) ne suffit plus. Il faut justifier au minimum du niveau 4 OACI (Organisation de l’Aviation Civile Internationale ou ICAO en anglais) à l’examen FCL .055 qui est une qualification différente (en langue anglaise principalement) du FCL .055D de la DGAC (qui est un examen de RTF – radiotéléphonie).

Il faut d’abord présenter le FCL .055D pour la DGAC (pas obligatoire pour d’autres organismes examinateurs) puis ensuite à échéance de votre compétence linguistique (sauf pour ceux qui ont obtenu le niveau 6),  l’examen FCL .055 ordinaire (sans QCM de compréhension de documents issus de l’aéronautique). Pour l’instant, les formats de ces deux examens se ressemblent si ce n’est que l’épreuve écrite fait partie du FCL .055D mais pas du FCL .055.

Avoir une bonne moyenne ne suffit pas: c’est la note la plus basse des sept compétences évaluées qui est retenue. Autrement dit, il faut être au mieux bon en tout et au pire mauvais dans aucune des compétences suivantes:

  • Compréhension orale
  • Prononciation
  • Débit, aisance à l’oral
  • Structures, constructions grammaticales à l’oral
  • Vocabulaire, Champs lexical à l’oral
  • Interaction
  • Compréhension écrite (QCM, uniquement pour le FCL 1.200)

On peut trouver de nombreuses informations sur des forums mais il y a un risque d’interprétation voire d’erreur et il vaut mieux prendre les informations à jour et à la source, c’est à dire sur ces liens de la DGAC (certains devraient de nouveau être mis à jour):

  1. Le contrôle de compétence linguistique du FCL .055

  2. Les modalités du contrôle de compétence linguistique

  3. L’examen FCL 1.200

Vous pouvez télécharger les publications suivantes (en partie bilingues) concernant la radiotéléphonie:

Il est important également d’acquérir le document ICAO PANS-RAC DOC 4444 ainsi que le manuel de radiotéléphonie (Manual of RadiotelephonyDoc 9432). Il est possible de trouver ces documents sur Internet mais attention, il s’agit de versions légèrement périmées et il ne faudrait pas non plus oublier que l’Agence Européenne de la Sécurité Aérienne (AESA, en anglais EASA qui signifie European Aviation Safety Agency) réglemente de plus en plus notre espace aérien.

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail