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ATR Launches Short Take-Off and Landing 42-600’S

October 11, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Leading turboprop manufacturer’s Board of Directors approves the launch of brand new STOL version

Juan-les-Pins, 9 October 2019 – ATR, the world number one regional aircraft manufacturer, confirms it has received authorisation from its board of directors for the launch of the ATR 42-600S. With the ‘S’ representing STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing), this new version of the ATR 42-600 offers take-off and landing capabilities on runways as short as 800m with 40 passengers on board in standard flight conditions (*). This makes the ATR 42-600S the best performing aircraft in this segment.

To-date, ATR has recorded 20 commitments from operators and lessors for this ATR 42-600S variant. This includes Elix Aviation Capital as the launch lessor and Air Tahiti as the launch operator, as announced on the occasion of the Paris Air Show 2019.

The 42-600S is a brand new addition to the company’s aircraft family, alongside the founding members ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600, and the forthcoming ATR 72-600F cargo variant. The ATR 42-600S’ certification, is expected for the second half of 2022, with the first delivery expected immediately after.

ATR Chief Executive Officer Stefano Bortoli, commented: “Adding the ATR 42-600S to our family makes total sense and paves the way for the company’s future. There is a huge potential for 50-seater aircraft and the ATR 42-600S could help airlines widen their horizons, as it can reach up to around 500 new airports across the globe. This is clear illustration of our dedication in helping more people and more remote communities benefit from being part of a connected world and in a sustainable way.”

The principal modifications for the 42-600S will concern the introduction of a larger rudder, which allows increased control of the aircraft at lower speeds. The new version will continue to use the same engine as both the ATR 42 and 72. The ATR 42-600S will, however, allow pilots to be able to select between the ATR 42 and 72 engine ratings, meaning the aircraft can use increased power for performing STOL operations, or elect to operate more efficiently with less power on longer runways. The ATR 42-600S will also be able to symmetrically deploy its spoilers to improve braking efficiency on landing. It will also come with an autobrake system which will ensure that the full braking power occurs immediately upon landing.

With this new version, ATR forecasts to expand the addressable market by 25%, targeting new routes and the 30-seater STOL segment. There is a strong interest from airlines for a new 50-seater product capable of operating in more constraint conditions. Close to 500 airports have a runway comprised between 800-1,000m and could welcome the ATR 42-600S. The launch of this aircraft will benefit both passengers and airlines thanks to the increased regional connectivity that it will bring.

*15°C airfield temperature, sea level, dry paved runway and a route of 200NM.

Garmin® Announces the Instinct™ Tactical Edition

August 14, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

A rugged GPS watch built to withstand the toughest environments

Olathe, KS / August 13, 2019 — Garmin International, Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), today announced the Instinct Tactical Edition, a rugged, outdoor GPS smartwatch with tactical functionality. Building on the proven reliability of the Instinct series, the Instinct Tactical Edition adds enhanced features of Garmin’s tactix® series including night-vision compatibility mode, Jumpmaster, dual-position GPS formatting, preloaded tactical activity, and waypoint projection. The Instinct Tactical Edition also includes a new stealth mode for off-grid functionality. “Incorporating tactical features from the Garmin tactix series, the Instinct Tactical Edition combines the best of both product lines to provide tactical and multisport features for people who spend their time outdoors and demand a watch they can depend on in even the most challenging terrains.”

“The Instinct series has quickly proven itself to be the watch for individuals who need a piece of equipment as tough as the conditions they face,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice-president of global consumer sales. “Incorporating tactical features from the Garmin tactix series, the Instinct Tactical Edition combines the best of both product lines to provide tactical and multisport features for people who spend their time outdoors and demand a watch they can depend on in even the most challenging terrains.”

Packed with features for navigation and training, the Instinct Tactical Edition includes multiple features specific to tactical operations including Jumpmaster and tactical preloaded activities, projected waypoints, dual-position GPS formatting, and night-vision compatibility. For airborne operations, use Jumpmaster for three jump types: HAHO, HALO, and Static. Set the watch to dual-positioning mode, and the watch will simultaneously display two sets of coordinate systems, such as MGRS and latitude/longitude, on a single data screen. When night vision mode is activated, the backlight settings of the screen will reduce to a level that won’t interfere with the function of night vision goggles.

Enabling stealth mode prevents storage and sharing of GPS position and disables wireless comms. When operating in stealth mode, GPS location position is visible on device; however, locations are not saved to device memory or shared. This allows for training functionality in areas with location security concerns without revealing the location in the event a device is physically captured or if the recorded activities are shared. Stealth mode also quickly disables all wireless communication to and from the device.

The Instinct Tactical Edition is constructed to military standards (MIL-STD-810G) for thermal, shock and water resistance (rated to 100 meters) with a fiber-reinforced polymer case. It’s built with a chemically strengthened and scratch-resistant display that’s easy-to-read, especially in direct sunlight. Plus, the fully vented silicone bands include two independent, removable keeper loops to ensure a secure fit.

While in the field, feel confident exploring new paths thanks to the Instinct Tactical, which features multiple GNSS satellite networks to help track a user’s location in more challenging environments than with just GPS alone. Before venturing out, use the Garmin Explore™ app to plan the trip in advance and when it’s time to head back to camp, the TracBack® feature on the watch can navigate the same route back to the original starting point.

Whether camping, training or in day-to-day activities, the Instinct Tactical Edition keeps track of heart rate, steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned and more¹. Hiking, running, biking, swimming, kayaking, and skiing are just a few of the activities supported on the device. When paired with a compatible smartphone, Instinct Tactical Edition users can leave their phone packed away and protected while they receive smart notifications like texts, emails, and other alerts right on the wrist. The Instinct Tactical Edition is also compatible with other Garmin devices including inReach Mini and dog devices.

The Instinct Tactical Edition features a battery life of up to 14 days in smartwatch mode, up to 16 hours in GPS mode, and up to 40 hours in UltraTrac™ battery saver mode. It is available now for a suggested retail price of $349.99.

The Instinct Tactical Edition is the latest solution from Garmin’s expanding outdoor segment, which focuses on developing technologies and innovations to enhance users’ outdoor experiences. Whether hiking, hunting, trail running, mountain biking, golfing, diving or training dogs, Garmin outdoor devices are essential tools for outdoor enthusiasts of all levels. For more information about Garmin’s other outdoor products and services, visit www.garmin.com/outdoors

Textron Reviewing Strategic Alternatives for Kautex

August 5, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

PROVIDENCE, R.I.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) today announced that it is reviewing strategic alternatives for its Kautex business unit, which produces fuel systems and other functional components. Textron plans to consider a range of options, including a sale, tax-free spin-off or other transaction. Kautex operates over 30 plants in 14 countries and generated over $2.3 billion in revenue in 2018.

Kautex, headquartered in Bonn, Germany, is a leading developer and manufacturer of blow-molded plastic fuel systems and advanced fuel systems for cars and light trucks, including pressurized fuel tanks for hybrid applications. The unit also develops and manufactures camera/sensor cleaning solutions for automobiles, selective catalytic reduction systems used to reduce emissions from diesel engines as well as produces cast iron engine camshafts, crankshafts and other engine components.

“Kautex is a leading Tier One supplier to global OEMs. It has a long history of product innovation, world-class operations and strong financial performance,” said Scott C. Donnelly, Textron Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We are exploring strategic alternatives to see how we can position Kautex to best serve its customers for ongoing success while simultaneously unlocking potential value for our shareholders.”

No decision has been made and there can be no assurance that the process will result in any transaction being announced or completed in the future. The Company has not set a definitive timetable for completion of its review of strategic alternatives and does not intend to make any further announcements related to its review unless and until its Board of Directors has approved a specific transaction or the Company otherwise determines that further disclosure is appropriate.

Textron has retained Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC as financial advisor to assist in its review.

About Textron Inc.

Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell, Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Arctic Cat, Textron Systems, and TRU Simulation + Training. For more information visit: www.textron.com

Ford to Upgrade Chicago Plant for SUV’s, Add 450 Workers

July 22, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

DETROIT (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co said on Monday it would invest $50 million upgrading a Chicago facility to partially assemble hybrid electric SUVs and vehicles for police use, creating 450 jobs.

The plant currently modifies vehicles for police use. That work will be transferred to a nearby facility.

After retooling, the new production line will later this year start partially assembling hybrid versions of the Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle and the luxury Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring SUV.

It will also partially assemble the Police Interceptor SUV.

On Friday, Ford said it would lay off about 200 workers in September at a Canadian manufacturing plant in Oakville, Ontario, with more layoffs possible in January, because of slowing sales of the sedans that the plant manufactures.

Overall, U.S. new vehicle sales are expected to fall this year, although pickup trucks and SUVs remain more popular than traditional passenger cars.

Last week, Ford also kicked off talks on a new four-year contract with the United Auto Workers union, with job security, healthcare costs and the use of temporary workers expected to be major sticking points.

(Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Transmandu Jetstream 32 Veers Off Runway at Canaima

July 2, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

A Transmandu British Aerospace Jetstream 32, registration YV2536 performing a charter flight from Puerto Ordaz to Canaima in Venezuela, landed on Canaima’s runway at about 11:30L (15:30Z), burst a tire, veered off the runway and came to a stop in rough terrain last week. The right hand side of the aircraft caught fire, all occupants were able to evacuate and remained uninjured. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Authorities did not comment on the occurrence, that became known through social media only.

Transmandu is based in Puerto Ordaz and specialized in tourist flights.

Canaima Airport features a paved (asphalt) runway 18/36 of 7070 feet/2155 meters length.

By Simon Hradecky, Friday, Jun 28th 2019

Boeing to Work with Kitty Hawk on Flying Cars and Safety

June 26, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Kitty Hawk,the flying car company backed by Google’s Larry Page and led by Udacity co-founder Sebastian Thrun, has struck a deal with aerospace giant Boeing.

The terms of the strategic partnership are vague. But it appears the two companies will collaborate on urban air mobility, particularly around safety and how autonomous and piloted vehicles will co-exist.

Kitty Hawk’s portfolio of vehicles includes Cora, a two-person air taxi, and Flyer, a vehicle for personalized flight. The partnership is focused on the fully electric, self-piloting flying taxi Cora, according to the announcement.

Click the link below for the full story and video!

https ://techcrunch.com/2019/06/25/boeing-is-going-to-work-with-kitty-hawk-on-flying-cars-and-safety/?yptr=yahoo

Air Tahiti Orders Two ATR 42-600 STOL Aircraft

June 19, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Thanks to these #ATR42 with enhanced capabilities, the Polynesian airline will be able to take off and land on runways that are only 800 metres long. http://ow.ly/lemy30oXYqO #ATRingolife#ParisAirShow#PAS19#Avgeeks

Tesla Stock Drops For Sixth Straight Session

May 22, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Tesla shares extended their recent sell-off on Wednesday after Citi cut its price target on the struggling electric car maker, leaving buyers of its recent share offer, including Chief Executive Elon Musk, $175 million in the hole.

Tesla’s stock dropped 5.5% to $193.88, on track to close below $200 for the first time since late 2016. It has lost a fifth of its value since the company sold a $1.84 billion convertible bond and almost $900 million of stock on May 2 to raise fresh capital and give it more time to stop losing money.

Citi analyst Itay Michaeli, who has a “sell” rating on Tesla, cut his price target to $191 from $238. He pointed to a an email Musk sent to employees last week, telling them he would increase cost-cutting, and that the $2.7 billion in recently raised capital would give Tesla just 10 months to break even at the rate it burned cash in the first quarter.

“The recent reported internal memo, which seemingly called into question prior guidance, didn’t help the risk/reward calculus. The implications can be serious, since an automaker’s balance sheet is always subject to the confidence ‘spiral’ risk,” Michaeli wrote in a client note.

Consumer Reports warned on Wednesday that a recent update to Tesla’s Autopilot driver assistance software does not work well and could be unsafe.

“It doesn’t appear to react to brake lights or turn signals, it can’t anticipate what other drivers will do, and as a result, you constantly have to be one step ahead of it,” Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports’ senior director of auto testing, said in a news release.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On April 22, Musk told investors that driverless Tesla “robotaxis” would be available in some U.S. markets next year, a claim met by skepticism by some self-driving experts.

UPPING HIS STAKE

Musk is battling to convince investors that demand remains high for the Model 3, the sedan targeted to propel Tesla to sustainable profit, and that it can be delivered efficiently and swiftly to customers around the world. Tesla lost $702 million in the first quarter and warned that profit would be delayed until the latter half of the year.

On Monday, Musk exercised options to buy 175,000 Tesla shares at $31.17 per share, increasing his indirect stake in the company to 34,102,560 shares, according to a filing. With Tesla’s stock down 41% year to date, Musk’s shares, including 102,880 he bought in this month’s capital raise, were worth $6.6 billion on Wednesday.

Tesla’s debt has stalled at lows hit earlier this week. Its recently issued convertible bond due in 2024 priced at 89.09 cents on the dollar, a record low. Its $1.8 billion junk bond traded at 82.5 cents on the dollar, slightly up from the all-time lows it hit on Monday and Tuesday.

The cost to insure Tesla’s debt, as measured by its credit default swap, edged up to roughly 28% of the face value of Tesla’s 2025 bond, from 27.6 % the day before.

(Reporting by Noel Randewich; additional reporting by Kate Duguid in New York and Vibhuti Sharma in Bengalaru; editing by Nick Zieminski and Jonathan Oatis)

Biman Bangladesh Airplane Skids Off Runway in Yangon

May 9, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

YANGON (Reuters) – A Biman Bangladesh Airlines plane skidded off the runway when it landed in bad weather at Yangon’s international airport on Wednesday evening, injuring at least 17 people, officials said.

The Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft was carrying 29 passengers and four crew when it bounced while landing during heavy winds in Myanmar’s commercial capital, Bangladesh’s ambassador said. The plane was severely damaged.

The 17 who sustained mostly minor injuries were admitted to a local hospital, Manjurul Karim Khan Chowdhury, told Reuters.

“The main reason, the pilot told me, was the weather – crosswinds,” he said, “When he was trying to land… suddenly the aircraft jumped, went up and went down heavily.”

A photo published by the Myanmar Times showed the plane halfway off the runway with its fuselage apparently broken.

Shakil Miraj, general manager for Biman Bangladesh, also blamed bad weather for the crash.

The airline flies between Yangon and Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka four days a week.

A spokesman for Myanmar’s Department of Civil Aviation declined to comment, saying the department had not received a report of the incident from the ground.

Reporting by Thu Thu Aung, Simon Lewis, and Poppy McPherson in Yangon and Ruma Paul in Dhaka; Editing by Frances Kerry and John Stonestreet

Embraer Announces CEO Succession

March 20, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva concludes his tenure at the end of April and will support the transition process of the company as Senior Advisor of the Board of Directors.

São Paulo, Brazil, March 18, 2019 – Embraer, following shareholder approval of the transaction with Boeing, announces that the current President and CEO of the company, Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva, concludes a successful professional cycle with the company on April 22, 2019 which is the end of his current two year elected term.

“Paulo Cesar idealized the partnership with Boeing and led the negotiation process of the transaction that will bring Embraer and Brazil to a much more competitive and prominent level in the global aviation industry,” said Alexandre Silva, Chairman of the Board.

For 22 years at Embraer, Paulo Cesar came from the financial market to structure the company’s sales financing area. For six years he was President and CEO of Commercial Aviation and in 2013 launched the E2 Program, the medium-sized commercial jets considered today to be the most efficient in the market.

In 2016, Paulo Cesar became President and CEO of the Embraer Group, with a mission to make the company more efficient, competitive and better prepared to face structural changes in the global aviation market.

His administration established three key initiatives focused on value creation and the sustainability of the company. The first was the transaction with Boeing. The second was the creation of the Passion for Excellence program, a structural transformation project focused on reducing costs and increasing operational efficiency, generating significant annual recurring savings. The third was the creation of EmbraerX, responsible for disruptive innovation and the development of opportunities for the future, such as eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle), a project that will revolutionize urban transport in partnership with Uber.

“Without the support of the Board and Embraer’s 18,000 employees and colleagues, none of our achievements would have been possible”, noted Paulo Cesar. “We are challenged to remain at the forefront of engineering and operations. In Executive Aviation and Defense, and with the KC 390 joint venture with Boeing, we will expand our international competitiveness and everything indicates that we will have another 50 years of success ahead.” And he added: “I am sure that the new leadership of the company will find fertile ground ahead to expand and consolidate Embraer.”

Paulo Cesar was invited to be a Senior Advisor to the Board, with the task of facilitating the integration of the future President and CEO and advising the Board on the monitoring of assets and resources segregation, an integral part of the process of concluding the partnership with Boeing. As it was reported, 96.8% of Embraer’s shareholders approved an agreement with the North American company last February, which should be concluded after obtaining all approvals of the Regulatory and Competitive Agencies in Brazil and abroad.

Embraer also informs that the future President and CEO, to be elected for the next term, will be recruited externally and announced on or before the Ordinary General Assembly on April 22nd.

About Embraer

Embraer is a global company headquartered in Brazil with businesses in commercial and executive aviation, defense & security. The company designs, develops, manufactures and markets aircraft and systems, providing customer support and services. Since it was founded in 1969, Embraer has delivered more than 8,000 aircraft. About every 10 seconds an aircraft manufactured by Embraer takes off somewhere in the world, transporting over 145 million passengers a year.

Embraer is the leading manufacturer of commercial jets up to 150 seats. The company maintains industrial units, offices, service and parts distribution centers, among other activities, across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe.

Boeing CFO Greg Smith (left), Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg (center), and Embraer CEO Paulo Cesar Silva

Story and images from http://www.embraer.com

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