Looks more and more like the summer movie buster this year!
Nice CG-work!

They must have more money than sand.

Ethiopian Airlines Increases 787 Dreamliner Order By Five Airplanes

Ethiopian Airlines will buy 10 new Boeing 787 jets, doubling the number of firm orders it announced earlier this year.
Boeing now has 266 orders and commitments from 21 customers for the 787.

Source: Boeing.com – Ethiopian Airlines Increases 787 Dreamliner Order by Five Airplanes

German news sources say:
The grounding against the Turkish airline Onur air in Germany, imposed
because of safety lack, was again waived after twelve days. Test flight permission stands however under strict editions, and are limited.
If the Onur air flights remained until Sunday without objection, the german Federal Office of Aviation (LBA) will completely re-establish the test flight rights at the
earliest on Monday.

Also the Netherlands, Switzerland and France waived according to data from the Hague their
groundings for Onur air.

Onur air may approach two times per day the airport Duesseldorf up to
Sunday in Germany only. There will be sharp controls on both sides.
The Turkish aviation authorities would have assured, to examine each machine before the takeoff in Turkey exactly. Inspection teams of the Federal Office of Aviation (LBA) controlled
each machine of this society after the landing in Duesseldorf.

Official: Boeing Launches New 777 Freighter

SEATTLE, May 24, 2005 – Boeing [NYSE:BA] today officially launched the Boeing 777 Freighter, the world’s largest and most capable twin-engine freighter, following the completion of a launch order from Air France. […]

Source: Boeing.com – Boeing Launches New 777 Freighter

U.S. House panel moves to shield Boeing from EADS

Just posted in the Modern Military Aviation forum:

U.S. House panel moves to shield Boeing from EADS
Fri May 20, 2005 05:56 PM ET
By Jim Wolf
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The House of Representatives’ Armed Services Committee said on Friday it had voted in effect to shield Boeing Co. from competition from Europe’s largest defense contractor for a projected $50 billion U.S. aerial-refueling aircraft market.

The panel neither singled out nor named EADS, which wants to offer a tanker version of its Airbus A330 to the U.S. Air Force.

Instead, it voted to bar the acquisition of a major weapons system from any foreign company that gets what the United States has protested as a government subsidy barred by the World Trade Organization, said spokesman, Josh Holly.

“This provision is included in the bill as voted out of the committee,” he said.

Chicago-based Boeing stands ready to compete for a tanker contract “under whatever terms the Department of Defense and the Air Force define,” said Douglas Kennett, a company spokesman.

A spokesman for EADS’ North America unit, Guy Hicks, said, “This is a government-to-government issue and needs to be resolved at that level.”

“EADS North America is committed to contributing to the nation’s defense and will continue to invest in the U.S. to meet that objective,” he said.

Last year, the United States filed a WTO case challenging French, German, British and Spanish government loans to Airbus for the development of new aircraft. Airbus overtook Boeing in 2003 as the world’s largest supplier of commercial aircraft.

The measure that would shield Boeing was part of the fiscal 2006 Defense Authorization bill adopted by the panel on Thursday. Approved 61-1, the $441.6 billion bill is expected to be considered on the House floor next week. The Senate version does not contain such a provision.

A 28-page press release highlighting key provisions omitted the “Prohibition on Procurement from Beneficiaries of Foreign Subsidies,” an amendment offered by the panel’s chairman, Duncan Hunter, a California Republican. The provision was first reported by Congressional Quarterly.

Last year, Congress killed a $23.5 billion Air Force plan to lease and buy 100 Boeing aircraft to start phasing out aging KC-135 mid-air refuelers after a procurement scandal.

Since then, Pentagon leaders have said they would hold a competition for any tanker purchases. The Air Force is studying whether to upgrade or replace its fleet of more than 530 tankers. The competition has been expected to start next year.

Hunter, a long-time proponent of so-called “Buy America” legislation, seems to have found a way to express his concerns about foreign dependency “that will resonate across the political spectrum,” said Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Virginia, research group with close ties to the Pentagon and defense contractors.

“The political system is waiting for an excuse to go after Airbus,” he said.

© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.

RAF C130 Shot Down By AAA

RAF C130 Shot Down By AAA, According To UK Report
Tue, 17 May ’05

Ten Lost In January 30th Mishap
Iraqi insurgents using outdated anti-aircraft artillery were responsible for shooting down a Royal Air Force C130 north of Baghdad, Iraq, January 30th. All ten military personnel on board were killed.

The downing of the Hercules had been at the center of an intense investigation that, early on, ruled out the possibility of a bomb having been planted on board.

Contrary to earlier reports that the C130 (file photo of type, below) was flying above 15,000 as it flew northwest of Baghdad, new information obtained by the Daily Telegraph indicates the aircraft may have been no more than 150 feet above the ground when it was hit by 20mm AAA fire.

“It was shredded by a multi-barrelled 20mm canon,” an unnamed British military official told the London paper. “They have worked out that’s what caused the crash.”

Specifically, military officials in London believe the Hercules was brought down by a 1960s-era Soviet-made Zu-23 operated by an insurgent group called Ansar al-Islam. The group released a video showing the aircraft, apparently on fire, plunging to the ground. It was, at the time, the British military’s biggest loss of life in Iraq since the US-led invasion began in March, 2003.

FMI: http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafhome.html

Source: ANN – RAF C130 Shot Down By AAA, According To UK Report

Great job as usual, Sandy
Rated your pic with 10 points!