Aviation 12

Embraer was awarded a Brazilian civil type
certi cate for its KC-390 airlifter during a
ceremony at Brasilia AB on October 23. This
represents a signi cant milestone in the
type’s development and comes a fortnight
after the maiden  ight of the  rst series
production aircraft on October 9. The type
certi cation, granted by Brazilian aviation
authority Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil
(ANAC) is an important step towards military
certi cation, which the multi-mission airlifter
will receive upon reaching  nal operational
capability (FOC).
“The certi cation of KC-390, the largest
and most complex aircraft developed
throughout Embraer’s history, expresses
the high technological level achieved by the
company,” said Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva,
president and CEO of Embraer. “I would like
to congratulate the teams that participated
in the development of this programme in
partnership with the Brazilian Air Force.”

Jackson Schneider, president and

CEO of Embraer Defense & Security

commented: “We are honoured and proud of

the development of the KC-390, which will

become the backbone of FAB’s [Força Aérea

Brasileira/Brazilian Air Force] transport

aviation in the coming decades. Extremely

efficient and capable of ful lling a wide

range of missions, the KC-390 will certainly

represent a leap in the operational capability

of the Brazilian Air Force.”

Embraer had planned to deliver the  rst

production KC-390 to the FAB by the end

of the year, however delays were incurred

after the  rst prototype, PT-ZNF, overran

the runway at Gavião Peixoto, Brazil in May.

Instead, the  rst production aircraft will be

diverted to assist others of the type in the

 ight test campaign. The FAB now expects

to receive its  rst of 28 examples before

July 2019 with the type achieving FOC by

December of the same year.

KC-390 Receives Civil Certifi cation

The  rst series production KC-390 taking to the air on October 9. Embraer

http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 5

Aero Vodochody Rolls

Out First L-39NG

Aero Vodochody officially rolled out of the  rst pre-series L-39NG at its
production facility near Prague, Czech Republic on October 12. The aircraft
builds on the successful L-39 Albatros design, but incorporating a Williams
FJ44-4 engine and a glass cockpit. First  ight is planned for later this year
with certi cation expected within 12 months. Deliveries are slated to start
in 2020. Aero Vodochody

The Aviation News team is delighted to welcome

Martin Needham (pictured) on board as assistant

editor. Martin has a wealth of aviation knowledge,

becoming interested in aircraft from a young age,

and has an honours degree in photojournalism.

Since taking over as editor seven years ago, I have always aimed

for the magazine to be an enjoyable read as well as providing

useful information for aviation enthusiasts. To this end we have

occasional series of viewing area guides and airport hotels,

which offer aviation photography opportunities, and feature air

event listings during the airshow season. It’s a theme we intend

to expand upon and this edition does just that via a guide to all

publicly accessible  ight simulators in the UK. Ever wondered what

it’s like to  y Concorde, a Vulcan bomber or a Spit re in the Battle

of Britain? The listings bring you close to the real thing – taking the

controls in the safety of a simulator.

This issue also contains some stunning imagery from an

innovative photoshoot at Volkel Air Base in the Netherlands. There

seems to be an ever growing number of such events that can

provide a useful additional source of revenue for museums, as

well as aircraft and air eld owners. From next month we plan to

list photoshoots and be your one-stop shop for upcoming events.

If you’re a photoshoot organiser, be sure to get in touch with me

via the email address below to promote your event. Of course,

you’ll need somewhere to note the airshows and other aviation-

themed events scheduled for next year, and we’re glad to help

here too. Thanks to Lockheed Martin for sponsoring the 2019 year

planner, complete with a poster on the reverse featuring a superb

night shot of F-35Bs operating from the aircraft carrier HMS

Queen Elizabeth.

Future editions will provide even more useful information, so

readers can get the most from the wide variety of experiences

aviation can offer coupled with our quality spread of news and

features.

These are exciting times for Aviation News and we hope you will

join us on the journey. It’s going to be fun!

Dino Carrara

Editor

[email protected]

EDITORIAL

Belgium Orders F-

Long-time F-16 user Belgium has become the 13th international partner
for the F-35 Lightning II following an announcement by defence
minister Steven Vandeput. It intends to buy 34 aircraft to replace its
ageing Fighting Falcon  eet. The deal is expected to include simulators
and training. The Belgian Defence – Air Component plans to receive its
 rst F-35A in 2023.
Also announced in an October 26 Ministry of Defence press
release was Belgium’s intention to purchase two medium altitude
long endurance unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). Although no aircraft
types were mentioned, the release featured an image of a General
Atomics MQ-9B SkyGuardian and stated that the aircraft would be
“reconnaissance drones that are used to gather information from the
air”, suggesting that they would not have any weapons capability.