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Long-standing efforts to revive the Fokker 100 regional jet could get a boost from a €20 million ($27 million) loan offered by the Dutch government toward the $120 million, Phase 1 cost of upgrading the original prototype airframe as a proof-of-concept demonstrator with new engines and avionics, additional fuel capacity and winglets. If the Dutch assistance wins approval from European authorities, the holder of the production rights–NG Aircraft (formerly called Rekkof)–could launch the “XF100” project by mid-year, perhaps at July’s Farnborough International Airshow. A second phase of development to establish series production would require a further $675 million, according to NG director Jaap Rosen Jacobson. He told AIN the plan to assemble an updated, new-build “F100” in the Netherlands has drawn “substantial” interest from potential airline operators.

NG (for “next generation”) is talking to engine suppliers, but Jacobson declined to comment on AIN’s question about whether it has already selected the Rolls-Royce BR725. In 2005, Jacobson told AIN that the project would die at the end of that year if no new engine became available.

To launch the XF100 now, NG wants orders for up to 40 aircraft. Jacobsen would like to win 20 percent of the 7,000-strong market he sees for 70- and 100-seat RJs through 2026. Development of retrofit kits for existing F100s is seen as a “fall-back scenario,” he said.

Germany’s Air Berlin has cut the number of airplanes in its firm order for Boeing 787 Dreamliners from 25 to 15, and the number of options from 10 to five, the company said today in a statement. The adjustment reduces the value of the order, based on current list prices, by $1.7 billion.

Air Berlin also said that it has reached an agreement with Boeing to reschedule delivery of nine 737s from 2010 and 2011 to 2015.

“We have mutually agreed with Boeing to adjust the Air Berlin order book to meet Air Berlin’s operational requirements and the market conditions,” said Air Berlin CFO Ulf Hüttmeyer. “For Air Berlin, the agreement means a significant reduction of its financial obligations due to lower and much more distributed investment profile.”

The second Boeing 747-8 Freighter, RC 522, completed its first flight yesterday evening, the company announced today. The airplane took off from Paine Field in Everett, Wash., at 3:57 p.m. local time and landed at Boeing Field in Seattle at 6:25 p.m.

Captained by Kirk Vining and copiloted by Rick Braun, the airplane reached an altitude of 27,000 feet and an airspeed of 240 knots.

“The airplane performed well on its first flight,” said Andy Hammer, test program manager for 747-8. “It was a good start to a demanding flight-test program for this airplane.”

The second of three 747-8 Freighters scheduled to participate in flight trials, RC 522 will soon move to the program’s test base in Palmdale, Calif., thus avoiding scheduling conflicts with the 787 Dreamliner, now undergoing testing in Seattle. Plans call for the second 747-8 to spend the bulk of its flying time conducting tests associated with community noise, environmental control systems and extended operation performance standards.

Boeing has added the fourth 787 to its flight-test fleet with yesterday’s first flight of Dreamliner ZA003. The airplane departed Paine Field in Everett, Wash., at 10:55 a.m. local time and landed at 2:01 p.m. at Boeing Field in Seattle.

Captains Ray Craig and Mike Bryan piloted the airplane on its three-hour, six-minute flight. ZA003 is the final 787 with Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines to enter the flight-test program.

“We’ve done a significant amount of ground testing on the new systems on ZA003 in preparation for first flight,” said Craig. “Engineering, manufacturing and flight operations have really pulled together as a team to enable first flight. It has been rewarding to watch the Boeing team pull together in support of this milestone.”

The only 787 in the flight-test fleet to carry elements of the passenger interior features, ZA003 includes cabin and crew support systems.

Along with demonstrating that the interior meets certification requirements, Boeing plans to use ZA003 to conduct tests on systems, noise performance, flight-deck operations, avionics, electromagnetic effects, high-intensity radio field (HIRF) frequency response and extended operations (Etops).

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) flew the prototype of its Surion utility helicopter for the first time on March 10. Flown by two pilots and with a test engineer aboard, the Surion took off for a 30-minute maiden flight at Sacheon air base, near Korea’s south coast, and performed hovering and hover turns. The flight envelope will be expanded with transitions in the coming weeks, and by April the aircraft is expected to reach its cruising speed of 140 knots. Initial production is due to begin at the end of the year.

The Surion has been developed to answer the Korean Utility Helicopter requirement, and 245 are expected to be built to replace the country’s McDonnell Douglas MD500 and Bell UH-1 helicopters. The Surion design has been undertaken in partnership with Eurocopter, which signed a $1.15 billion research and development contract with KAI in June 2006. The first Surion was rolled out at Sacheon on July 31.

Powered by two General Electric T700 turboshaft engines, the Surion is in the 8.7-metric-ton (20,000-pound) helicopter class. In addition to technical assistance, Eurocopter is providing the transmission and rotor mast, and has a 20-percent stake in the production phase. It is believed that some elements of the design are based on those employed in the Eurocopter Super Puma/Cougar.

For many years the U.S. Air Force has operated a fleet of surplus Phantom IIs as QF-4s in the full-scale aerial target role (FSAT). Under projected usage rates, that fleet will be consumed within the next few years. Now, the Air Force has taken the first step to providing a replacement. Not surprisingly, the type chosen is the Lockheed Martin F-16, the older variants of which are entering the boneyard in some numbers.

In March, Boeing was awarded a $69.7 million contract for the engineering, manufacturing and development phase for the QF-16 FSAT program. The contracting office is the 691st Armament Systems Squadron based at Eglin AFB, Fla. Boeing will undertake design and development work in St. Louis, but flight testing and production will take place at the former U.S. Navy base at Cecil Field, near Jacksonville.

Part of the Boeing QF-16 team is BAE Systems, which was prime contractor for the QF-4 FSAT program, of which around 240 conversions were undertaken. Initial plans for the QF-16 cover up to 126 modifications, with the first due for delivery in 2014. They will be capable of operations both with and without a pilot. Compared with the Phantom-based drones, the QF-16s will provide aerial targets whose maneuverability and performance are more representative of current combat aircraft, in turn providing a more realistic foe for air-to-air missile tests. QF-4s are currently flown by the 82nd ATRS from Tyndall AFB in Florida for trials over the Gulf of Mexico, and from Holloman AFB in New Mexico for operations over the White Sands missile range.

The average unit production cost (APUC) for the F-35 is now predicted to be as high as $112 million in current dollars, according to a Pentagon review of the program conducted later last year, which led to a restructuring of the program. The APUC estimate does not amortize the cost of system design and development (SDD). That cost has now risen by $3.2 billion, to $53.2 billion. The SDD phase has been extended by 13 months, and will now end in March 2015. The full-rate production decision (also known as Milestone C) will now be April 2016, after a year of operational test and evaluation. Although the U.S. Marine Corps is still predicting initial operating capability (IOC) in 2012, the IOCs for the U.S. Navy and Air Force have slipped by two and three years respectively to 2016. Only two months ago, a Lockheed Martin official insisted, “The IOCs will hold.”

Ashton Carter, Pentagon senior acquisition official, told a special session of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee last week that “affordability must be restored.” The number of low-rate initial production (LRIP) jets to be procured over the next five fiscal years has been reduced by 122. However, an official from the Government Accountability Office warned senators that more than 300 LRIP aircraft would still be procured before the end of SDD, and Carter acknowledged that there was still “unprecedented concurrency” between F-35 development and production. Air Force Maj. Gen. Clyde Moore, the acting head of the F-35 Joint Program Office, noted that the Pentagon “did not uncover any technology or manufacturing show-stoppers in its review, and did not de-scope performance requirements.”

Cessna vice president of corporate communication Robert Stangarone, on Tuesday, at the British Business and General Aviation Association (BBGA) annual conference stressed the need for the industry to continue communicating the value and benefits of business aviation. “Everyone in our industry should consider himself [an] ambassador,” he said. “Business aircraft are used in so many valuable ways and have truly become essential to the global transportation system. We need to take every opportunity to spread that message to the world.” Stangarone further said that “protecting our image is a common goal” that can be done on both sides of the Atlantic. Through Cessna’s “Rise” campaign, he said the company has seen the power of partnering with industry allies and associations, government officials, customers and other stakeholders. “Together, we need to make sure the facts are heard. Business aviation supports 1.2 million jobs across the U.S. Equally, thousands of European jobs depend on our industry. And companies that use business aviation are more productive than their competitors,” Stangarone said. “As an industry we’re a force with strong points to make and a solid strategy. We’re making good headway but we have to keep working.”

Phillip Friedman, CEO of Harlow Aerostructures of Wichita, is vying to buy the assets of bankrupt aircraft developer Epic Air. Last year, he mounted an effort to bid on the assets of bankrupt very light jet manufacturer Eclipse Aviation, though he never made it into the final bidding. An auction for Epic's assets is scheduled for March 26. Those assets include those of Epic Air, Aircraft Investor Resources and Aircraft Completion Services, which helped Epic kit builders complete their aircraft. Although the auction is scheduled, the trustee for Epic has asked the court for approval to sell the assets to Harlow Aerostructures for $2 million. The bankruptcy schedule valued the assets at $20.295 million. Epic Air filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last September and then Chapter 7 in October, leaving partially completed single-engine turboprop Epic kits locked in the company’s Bend, Ore. facility. Under the terms of Harlow’s asset-sale agreement with the trustee, the purchase would not include responsibility for any legal claims against Epic and its sister companies, any interest in the joint venture or co-development arrangement with Farnborough Aircraft or any leasehold or rights to the facilities in Bend.

Boeing has finished initial airworthiness testing on the 747-8 Freighter, the company announced today. The milestone allows test engineers to fly aboard future flights and the remaining pair of test airplanes to begin flight test.

“The airplane is performing as expected in the initial stages of flight test,” said Mo Yahyavi, vice president and 747 program general managerfor Boeing Commercial Airplanes . “That’s a tribute to the men and women who helped design and build this airplane.”

Since its first flight in early February, the first 747-8 prototype has flown some 33 hours during 13 test missions. Test pilots have taken the airplane to an altitude of 30,000 feet and a speed of Mach 0.65. They have also run initial stall tests and other dynamic maneuvers, along with an extensive check of the airplane’s systems. Five different pilots have flown the newest Boeing freighter.

The 747-8 Freighter test program calls for approximately 3,700 hours of flight testing using three test airplanes. Subsequent flights will push the airplanes beyond expected operational conditions. In the weeks ahead, Boeing expects the 747-8 Freighter to reach an altitude of more than 43,000 feet and a speed of Mach 0.97.

Boeing plans to deliver the first airplane to launch customer Cargolux during the fourth quarter. It has secured 108 orders for the 747-8, including 76 for the new freighter. Cargolux, Nippon Cargo Airlines, AirBridgeCargo Airlines, Atlas Air, Cathay Pacific, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, Emirates SkyCargo, Guggenheim and Korean Air all have placed orders for 747-8 Freighters.