American Airlines Hosts Sweepstakes to Complement Legendary Concert Series With John Legend and The Roots

Grand-Prize Winners Get AAdvantage Miles to Use Toward Flights to New York, Plus One-Night Hotel Stay and Backstage Passes to John Legend & The Roots WAKE UP! Live Concert

FORT WORTH, Texas, Sept. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- American Airlines is proud to present a new sweepstakes in conjunction with the American Airlines John Legend & The Roots WAKE UP! Live Concert Series. The sweepstakes will award two lucky grand-prize winners with 180,000 AAdvantage® miles - more than enough miles for flights to New York - as well as one-night hotel accommodations, and two backstage passes to see Columbia recording artist John Legend and hip-hop band The Roots, live in concert. The concert, to be held Nov. 9, 2010, will be the third and final show of the American Airlines John Legend & The Roots WAKE UP! Live Concert Series.

The concert series celebrates American's relationship with the city of New York. Featured in the series will be three exclusive performances at the Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg.

"We're thrilled to celebrate American's presence in New York with John Legend and The Roots," said Craig Kreeger, Senior Vice President - Customer Experience. "With this sweepstakes, we get the unique opportunity to provide a once-in-a-lifetime experience for two lucky winners."

To enter the sweepstakes, either register at www.aa.com/legend and purchase a ticket on AA.com, or register and complete the alternate entry form. Each registrant will receive one entry per ticket purchased (up to three entries). For more information about the sweepstakes, please visit www.aa.com/legend.

You can also follow American Airlines on Facebook (www.facebook.com/aa) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/aairwaves) for additional details about the John Legend & The Roots WAKE UP! Live Concert Series.

Source: AMERICAN AIRLINES

---

AAR to Announce First Quarter 2011 Results on September 15, 2010

WOOD DALE, Ill., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AAR (NYSE:AIR) today announced that it will release financial results for its first quarter of Fiscal Year 2011, ended August 31, 2010, after the market closes on Wednesday, September 15, 2010.

On Thursday, September 16, 2010, at 7:30 a.m. CDT, AAR will hold a conference call to discuss the results. The conference call can be accessed by calling 866-802-4321 from inside the U.S. or 703-639-1318 from outside the U.S.

A replay of the conference call will also be available by calling 888-266-2081 from inside the U.S. or 703-925-2533 from outside the U.S. (access code 1479894). The replay will be available from 11:30 a.m. CDT on September 16, 2010, until 11:59 p.m. CDT on September 23, 2010.

AAR is a leading provider of products and value-added services to the worldwide aerospace and defense industry. With facilities and sales locations around the world, AAR uses its close-to-the-customer business model to serve airline and government/defense customers through four operating segments: Aviation Supply Chain; Government and Defense Services, Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul; and Structures and Systems. More information can be found at www.aarcorp.com.

Source: AAR

---

NASA Invites Media To Experience Future Of Human Space Exploration

HOUSTON -- To see what life might be like on a distant planet,
reporters need only travel to the Arizona desert. NASA's Research and
Technology Studies, or Desert RATS, will make its 13th trip to the
desert this fall to test rovers, habitats and robots that could be
used in future exploration missions.

A media day for the tests will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 15, to
allow reporters to observe the activities. Interested news media
should contact Brandi Dean at 281-483-5111 by Thursday, Sept. 9.
Access to the test site is restricted, so media must be pre-registered.
NASA also requires a letter of assignment on company letterhead for credentials.

The desert tests offer a chance for a NASA-led team of engineers,
astronauts and scientists from across the country to test concepts
for future missions. The location offers a good test area for future
destinations of exploration missions.

NASA will demonstrate a variety of hardware during this year's test,
including:
-- Space Exploration Vehicles: two rovers astronauts could live in for
seven days at a time.
-- Habitat Demonstration Unit/Pressurized Excursion Module: a
simulated habitat where the rovers can dock to allow the crew room to
perform experiments or deal with medical issues.
-- All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorers: two heavy-lift
rover platforms that allow the habitat, or other large items, to go
where the action is.
-- Portable Communications Terminal: a rapidly deployable
communications station.
-- Centaur 2: a possible four-wheeled transportation method for NASA
Robonaut 2.
-- Portable Utility Pallets: mobile charging stations for equipment.
-- A suite of new geology sample collection tools, including a
self-contained GeoLab glove box for conducting in-field analysis of
various collected rock samples.

The public was involved in test preparation by helping NASA decide
what areas should be explored. NASA posted online several
possibilities online and allowed members of the public to vote on the
most promising. Several thousand ballots were cast and 67 percent
favored a location that appeared to be home of several overlapping
lava flows.

NASA centers involved in the Desert RATS tests include Johnson Space
Center in Houston; Langley Research Center in Va.; Jet Propulsion
Laboratory and Ames Research Center, both in California; Kennedy
Space Center, in Florida; Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland;
Glenn Research Center in Cleveland; Marshall Space Flight Center in
Alabama; and NASA Headquarters in Washington.

In addition, professors and students from various universities, as
well as the Canadian Space Agency, are participating in the Desert
RATS field tests.

For more information about NASA's field tests and to follow Desert
RATS on various social media sites, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/analogs/desert_rats.htnl

Follow the Desert RATS tests on Twitter at:

www.twitter.com/Desert_RATS

Source: NASA

---

German Airbus A350 XWB Production commences

Airbus has commenced production of the latest Airbus product, the A350 XWB, in Germany. The green light was jointly given at the company’s production plant in Stade by Airbus President and CEO Tom Enders, Executive Vice President Operations and Chairman of the Board of Management Airbus Germany Gerald Weber, and Parliamentary State Secretary and German government aerospace coordinator Peter Hintze.

The first German component will also be one for the record books for its size. Measuring almost 32 metres by 6 metres, the upper wing shell is the largest integrated component ever to be built by Airbus from weight-saving carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP).

“The A350 XWB sets new benchmarks for the aviation industry and passengers. Advanced materials make the new Airbus the most economical and environment-friendly aircraft in its class. We are also applying these new standards to our production with facilities and machinery operating to the highest technology and quality standards. Thanks to this leading-edge production process, we are able to achieve a very high efficiency,” says Tom Enders.

The upper wing shells will be built using advanced production processes at the 30,000 square metre production hangars in Stade. For the first time automated tape-laying technology will be used not only for the carbon fibre but also for the lightning strike protection and fibreglass components. The wing shell, measuring 31,6 m by 5,6 m, will then undergo polymerisation in the autoclave. This high-tech oven is one of the largest facilities of its kind worldwide and can accommodate two wing shells simultaneously.

In addition to laying the wing skin panels, the plant also produces the stringers (longitudinal stiffeners used in wing panels). In order to produce these components Airbus has for the first time set up a flow line production system which measures 140 metres in length.

Other innovations include an entirely new quality control system which now permits inspection of the external and internal surfaces of CFRP components of that size simultaneously. The advanced plant also boasts the use of waterjet technology for edge trimming and a high-precision automated conveyance system in the production hall for large components.

In addition to producing the upper wing shells for the A350 XWB, the Airbus Stade plant builds the vertical tailplane and, for the first time, CFRP fuselage shells. Approximately 100 employees will work in A350 XWB production by the end of 2010. This figure is expected to rise to around 500 when production reaches full capacity.

The Stade plant also has its own dedicated combined heat and power unit. This unit not only generates electricity and heat for the hangars: the emissions are used as inert gas for the autoclave and ensure fire protection. This means energy exploitation of the power unit is an exceptional 100 percent.

The A350 XWB is a new family of widebody airliners (A350-800, A350-900 and A350-1000) for which Airbus currently has 528 confirmed orders. With an airframe made of 53 percent lightweight carbon fibre composites, the aircraft has enormous fuel-saving potential. Final assembly of the A350-900 is scheduled to start in 2011, with first delivery expected in 2013.

Source: AIRBUS

---

Colombia Becomes Second KC-390 Partner

By Robert Wall

LONDON — Embraer has secured a second foreign partner for its KC-390 military tanker/transport development program, with the Colombian government signaling its intent to buy 12 of the aircraft.

The agreement follows only a few days after Chile expressed its intent to take six of the aircraft ...

---