Coming to terms with rising fuel prices and hurriedly implementing damage control measures, the business of flying—and buying— carries on with remarkable tempo, as was evident at Farnborough. For the IAF, the F-35 could prove irresistible.

Globally, alarm bells have been set off. Amid ominous rumblings and growing apprehensions brought on by rising fuel prices, July witnessed the scripting of disaster stories in the civil aviation sector with quite a few airlines being forced to down shutters even as several others entered into mergers with relatively better-off partners to stay afloat. End of the day, airlines in India will have to do the juggler’s act by somehow balancing factors like capacities and airfares, apart from adopting a slew of fuel-saving and cost-cutting exercises. InFocus and Forum veers attention to the issues concerned and the remedial measures. Relevantly, LastWord dwells at length on Air India’s mounting losses, a sorry picture with privatisation the only ameliorative.

A distinct arm of civil aviation that’s increasingly drawing attention—this time, for the exciting promises it holds—is general aviation. Our foreign correspondent LeRoy Cook in his cover article makes the pertinent observation that rather than competing with scheduled commercial flying, general aviation is an adjunct that increases overall opportunity for business and personal travellers. Business aviation, meanwhile, is caught in a dilemma over safety regulations. Considering the ongoing influx of a large number of business aircraft, especially small, fast jets, the time may have arrived when outsourcing business aviation safety may be the most viable solution.

Infrastructure hogs the limelight in Air Marshal (Retd) B.N. Gokhale’s musings on the need for Pune to have its own state-of-the-art civil airfield. Delving into the merits of joint use of airfields, that is, by both military and civil aircraft, he points out that while Lohegaon has been admirably serving the dual purpose, a new airstrip at Chakan would better meet the growing requirements of the civil sector.

Moving to the military milieu, most exciting is the development of Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter F-35, christened Lightning II, which is entering an intense phase that will dominate the scene for the next 18 months. India could perhaps in the future consider acquiring the F-35—as the proposition gets progressively more lucrative. India’s MMRCA project gathered pace with Boeing submitting the Industrial-Participation Proposal even as EADS presented its offset offer on behalf of the entire Eurofighter community. Also eyeing the Indian market and rightly so, is Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, whose Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, World Sales Steve Estill elaborated on the company’s strengths and strategies.

The Indian Air Force, meanwhile, has dispatched a contingent to Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho to train with US fighters prior to participating in Exercise Red Flag at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, from August 9 to 23.

Both the civil and military sectors created waves at the Farnborough International Airshow 2008. There were many familiar outlines gracing the skies, but little that was new. The excitement was far more about agreements and technology than airframes, reports Alan Peaford from London. On the display side, America’s latest showpiece—the F-22 Raptor—put on a magnificent display, regaling crowds with its vectored thrust aided manoeuvres. The buzz, however, reached a fever pitch with Etihad Airways splurging a whopping $21.4 billion (Rs 90,000 crore) for a total of 100 new Airbus and Boeing airliners. The figure ballooned to more than $43 billion (Rs 1,80,785 crore) with added options and purchase rights with both airframers for a further 105 aircraft, making it the biggest order ever by a single carrier.

July also brought the aspiring space traveller closer to the cosmos with Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic unveiling the WhiteKnightTwo. A high-altitude aircraft christened Eve in honor of Branson’s mother, WhiteKnightTwo will be the mothership for SpaceshipTwo, which in turn will launch in midair at 50,000 ft and send two crew and six passengers hurtling into space. The occasion warranted a fascinating account of human aspirations to experience the aura of space flight, admire the Earth’s bluish global surface and gaze at untwinkling stars. Holiday on the Moon anyone?