New built Fokker 100s looming on the horizon

It seems there might be a new lease of life for a reliable old workhorse! The Dutch company NG Aircraft plans to build an updated Fokker 100 with possible service entry around the year 2015. NG is the successor to Rekkof ("Fokker written reversed"), which already tried to manufacture a new Fokker 100 variant for several years. The company has secured a loan for € 20 Mio to convert one of the Fokker 100 prototypes, which is currently in storage, into the prototype of the new version, which is called the XF series. Furthermore there seems to be some substantial interest from established F100 operators to retrofit older aircraft with the new technical systems, for example new avionics, new engines (have yet to be determined which model exactly) or winglets. This blogger wishes them the best of luck, as he likes the old Fokker design very much.

Here is a link to an article in flight global:

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/03/10/339286/fokker-100-revival-team-claims-interest-in-retrofit.html

Boeing to Offer Next Generation Tanker based on 767

This week Boeing announced that they are offering the Boeing NewGen Tanker aircraft based on the Boeing 767. This aircraft will be the Boeing bid in the US Air Force competition to replace 179 KC-135 tanker aircraft. Potentially if this competition would be won by Boeing the follow-on order could comprise hundreds more aircraft of the same type to be manufactured over the course of several decades and thus giving the old 767 a complete new lease of life. The flight deck of the Boeing NewGen Tanker will be completely revised and will feature the big flight displays of the Boeing 787. In addition to its tanker role the Boeing NewGen Tanker can also be used to transport military personnel and cargo.

Check out this cool Boeing video to learn more about this aircraft:

http://www.unitedstatestanker.com/video#TheBoeingNewGenTanker