During helicopter wake-vortex research at the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's Technical Center in New Jersey some years ago, different smoke colours were employed to help determine vortex patterns. Data were used to establish safer aircraft separation distances in the terminal area.

For helicopter flight-simulator training, sophisticated texture patterns enhance the perception of height and speed when operating near ground level or when transitioning into or out of the hover position. This scene is from Rediffusion's latest generation SP-X-200 visual system that provides a level of scene detail and realism not previously attainable.

This is the first Southern Border (SOWRBALL) aerostat to be employed in Arizona, near the U.S.-Mexico border. It will provide look-down radar coverage of the mountainous/desert region from an altitude of some 15,000 feet. This newly designed aerostat is 71 metres long and has an inverted Y-shaped tail structure.

Launch customer for the first Boeing 757 Package Freighter was United Parcel Service, which received an initial two out of a total order for 16 last September. The B-757PF accommodates 15 standard containers on the main deck (187 m 3) plus another 52 m 3 of bulk-loaded cargo in the lower holds. Here, one of the aircraft is shown before delivery overflying irrigated farmland of Washington State.

Artist's conception shows the planned MD 500N, under development by McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Co., which will employ a NOTAR (no tail rotor) anti-torque system.

This Meteotel image as shown by an air traffic control display is an infra-red satellite view of France on which atmospheric pressures are superimposed (in red) at specific areas. Meteotel images and atmospheric pressure values constitute network dynamic data and therefore are updated automatically as new information is received by the system.

This is an artist's concept of a typical future installation of the new Terminal Doppler Weather Radar. The TDWR, under development by Raytheon for the U.S. Department of Transportation, will be used in part for the early detection of wind shear in terminal approach control areas. It is a part of the 20-year ATC improvement programme for the U.S. National Airspace System.

The 18-seat, all passenger EMB-110PZ Bandeirante is shown carrying the colours of Nordeste Linhas Aéreas Regionais S.A., one of five regional airlines in Brazil performing scheduled operations. Nordeste is a joint venture of Transbrazil, Banco da Bahia and Votec Taxi Aéreo, established to serve the northeast part of the country.

This Cable and Wireless Earth station in Hong Kong was used for the uplink in a highly successful demonstration of weather-chart broadcast via the Intelsat-V geosynchronous satellite during a regional air navigation meeting in Lomé, Togo, last year.

Final phase – flight testing — of a multi-blade propfan, under development in a 3-year U.S. programme, is expected later this year. Shown is the prototype undergoing static tests in Southern California last year. The goal is to produce a more fuel-efficient propulsion system for commercial aircraft. The programme, called Propfan Test Assessment (PTA), is directed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Tethered at up to 3,000 metres above their ground- or sea-based mooring pads, aerostats located along the southeastern United States provide unmanned platforms for coastal and sea surveillance, particularly directed against illicit drug trafficking. LASS, a Low Altitude Surveillance System, with its L-band radar can detect and track low flying aircraft (60-m altitude) to a range of over 240 km.

Here we see a classical microburst in association with heavy rain, immediately northeast of Denver's Stapleton International Airport in Colorado (U.S.A.). The horizontal outflow is seen only to the left side of the downdraught; the outflow is sufficiently strong to produce a horizontal roll vortex, identified in the photograph as a bulge in the outflow cloud.