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Magazine Issue

Aviation Week & Space Technology, February 2, 2015

VOL. 177 NO. 4 February 02, 2015

Low-Cost Carriers

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Profits Elusive For Asia’s Long-Haul LCCs

Jan 27, 2015
Early expansion limits returns, but airline executives stress that the LCC model is sound.
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Eurowings Following Norwegian As Long-Haul Low-Cost Start-Up

Jan 27, 2015
A few European airlines are seeking to expand into the low-cost long-haul market, but they are finding that a viable formula to do so is not easy to identify.
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Many North American Airlines Wary Of Push To Long-Haul

Jan 27, 2015
Air Canada’s Westjet edges toward long-haul market, but most North American low-cost airlines are taking a wait-and-see attitude.

First Take

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First Take (Feb. 2-15)

Feb 02, 2015
COMMERCIAL AVIATION The starboard Pratt & Whitney PW1217G geared turbofan on the first Mitsubishi Regional Jet was fired up on Jan 13. Mitsubishi Aircraft aims for a first flight in the second quarter. Three more flight-test aircraft are in final assembly at Nagoya, Japan: Wing-body join is complete on the second and underway on the third, and the fuselage is joined for the fourth.

Defense

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NH90 Customers Still Frustrated By Spares And Reliability Problems

Jan 29, 2015
Small problems that blighted the helicopter in its earliest days of operation are still causing concerns as operators struggle to procure spares and get rotorcraft back into service.
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GE Details Sixth-Generation Adaptive Fighter Engine Plan

Jan 29, 2015
U.S. military planners have now broadly accepted that the only way to meet the advanced performance needs of “sixth-generation” combat aircraft, barring changes to the laws of physics, will be the adoption of variable-cycle, or adaptive engine technology.
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Successful Rotating CMC Part Demo For Future GE Fighter Engines Staged

Jan 29, 2015
GE makes strides in lightweight ceramic matrix composite blade technology.
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Proliferating Threats Open Door To F-35 Follow On

Feb 02, 2015
Pentagon ponders alternatives to F-35 should proliferating new threats compromise jet’s stealth.
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KAL, Boeing Have Cost Advantage In KF-X Assessment

Jan 29, 2015
KAL appears to be proposing a design based on the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, which should be developmentally cheaper than KAI’s KF-X proposal. However, Boeing reportedly has given up supporting KAL’s bid because of a serious image problem suffered by the South Korean company.

Space

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A U.S. Air Force EELV Program Timeline

Jan 29, 2015
The Rise and Fall of a Launch Monopoly?
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Boeing, SpaceX Prepare For First Crew Flights To ISS

Jan 30, 2015
NASA and its commercial crew partners open up about their plans, now that the legal hurdles have been cleared.
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Fleet Operators Skeptical Of SpaceX, OneWeb Broadband Plans

Feb 02, 2015
Since unveiling plans in January to build rival networks of hundreds, or even thousands, of Internet satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), SpaceX and OneWeb are prompting comparisons with past ventures that flopped, among them Teledesic and Skybridge, two well-financed start-ups whose visions of delivering high-speed broadband to the masses were thwarted by technical setbacks.
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Atlas V Stung by Last Year’s Launch Fracas

Jan 29, 2015
SpaceX-USAF legal settlement offers little near-term gain for SpaceX, but it appears to serve the company’s strategic goals.

Commercial Aviation

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U.S. Majors Cashing In On Cheap Oil, But Not Banking On It

Feb 02, 2015
It’s business as usual for U.S. major carriers, as recent low fuel costs will not, as of now, factor into decisions regarding fleet and capacity.
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Aer Lingus Board Accepts IAG Offer

Feb 02, 2015
IAG, the only entity willing to invest in European airlines, is nearing a deal to acquire Aer Lingus, subject to government and shareholder approval.

Technology

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FlexSys-Built Morphing Flap Tested To Higher Deflections

Jan 26, 2015
NASA is taking no chances with flight tests of a full-scale flexible flap designed to demonstrate the potential noise and drag benefits of a seamless, morphing structure.
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F-35’s Gen-3 Helmet Display In Final Test Stages

Jan 26, 2015
The Gen-3 helmet display for the F-35 builds on data from flight testing and pilot training to fix shortcomings of the Gen-2 version.
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The Week in Technology, Jan. 26-30, 2015

Jan 26, 2015
This week is all about unmanned aircraft: using quadcopters on construction sites; 3-D cameras help avoid collisions; UAS get MAD for ASW; “micro” unmanned aircraft certification category proposed; UAS air-dropping UAS.

Up Front

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Opinion: LRS-B And The Military Aircraft Industry

Jan 29, 2015
Students of post-Cold War aerospace are intimately familiar with the Last Supper.

Going Concerns

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Archrivals Continue To Team Up In A&D

Jan 28, 2015
Shrinking defense budgets, fewer programs, and tech developments in other industries creating incentives for A&D rivals to cooperate to win awards.

Airline Intel

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Legacy Airlines See Growing Competitive Threat With The Rise Of Gulf Carriers

Feb 02, 2015
The increasing strength of airlines in the Middle East may present more of a strategic threat to legacy market than the one posed by long-haul, low-cost carriers.

Commander's Intent

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Opinion: A Better LCS—Or An All-New Frigate?

Feb 05, 2015
The Navy wants to fix the Littoral Combat Ship, but the changes are so extensive that it might make more sense to start over.

In Orbit

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Dawn Closes In To Orbit Ceres

Jan 28, 2015
Engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have reached into their bag of tricks to keep NASA’s solar-propelled Dawn probe in good shape to enter orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres, its second stop in the main asteroid belt.

Washington Outlook

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Pentagon’s Innovation Push; A Rules Spat; the President’s Next Ride

Feb 02, 2015
After years of discussion about incremental upgrades or off-the-shelf insertions into older programs, the Pentagon’s next generation of equipment is taking shape. The defense budget plan for fiscal 2016 and beyond features increased spending on new nuclear delivery vehicles and an initiative to pursue advanced fighter engines and a post-F-35 fighter (see pages 26 and 30). Along with that, the request seeks continued aid for NATO and an ongoing emphasis on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).

Feedback

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Letters From Our Readers (Feb. 2, 2015)

Feb 02, 2015
Readers weigh in on choice of Putin as Person of the Year; Defense Department’s pace of technological pursuits defended; Similarity between Boeing Sugar truss-braced wing and Hurel-Dubois design noted; Skepticism about Turkey becoming a major defense exporter; Request for article on ‘Switchblade’ roadable aircraft; correction of airline type typo.

Who's Where

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New Positions, Promotions, Honors And Elections (Feb. 2)

Feb 02, 2015
Luc Tytgat has become director of the Strategy and Safety Management Directorate at the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Cologne, Germany. He was director of the Pan-European Single Sky Directorate at Eurocontrol. Olivier Ramsayer has been appointed EASA’s resources and support director. He was head of the Resources and Support Department at the European Food Safety Authority. Trevor Woods has been named EASA certification director, effective March 1.

Aerospace Calendar

Viewpoint

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Opinion: Reversing Our Sorry Trend on Defense Program Management

Feb 02, 2015
There are signs of hope that the new House Armed Services Committee chairman will make defense acquisition reform a key priority.