Jeff has been involved in aerospace journalism since the mid 1990s. Prior to joining Aviation Week, Jeff served as managing editor of Launchspace magazine and the International Space Industry Report. He has been the editor and chief of Aviation Week's Aerospace Daily & Defense Report since 2007 and has been a regular contributor to Aviation Week magazine. He received his B.A. from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
The Boeing/Insitu ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) conducted its first fully autonomous launch and recovery from a ship on April 28, Boeing announced May 11. The 40-pound UAV took off autonomously from the Shackleton, a 58-foot fishing boat, via a pneumatic wedge catapult launcher mounted onboard. ScanEagle then flew pre-programmed and operator-directed waypoints over the waters of Puget Sound, Wash., while conducting surveillance with its electro-optical camera.
In preparation for future long-duration space flights, NASA is sponsoring the development of new emergency medical training for astronauts that uses realistic mannequins to simulate the physiological responses of the human body after it's been in space for several months.
Boeing's new composite rotor blades for the Army's AH-64D Apache attack helicopter could begin qualification testing as early as this year as part of the program's Block III upgrade program, according to Larry Plaster, Boeing's manager of Apache modernization programs. The new blades completed initial flight testing in February at Boeing's rotorcraft facility in Mesa, Ariz. (DAILY, May 11). The flights capped four years of development by Boeing and the Army under the Affordable Apache Rotor Program (AARP).
