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.
While the Vertical Flight Consortium awaits the resumption of V-22 testing next month, the group is working to advance the broad acceptance of rotorcraft in general, according to American Helicopter Society (AHS) Executive Director Rhett Flater. The consortium is an informal coalition - featuring participation from Bell Helicopter/Textron, Boeing, AHS, and others - aimed at advancing the cause of vertical flight technology (DAILY, April 17).
Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas) blasted NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe during his first appearance before a House Appropriations subcommittee April 17, calling O'Keefe's human spaceflight plans "timid and anemic," and criticizing his handling of the X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) program.
With the future of tiltrotor technology likely riding on V-22 Osprey flight tests slated to resume next month, the Vertical Flight Consortium is preparing for possible battles over the technology, both on Capitol Hill and in the arena of public opinion. Grounded since December of 2000, the V-22 is scheduled to begin two more years of flight tests in the second week of May. The consortium originally was founded in the 1980s, when then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney cut production of the V-22 in an effort to kill the program.
