Forty years ago, as a university freshman, I became a subscriber to AW&ST. One of my earliest issues featured the first post-mission report on Apollo 15; the F-15 had yet to fly and the space shuttle was little more than a dream. The magazine was more conservatively designed then, but what has not changed is the superb editorial quality that makes AW&ST one of the best informed and best laid out weekly magazines of its kind. I turn to the editorial/viewpoint pages first and then to the Feedback column—the places where opinions battle.
The Leading Edge column “A Third Way” (AW&ST Aug. 15, p. 16) poses some interesting concepts for creating another source of biofuels from biomass such as slash from forestry operations. While money, time and energy are poured into these solutions, how much effort is being expended on the distribution systems needed to bring these products from point of creation to point of use? One reason petroleum-based fuel products remain relatively inexpensive is because of the established pipelines.
In is clear from a series of articles under the heading Chinese Military (AW&ST Aug. 29, pp. 29-32) that the Chinese army is roaming freely through our civilian computer infrastructure. The U.S. Air Force is consulting lawyers, and the only defense being mounted is by a private computer security company that is using methods the USAF lawyers will probably declare illegal.
I found “Solar Push” (AW&ST Aug. 22, p. 54) disappointing. Several NASA engineers from JPL are quoted as proposing high-voltage 300-kw solar arrays, and one says: “[A]s we have gone up in voltage bad things have happened in the past.”
Frank Morring's “Heritage Quest” (AW&ST Aug. 29/Sept. 5, p. 78) is a great example of good journalism, starting with the comprehensive interview with Maria Zuber and others. As principal investigator and planetary scientist, she managed to present the Twin Grail mission in just the right detail, giving insight into the complex science and how such a satellite development is completed with optimal use of past experience and within the constraints of time and money.
“Collateral Damages” by Pierre Sparaco (AW&ST Aug. 15, p. 18) cites “deep stall” as a possible explanation of what happened to Air France Flight 447. Indeed, according to flight data recorder (FDR) information, an angle of attack (AOA) of 40 deg. was recorded. In the same edition, an item in The World column, “AOA Anxiety,” explains a possible cause of a faulty indication. Pitot tube icing cannot be ruled out, but AOA clearly could be at fault. How is it possible to keep a big airplane in a deep stall for almost 4 min. without losing lateral control?
In response to an article about the U.S. Marines Corps' alternatives in the aftermath of the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle's (EFV) cancelation: SurfaceNavy says:
Robert Wall's Ares blog “What Country is the Biggest Pain When It Comes to Defense Business” had many readers chiming in. Spoiler alert: According to chief executives at an ADS industry-sponsored forum, it's not the usual suspects. jackjack writes: Damn them Aussies, why won't they buy the Typhoon? All we get are the scraps [and he provides a link to BAE Systems Australia]. Corvan says:
Marlin Dailey has been named president of Boeing Germany, Northern Europe/EU and Africa. He had been VP-sales for Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) and succeeds Lianne Stein. Ray Conner has been appointed senior VP-sales and customer support for BCA, heading sales, marketing and commercial aviation services. He was VP/general manager for supply chain management and operations. Conner has been succeeded by Stan Deal, who was VP/general manager of the BCA supplier management organization and had been VP for Asia-Pacific sales.
John Elbon has been appointed VP/general manager of Boeing's Space Exploration Division. He was VP/manager of the division's commercial programs and will succeed Brewster H. Shaw, who is retiring.
Thomas M. Schoewe (see photos), who was executive VP/CFO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., has been named to the board of directors of Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp. Prabu Natarajan has become VP-tax, based in Falls Church, Va. He was an international tax manager and director of AES and had been a senior manager on the PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Tax Optimization Planning team.
Christian Feichtinger has joined the International Astronautical Federation Secretariat and is scheduled to become executive director on Jan. 1. He will succeed Philippe Willekens, who will return to the European Space Agency. Feichtinger has been ESA's senior adviser on exploration.
Francis X. (Chip) Sheller has become VP-communications for the Arlington, Va.-based Aerospace Industries Association. He was VP-communications and government relations for Thales USA Inc., also in Arlington. Richard Efford has been named assistant VP-legislative affairs. He has been a staff member of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, working on legislation for the Transportation Department, U.S. Coast Guard and Transportation Security Administration.
Kris DeSoto has been appointed marketing manager for the Northeast U.S. and Glenn Murray for the Midwest U.S. for American Eurocopter, Grand Prairie, Texas. DeSoto was sales manager for Latin America and Murray for the Asia-Pacific region. Don Baenen has become director of oil and gas marketing and Patrice Royer director for business and private aviation. Baenen was a global aviation specialist with BHP Billiton Minerals Exploration and had been aviation logistics coordinator with BHP Billiton Petroleum (Americas) Inc.
John P. Hynes, Jr., has been named senior vice president of the TASC Defense and Civil Group, Chantilly, Va. He returns to the company from the Science Applications Research Corp., where he was senior VP/general manager of the Mission Support Business Unit.
Mitch Alexander (see photo) has been promoted to manager from assistant manager of FlightSafety International's Learning Center in Daleville, Ala. He succeeds Ralph Hicks, who has retired. Kelly Allender (see photo) has been promoted to manager of the Tucson, Ariz., Learning Center from assistant manager of FSI's Cessna Learning Center in Wichita. Alexander succeeds Randy Lewis, who will be retiring. Gary Porterfield (see photo) has been promoted to manager of the Learjet Learning Center in Wichita from assistant manager of the West Palm Beach (Fla.) Learning Center.
Christian Duhain has become a non-executive director of London-based A.J. Walter Aviation. He was EADS corporate VP-international development Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
Scott Goodey, who has been president of Greenpoint Technologies, Kirkland, Wash., is now both president and CEO. He succeeds Jon Buccola, who is now chairman and founder. Sloan Benson, who has been executive VP, will also be president of Greenpoint's Denton, Texas, facilities. Adrian Osborn has been promoted to VP-operations from VP-programs and Nikki Clarke to VP from director of human resources. Nima Seyedali has been appointed legal director. She had been contracts manager and patent counsel for the 747-8 products division.
John Heather (see photo) has been appointed business development manager for Baines Simmons, Surrey, England. He has worked for the National Aviation Authorities and was training operations manager at CAA International.
The remnants of a tropical storm were parked over Washington for much of last week, providing a fitting backdrop of rain and gloomy skies as the U.S. Congress returned from its summer recess. A bipartisan “super committee” has been formed to draw up recommendations on how to cut another $1.5 trillion from the federal budget deficit over the coming decade. If lawmakers can't agree on a compromise by the end of the year —and given their partisan antics, that's a possibility—a “trigger” will automatically reduce future U.S.
U.S. Air Force officials are mum on the outcome of a key Integrated Baseline Review (IBR) for the Boeing KC-46A refueling tanker that was held late last month. During this first major milestone for the program, officials laid out a schedule and resource requirements. USAF spokeswoman Jennifer Cassidy says the IBR was “successful,” but declined to provide details on the outcome. A critical design review is slated for September 2013, and the first 18 KC-46A refuelers are due for delivery in 2017.
U.S. Missile Defense Agency officials continue to investigate the cause of the Sept. 1 failure of Raytheon's new SM-3 IB ballistic missile killer to intercept a target during its first end-to-end flight test. An upgraded version of the IA, the IB includes a new two-color infrared seeker optimized for better discrimination of an actual warhead against clutter such as countermeasures. It also features a throttleable divert-and-attitude-control system, which was designed to provide more maneuverability for better chances of a ballistic-missile kill.
Turkey is making good on its commitment to explore the feasibility of developing its own fighter aircraft. The Turkish government has signed off on a two-year study contract, with Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) also looking at potential jet trainer conceptual designs. In May, officials suggested a nominal 2023 fielding time line for the fighter. A decision on whether to pursue the development or go for a more traditional off-the-shelf procurement for the medium to heavy aircraft is not expected until at least late 2013.
