It is a bit like waiting for a pot to boil. There is a lot of noise coming from the Chinese industry as it announces an extraordinary range of programs covering almost the whole field of civil aviation manufacturing, but so far not much is bubbling to the surface in the form of complete new aircraft. This pot will probably boil over with products in the 2020s. The fire under it is state funding, fueled by the techno-nationalism that pervades the thinking of the Chinese government.
Elizabeth K. Walker (see photo) has joined the Lee County Port Authority, Fort Myers, Fla., as director of general services. Walker has been with the county government for 18 years, most recently as public resources director.
Andrew Compart (Nashville, Tenn.), Jennifer Michels (Nashville, Tenn.)
Given the competition and consolidation within the regional airline industry and volatile fuel costs, regional carriers are seeking ever more efficient flying, leading aircraft manufacturers and engine makers to rethink options for regionals in the near future. While it seems operators want larger regional jets and turboprops, there are still differing opinions about the need for the mid-market 50-seat jet and continued interest in the much smaller end of the spectrum, such as a 19-seater.
The tri-nation Medium Extended-Air Defense System (Meads) will bear some technological fruit, the top civilian in charge of the U.S. Army told lawmakers May 18, but what that is remains to be seen. Meanwhile, Pentagon leaders have found that despite their efforts to persuade them, Italian and German officials will not support terminating the program early, Army Secretary John McHugh told Senate appropriators.
Even as European governments slash defense spending, the cyberdomain is widely recognized as an area that needs to buck the trend if countries want to stand any chance of keeping up with the rising threat.
Boeing is in a difficult position. It has no good short-term options to counter the Airbus A320NEO now that the 737 re-engining is all but ruled out and a clean sheet design with sufficient performance improvements is still years away.
Future airborne cyberwarfare would have to include carrier-launched unmanned aircraft with non-kinetic payloads. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.'s (GA-ASI) Sea Avenger (Predator-C) is designed for fully autonomous launch and recovery from both USS Nimitz and USS Ford-class carriers. It also is to provide unmanned, autonomous and long-endurance intelligence-gathering capabilities that are responsive to the multi-mission requirements of carrier-based aircraft.
Sikorsky has secured a contract from Sweden for 15 UH-60M Black Hawks, beating out an offer from Eurocopter for EC725s. For Sweden, key to the program was being able to rapidly field the helicopters to fill an urgent operational need in Afghanistan stemming from delays in the NH Industries NH90 program. This is the first order in Europe for the UH-60M.
Juergen Funke is scheduled to become Essen, Germany-based president of ThyssenKrupp Aerospace on June 1, succeeding Stuart Wilkins, who has left the company. Jeff Luckasavage will succeed Funke as president of the company's North American unit.
Boeing would be wise to consider the McDonnell Douglas DC-9/MD-80/90 design formula for its next-generation narrowbody. Placing engines behind the wing with a “T” tail provides advantages such as high elevator authority at low speeds, and it de-couples the fan diameter from landing gear length, as currently constrained by the Boeing 737. Elbridge, N.Y.
LAN Airlines' order of five 767-300ERs doubles Boeing's count for the civilian version of the twin-engine jet this year and helps boost the company's total net orders to 127 through May 17. Boeing has now taken 13 767 orders in 2011, 10 more than last year.
As F-35 Joint Strike Fighter development regains stride, program managers are beginning to be more upbeat about the flight-test effort. But questions regarding per-unit cost are likely to continue casting a shadow over the $380 billion project for some time to come.
Jeroen Koot (see photo) has been appointed president of Fokker Aircraft Services, Woensdrecht, Netherlands, succeeding Edwin Schilling. Koot was managing director of Stork RMO.
The first Space-Based Infrared System (Sbirs) satellite bound for geosynchronous orbit, GEO-1, is ready to begin checkout operations after reaching its orbital slot 22,000 mi. over Earth last week. The missile warning satellite deployed its solar arrays, antennas and a light shade designed to protect the infrared sensors from the Sun on May 18. Program manager Col. Roger Teague says the satellite is continuing to perform well. Sbirs executed six liquid apogee engine burns to gradually increase perigee and reach the proper orbit after its May 7 launch.
James Rankin, the president and CEO of privately held Air Wisconsin since August 2006, is the current chairman of the Regional Airline Association. His carrier operates 70 Canadair CRJs for US Airways as US Airways Express, and is a ground handler for United Express at more than 30 locations. It accounted for 3.5% of U.S. regional airline passenger enplanements in 2010and is one of the largest privately held regional carriers in the country. In this interview with AW&ST Transport Editor Andrew Compart, Rankin talks about the status of the U.S.
A potential new executive order from the Obama administration will require federal contractors to disclose certain political donations made in the two years before they bid for work. It would further mandate disclosure of contributions to third-party entities—those include non-profit organizations and so-called Super PACs, which are political action committees (PACs) borne of the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling—that can raise unlimited amounts of money.
In “Loss of Vigilance” (AW&ST April 25/May 2, p. 72), Pierre Sparaco states that the Air France A380 involved in a recent runway incursion at New York JFK Airport had nearly 500 passengers onboard but he doesn't mention the full load of fuel. I would have liked to have seen a mention of the extreme hazard that could have occurred if fuel had spilled. New York, N.Y.
Intelsat is struggling to deploy the west antenna reflector on its New Dawn satellite, and has postponed deployment of the east Ku-band antenna reflector until the problem is fixed. The spacecraft's solar arrays deployed after its Ariane 5 launch April 22 along with the Yahsat 1A satellite. Intelsat and satellite manufacturer Orbital Sciences Corp. are investigating the antenna issue and assessing possible corrective actions. New Dawn is the first-ever African private sector communications satellite.
With about 150 aircraft under management and a growing network of fixed base operations facilities (FBOs), ExecuJet Aviation has been in the center of the storm that has beset business aviation in Europe and beyond. CEO Niall Olver spoke with AW&ST International Editor Robert Wall about the current state of the industry, the implications for ExecuJet, and what new areas of business growth the Zurich-based organization—with more than 800 staff around the globe—has set its sights on.
With the Pentagon facing yet another round of budget cutting, or “finding efficiencies,” there are hints that the U.S. Air Force's new bomber program is popular and the increasingly expensive F-35 is not. “The [new] bomber is incredibly important to us,” says Erin Conaton, undersecretary of the Air Force. “To remain a world-class power, we need a penetrating bomber force that can touch difficult-to-reach areas of the globe.”
Private space companies can expect at least 44 paying passengers for trips to orbit in the next 10 years, NASA says, but the price per seat could be higher than the U.S. government already is paying for rides on Russia's Soyuz capsule.
NASA crews are starting work on underwater simulations of what it might take to explore an asteroid with astronauts. U.S. space agency engineers and “aquanauts” will dive to the seabed around the Aquarius Underwater Laboratory near Key Largo, Fla., to prepare for an asteroid-landing experiment there in October. The long lead time is necessary because so little work has been done on the idea of sending humans to asteroids, a target set by President Barack Obama for NASA's human-exploration efforts beyond low Earth orbit.
A Northrop Grumman microsatellite launched as a secondary payload on the first orbital flight of the Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Falcon 9/Dragon stack last year met its test objectives, paving the way for future microsatellite developments. Dubbed Mayflower, the microsat rode the Falcon 9 to an elliptical orbit averaging 285 km (180 mi.) in altitude, validating an “advanced solar cell deployment system” and collecting baseline design data for future flights at higher altitudes, according to Northrop Grumman.
