Michael Bright has become vice president of the Missile Defense Business unit of Sacramento, Calif.-based Aerojet. He succeeds Pete Massey, who will join Aerojet's Business Development and Strategy Department.
In a last-ditch bid to keep the F136 engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter alive following cancellation by the U.S. Defense Department, General Electric and Rolls-Royce have proposed converting the F-35 alternate engine development effort into a self-funded demonstrator. The GE-Rolls Fighter Engine Team says it will “bear all costs for continued development of the engine through the end of fiscal year 2012.” The plan hinges on House Armed Services Committee support to restore the F136 to the budget.
Preparations for the first launch this fall of a Russian Soyuz rocket from the European spaceport near Kourou, French Guiana, are gathering momentum following a simulated launch last week that included erecting one of the first two Russian launch vehicles to arrive at the site on the north coast of South America. The dry-run ground-operations checkout started April 29 with transport of the flightworthy launch vehicle 600 meters (1,968 ft.) from its “MIK” horizontal assembly building to the new pad on its transporter/erector rail car.
Stacy Jackson (see photo) has been promoted to director of contracts and risk management from manager of contracts at Executive AirShare, Kansas City, Mo.
Scaled Composites tested the feathering re-entry mechanism of the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo (SS2) in flight for the first time on May 4. The feathering device reconfigures the vehicle while in the vacuum of space, and creates very high drag as it descends through the atmosphere. The test took place during the seventh glide flight of the 60-ft.-long, 42-ft.-wingspan commercial spaceship, and was performed after release from the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft at 51,500 ft.
Airbus Military and the Europrop International joint venture developing and building the TP400D turboprop engine for the A400M military airlifter say they have resolved their contract dispute. The two sides were sparring over liabilities linked to A400M delays and cost overruns. Detailed terms of the changes are not being disclosed, although MTU Aero Engines CEO Egon Behle says there is no net payment between the two sides. The agreement comes after Airbus Military and A400M customers agreed to a new contract to cover overruns and a three-year schedule delay.
An almost serene confidence permeated board room reaction to the recent run of first-quarter results across the U.S. airline industry, with a belief that price elasticity and prudent capacity control will still produce annual profits despite more than $1 billion in losses from the legacy carriers in the first three months of the year.
Italian aerospace and defense giant Finmeccanica is entering a new phase, aiming to generate stronger financial returns. Just how that will happen is something newly appointed CEO Guiseppe Orsi will try to determine in the coming three months. After a period of expansive growth through acquisitions, Finmeccanica in recent months has worked to rationalize its business by consolidating activities into a few core areas to cut overhead. But the company's majority shareholder, the Italian government, is looking for more.
Fayette Collier, Project Manager for Environmentally Responsible Aviation, NASA Langley Research Center (Hampton, Va. )
Reader Fred Bearden questions NASA's noise reduction initiative (AW&ST April 25/May 2, p. 8). This noise goal for future aircraft is important for economic and environmental reasons. Noise is the No. 1 environmental constraint to the expansion of airports and the air transport system. Expansion is linked to GDP and the overall economic health of the nation. If aircraft were not noise-constrained, and were permitted to operate round-the-clock in major metro areas, this could have obvious economic benefits.
The aircraft can work harder these days, but there is only so much you can get out of a pilot. For that reason, Australia will need its new flight training system to handle more trainees, with the result that its air force will be able to conduct the high-tempo operations available from new types, such as the Lockheed Martin F-35.
International Lease Finance Corp.'s cancellation of 10 A380 orders and the loss of an additional A330-200 have pushed Airbus's 79 year-to-date cancellations beyond last year's 12-month total of 70. ILFC's cancellation of the A380s came as the lessor firmed up its order for 100 single-aisle aircraft: 75 A320 NEOs (new engine option) and 25 A321 NEOs. ILFC also swapped six A350-800 delivery positions for six more A350-900s.
Razmig Arzoumanian has been named managing director of Chicago-based Lincoln International's Aerospace and Defense Group in North America. He was co-head of Global Aerospace and Defense at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Amanda K. Cecil is the new dean of education and Heather Trusty the new director of certification of the Global Business Association, Alexandria, Va. Cecil was an assistant professor in the joint Department of Tourism, Conventions and Event Management at Indiana and Purdue universities. Trusty was director of certification at security firm ASIS International.
Roderic Hoover and David Nolletti have been named to the board of UCA Holdings, Asheville, N.C. Hoover was a consultant to Precision Castparts Corp. and Nolletti is vice president-marketing, strategy and business development for UCA and its affiliates.
USCG Adm. (ret.) Thad Allen has joined the board of Selex Galileo, Arlington, Va. Allen was national incident commander in charge of responding to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Omani Airports Management Co. is taking no chances to avoid a flooding catastrophe at Muscat International Airport. Construction is underway to raise ground level by about 10 ft., shifting 10-12 million cu. ft. of sand to where runways and roadways will be built. The company is also working with architects and consulting engineers Cowi & Larsen to build three culverts that will drain surface water into the Gulf of Oman as a further protection.
Peter P. Papadakos (Reno, Nev. ), Gyrodyne Foundation (Reno, Nev. )
The use of remotely piloted helicopters to help cool Japan's nuclear reactors with water buckets is a great idea, but it won't work (AW&ST April 11, p. 10). I was involved with nuclear monitoring in the 1970s when the Nevada Test Site was setting off underground nuclear missiles. When that work came to an end, the birds were so hot they were buried along with the test-trailers.
Southwest Airlines closed its deal to acquire AirTran Airways on May 2, freeing Southwest to take an unfettered look at AirTran's books and operations, but there will not be any big changes anytime soon other than in the leadership of AirTran. Bob Jordan, Southwest's executive vice president of strategy and planning, became president. The previous AirTran chairman, president and CEO, Bob Fornaro, is now a full-time consultant for the integration. For now, AirTran will operate as a subsidiary of Southwest without any changes to its operations or product offerings.
Perhaps it should come as no surprise, given India's notoriety when it comes to defense procurement, that the downselect in its high-profile fighter competition has raised an unusual number of questions.
“Carrier Cat” (AW&ST April 4, p. 58) touches on the difficulties naval aviators face when landing on a pitching deck. Modern luxury liners are equipped with stabilizers that virtually eliminate pitching. Viewing the “improvements” on the new Ford-class aircraft carriers, I see nothing about adding stabilizers. Is there a reason for this omission? Denton, Texas
In Guy Norris's “Building Blocks,” about NASA and industry technology studies being pursued to improve efficiency of the next generation of airliners (AW&ST April 18, p. 36), the description of efforts to improve low-speed rudder effectiveness to reduce rudder and/or vertical fin size was of particular interest. Perhaps designers should consider a split aileron to augment low-speed directional control as is done in B-2 or A-6 aircraft. This approach could also reduce vulnerability to overstressing the vertical fin.
Mo Meidar (see photo), MAG chairman and chief executive officer, has been named to receive the Leader of Innovation Medal from Philadelphia University. Meidar is being honored for his company's work in developing automation technologies for producing composite structures for the aerospace, automotive and wind energy industries.
Norman R. Augustine, retired chairman and chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin Corp., has been selected by The Wings Club of New York, to receive its 2011 Distinguished Achievement Award on Oct. 21. Augustine is being recognized for his expertise in science and technology, particularly as it pertains to aerospace and defense.
It appears that the FAA has a double standard when it comes to violations of its own employees. In the March 23 late-night Reagan Washington National Airport tower incident, the supervisor who was asleep at this position received a suspension, but the two Northwest Airlines pilots who overflew their destination in October 2009 had their airman certificates revoked. It would seem that the agency actually in charge of such violations would be even-handed across the board. This action, or lack of it, sets a bad example.
