NASA is preparing to launch another spacecraft to Jupiter that will try to uncover some of the mysteries the planet kept hidden the last time a human-built robot ventured into its cold, radioactive and relatively dark neighborhood.
European airlines and air traffic control agencies are bracing for what could be a grim summer of flight delays, just one more headache for an industry still recovering from an unprecedented series of ATC crises in 2010.
A French magistrate has filed a manslaughter indictment against Airbus over the crash of Air France AF447. The move comes before the French air accident investigation bureau has completed its review of the case and on the eve of a new search phase for the flight data and cockpit voice recorder of the A330-200. Air France, late last week, was due to meet with French judicial authorities. The aircraft disappeared June 1, 2009, on an overnight flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.
The Russian government this year will kick in financing for a new high-speed helicopter program to be developed by national rotorcraft maker Russian Helicopters. An official from the ministry of industry and trade says the budget will reach 400 million rubles ($14 million) for the conceptual design phase. The government hopes the new model will help the Russian manufacturer gain 15% of the global rotorcraft market by 2020.
Pamela Keidel-Adams has joined Landrum & Brown , Overland Park, Kan., as managing director. She was director of aviation planning, economics and freight at Wilbur Smith Associates. Drew James has been prpomoted to president of SRCTec, Syracuse, N.Y., from vice president-operations.
Soma is a Japanese coastal city less than 100 km (60 mi.) south of Sendai, about 200 km from the epicenter of the massive earthquake that devastated much of the northern part of the country on March 11.
NASA is preparing to launch another mission to Jupiter, this one powered by solar energy instead of the nuclear generators previously used that far from the Sun. Like a giant windmill, Juno will cartwheel beneath the planet’s intense radiation belts with a suite of sounding instruments designed to probe deep into the opaque atmosphere for clues to the origin of the Solar System’s largest planet, and perhaps the Solar System itself. Lockheed Martin concept.
Hours after the then-only U.S. Customs and Border Protection Predator B unmanned aerial system (UAS) crashed on April 25, 2006, the chief of CBP’s Air and Marine Div. found himself cornered in a congressional hallway with two Aviation Week reporters.
NASA’s Juno mission will probe Jupiter’s atmosphere in search of clues to how the largest planet in the Solar System, and the Solar System itself, were formed from a primordial cloud of gas.
Geert Boven (see photos) has been appointed senior vice president-Americas for Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways . He was the carrier’s executive vice president-sales and services, and previously was managing director of Amadeus Gulf. Kevin Knight was named Etihad’s chief strategy and planning officer. He joins the carrier from United Airlines, where he was senior vice president-planning.
Jan Beseler and Jean-Christophe Dalla Toffola have been named executive vice presidents of Nexcelle of Cincinnati. Beseler was manager of nacelle integration engineering for GE Aviation engines, and Dalla Toffola was Aircelle’s internal supply chain vice president.
Since 1970, more than 40 climbers have perished trying to scale 26,000-ft. Mount Annapurna, an enormous Himalayan massif in central Nepal and the 10th highest mountain in the world. Last spring, three Spaniards narrowly escaped joining those grim statistics, thanks to the heroics of a mountain guide with nerves of steel and a pilot who was determined to push high-altitude flight to its limit.
Seeking to reassure the single-aisle airplane community about their long-term support of the V2500 engine series for Airbus’s A320 family, the four International Aero Engines AG partners have added another 16 years to their collaborative manufacturing agreement, carrying it through Dec. 31, 2044. Meanwhile, the partners—Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, MTU Aero Engines and Japanese Aero Engines—have begun testing a SelectTwo engine upgrade aimed at a 0.58% improvement in fuel burn over V2500-A5 SelectOnes.
Graham Warwick (Orlando, Fla.), Andy Nativi (Orlando, Fla.)
Europe is stepping up its challenge to the U.S. rotorcraft industry, with Eurocopter nearing the launch of its X4 medium twin and AgustaWestland opening the order book for its AW169 intermediate twin and closing in on taking control of the BA609 civil tiltrotor program from Bell Helicopter.
Administrator Charles Bolden took the occasion of a $753 million purchase of 12 Soyuz seats for NASA astronauts last week to press Congress for funds to complete the commercial crew development effort. NASA and the Russian Space Agency on March 14 signed a two-year agreement extending the purchase of Soyuz spacecraft for the transportation of U.S., European, Japanese and Canadian astronauts to the ISS through June 2016.
Cessna fully supports current efforts to reform and streamline the overall export licensing and policy framework. As an aircraft manufacturer, we have found that we have a generally positive export environment for our physical products: aircraft, spares and ground support equipment. However, ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) in many cases is a problem for our utility and special mission aircraft sales.
Pritesh Patel (see photo) has been tapped by Circor Aerospace Products Group , Corona, Calif., as director of information technology. He joins Circor from OK International, where he held the same title.
Delta Air Lines has suspended its services to Tokyo Haneda Airport to “maximize operational efficiency,” but flights to and from its hub at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport were continuing to operate as normal as of March 17. “Given recent events in Japan, it is more efficient for us to run our operations from our hub at Narita, where we can consolidate resources,” the airline says. Delta plans to resume the service from Detroit on May 31 and from Los Angeles on June 2.
David Langstaff (see photo), chairman of Chantilly, Va.-based TASC and former CEO of Veridian Corp., has been named president and chief executive officer of the company, succeeding Wood Parker, who will retire and become vice chairman.
Dassault faces another difficult year, with uncertainty over how quickly its core business aircraft market will recover and the knowledge that revenue will drop because of fewer deliveries. Although there has been a slowdown in cancellations and a slight uptick in order activity, Chairman/CEO Charles Edelstenne says the current macroeconomic environment makes it hard to predict when the business aviation market will rebound. Turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa also could slow defense exports.
I fervently hope the U.S. can finally proceed with getting a new tanker (AW&ST Feb. 28, p. 30). The absolute stupidity with which this acquisition was pursued is another case study in defense procurement run amok and the reason why we cannot use the broken “competitive bid” process to ensure we obtain what this nation needs to protect itself.
If you’re into watching Fringe, Big Bang Theory or any other science/engineering/math-oriented television show, you may want to join in applauding this year’s Workforce Laureate winner, Richard Stephens. In Stephens’ world, engineers, scientists, mathematicians and technologists are rock stars, and he has made a mission of bringing recognition and status to the people who drive his company and the aerospace and defense industry.
I will be saving David A. Fulghum’s article “Adapt or Fail” (AW&ST March 7/14, p. 50) because I have seen companies succeed using precisely the principles that are discussed.
April 6-8—University of Westminster Aviation Seminar: “Air Transport Economics and Planning.” London. Call +44 (207) 911-5000 ext. 3220 or see www.westminster.ac.uk/aviation April 12-14—Aerial Refueling Systems Advisory Group International’s 2011 Conference. Hyatt Regency Atlanta. Call +1 (937) 431-8106 or see www.arsaginc.com April 13—Women in Aerospace’s Fourth Annual Reception at the National Space Symposium. Broadmoor Hotel Gaylord Suite, West Tower, Colorado Springs. See www.womeninaerospace.org
At a gala ceremony in Palm Springs, Calif., at the end of 2008, Amin J. Khoury was named one of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneurs of the Year. It was a bittersweet moment for the founder, chairman and CEO of B/E Aerospace Inc., the leading supplier of seats and other interior components for commercial and business jets. As he accepted the prestigious national award, B/E’s profits were in a free fall, due to a spike in fuel prices—followed by a global economic meltdown—that forced airlines to defer interior retrofits en masse.
