Don Greiman has joined Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo., as director of systems engineering solutions (SES) for the company’s Midwest operations, succeeding Charles Mark, who was promoted to director of Ball’s SES Strategic Development. Greiman spent 30 years with the USAF and working for the defense industry in the private sector.
Breaking into the tightly contested inflight entertainment (IFE) business is a tough challenge, but gaining qualification so systems can be installed on the aircraft assembly line rather than retrofitted may be even harder.
Ron Soret has joined King Aerospace , Addison, Texas, as president. Soret, who was chief operating officer for Gore Design Completions of San Antonio, will be based at King’s modification facility in Ardmore, Okla. Honors & Elections
To get rich is glorious.” Three decades after then-leader Deng Xiaoping pointed his nation toward a market-oriented economy, China is growing richer at a breathtaking pace, as evidenced by mile upon mile of new skyscrapers across Shanghai and Beijing. Thirty-four major airports are under construction, and another 63 are planned by 2020. The Civil Aviation Administration of China forecasts that per-capita air travel will increase fivefold during the next 20 years—this in a nation that already has 240 metropolitan areas of at least one million residents.
The U.K. is nearing the start of an airborne signals intelligence gap of more than two years with the planned retirement of the Nimrod R1s on March 31. The replacement three RC-135 Rivet Joints the U.K. is acquiring are not due until late 2013. The U.K. will retain some airborne electronic intelligence collection capability through the continued use of the Sentinel R1, which will be retired once Afghanistan operations wind down. Moreover, the Elta El/L-8300 electronic support measures equipment bought for the Nimrod MRA4, which is being scrapped, will be retained.
George Whitesides, president and CEO of Virgin Galactic, has been named to receive the William F. Shea Distinguished Contribution to Aviation Award, given annually by the University of Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute . Whitesides was chief of staff to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.
Elisabeth H. Barrett has been named vice president-human resources of Triumph Group , Wayne, Pa. She was vice president-administrative services of the Alco Standard Corp.
As the Pentagon starts to scale back its war funding in 2012, there will undoubtedly be challenges in transitioning equipment reset and maintenance costs back into the baseline for future years.
Hit hard by the recession, the commercial helicopter industry has fallen far from its peak of 2008, but is looking ahead and lining up new products for a predicted recovery beginning in 2012. Most of the activity is in the middle of the market, centering on medium twins with broad appeal across several high-value markets, including offshore oil and gas, corporate and VIP, emergency medical service (EMS), law enforcement and search-and-rescue (SAR).
Jim Holcombe (see photo) has been named vice president of the Hawker Beechcraft Corp. of Wichita. He was executive vice president of sales and marketing and chief operating officer of Piaggio America.
The European Commission is asking for third-party input as it reviews whether a Czech Airlines restructuring plan violates competition rules. The rescue proposal for the struggling airline includes a 2.5 billion Czech koruna ($140 million) loan from state-owned Osinek under conditions viewed as potentially preferential, as well as other elements. Although the opening of a “formal investigation” does not directly imply the EC believes there are violations, it does note it has concerns on a range of issues related to the restructuring plan.
Boeing has created a new entity to market commercial satellite services to the U.S. government and other satellite users. Part of the Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems Div., the new unit—Boeing Commercial Satellite Services—should help the company take advantage of robust government demand, especially for communications, according to Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of BSIS.
Embraer has opened its Florida assembly plant and customer delivery center, a welcome source of jobs on the soon-to-be shuttle-less Space Coast. The $50 million complex at Melbourne International Airport is expected to begin turning out Phenom 100 very light jets later this year. Ultimately, it could employ 200 and turn out eight Phenom 100s and 300s per month.
The Aerospace 2011 specifications table for Unmanned Aerial Systems (Jan. 24/31, 2011, p. 102) incorrectly identified the powerplant for the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System. Its engine is the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220U.
The Society of Satellite Professionals International named seven 2011 inductees for its Hall of Fame: Masanori Akiyama, president and CEO of Sky Perfect JSAT Corp.; Robert Bednarek, president and CEO of SES Worldskies; Giuliano Berretta, chairman of Eutelsat Communications; Ellen Hoff, president of W.L. Prichard & Co.; Edward Horowitz, former CEO of SES Americom and co-founder of U.S. Space, which offers satellite communications to the U.S.
Although shipments of business and general aviation aircraft were down—again—for 2010, the $19.7 billion in billings were the third highest, with flight activity and corporate profits climbing. According to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, its member companies delivered 2,015 business jets, turboprops and piston-engine aircraft in 2010, or 11.4% fewer than the previous year. But the popularity of high-ticket, long-range business jets helped lift total billings 1.2%.
Capt. (ret.) James C. Waugh, whose aviation career spanned nearly half a century, from crewing Pan American flying boats to heading all operations for the international carrier, and later serving as chairman of the Flight Safety Foundation, died in Cary, N.C., on Feb. 24 after a long illness. He was 89.
Fly-by-wire flight control systems have transformed the capabilities of combat aircraft and commercial airliners but have made few inroads into the rotary-wing market. As a result, the ability to exploit the potential of FBW to improve performance and safety is in its infancy within the rotorcraft industry.
March 8—Laureates Awards. Washington. April 12-13—MRO Military Conference & Exhibition. Miami. April 12-13—MRO Latin America Conference & Exhibition. Miami. April 12-14—MRO Americas Conference & Exhibition. Miami. May 10-12—NextGen Ahead. Washington. May 24-25—A&D Cybersecurity Conference. Washington. May 26-27—Inventory & Engine Asset Management Forum. Zurich. Sept. 27-29—MRO Europe 2011. Madrid. Oct. 24-26—A&D Programs. Phoenix.
Don Haloburdo (see photo) has been appointed vice president and general manager of Jet Aviation Flight Services , Teterboro, N.J., succeeding Bob Seidel, who left the company. After a career as a U.S. Navy pilot, Haloburdo served as a Gulfstream II and III captain and then was interim director of the New World Jet Corp.
The Pentagon may finally be grappling with what happens if and when its forces are hit with a large network attack. A number of recommendations appear in the newly released Defense Science Board study, “Enhancing Adaptability of U.S.
Ray H. Siegfried is the new director of aerospace services at The Persimmon Group , Tulsa, Okla. He was chairman of the Nordam Group and is a lieutenant colonel in the Oklahoma Air National Guard.
NASA has concluded that a 2016 crewed first flight of the new heavy-lift launch vehicle is not feasible (AW&ST Jan. 17, p. 18). NASA watchers should know by now that they are probably right. The agency is struggling with LV Phase A studies while trying to converge a congressional mandate with a six-year deadline. Although this sounds like a comfortable margin, there is a long way between Phase A and a downselected contractor for heavy lift. Under their current processes, NASA is now more than one year from final contractor selection, making 2016 look dubious.
The switch to a larger airframe for the U.S. Navy’s MQ-8 Fire Scout unmanned aerial system is the major change in rotorcraft procurement outlined under the Pentagon’s fiscal 2012 budget request. Changing from the Schweizer 333 on which the MQ-8B is based to the larger Bell 407 for the new MQ-8C is required to increase endurance and payload to meet an urgent special-operations requirement for a sea-based medium-range surveillance platform, the Navy says.
