“Shear Magic” (AW&ST Dec. 13, 2010, p. 22) accords the appropriate amount of praise to Space Exploration Technologies and CEO Elon Musk. The problem is that the general press more or less portrays him as the “Edison” of commercial space. In reality, SpaceX has been drawing on 40-50-year-old technologies with some clever modifications. There is little new here. Musk’s genius is his emulation of the Skunk Works/Phantom Works management systems—minimizing organizational structure, and hence cost—while direct-lining the decision path.
The FAA is dangling a carrot in front of airlines still resisting spending to equip their aircraft for satellite-based NextGen air traffic management. It is giving JetBlue Airways $4.2 million toward equipping up to 35 of its Airbus A320s with automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) avionics. In return, JetBlue will give the FAA data on fuel and time-savings, which the FAA hopes will persuade all carriers to get busy with equipage. FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt does not rule out similar help for other airlines, however.
Eric Frankl, executive director of Lexington (Ky.)Blue Grass Airport, has been selected 2010 Air Carrier Airport Manager of the year by the FAA Southern Region . Under his leadership, the airport completed more than $66 million worth of improvement projects, which helped bring a 19.3% increase in passenger growth last year.
Initial results from the European Space Agency’s Planck cosmic background explorer are providing valuable new insights into our galaxy. This suggests the mission will be successful in helping to resolve some of the mysteries of how stars, galaxies and other large stellar structures were born and evolved. The findings, released here last week along with 25 published papers, included 30 previously unknown galaxy superclusters and data that are likely to help confirm many leading theories about primordial structures and matter in the universe.
The U.S. Navy’s Fire Scout will deepen its operational experience considerably both on land and at sea this year as the unmanned rotorcraft begins anti-piracy missions in the Middle East and intelligence-collection for troops in Afghanistan.
After suffering through high-profile quality-control issues with contractors last year, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency appears to be turning the corner on that problem. Now the MDA must deal with unsuccessful testing of its Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Robert Wall (Aberdeen, Scotland)
Eurocopter will start development this year of an all-new replacement for its venerable 4-5 metric-ton Dauphin/Panther helicopter and is poised to launch a new hybrid rotorcraft as well.
George Trivino has become Latin America sales manager and Dale Hawkins sales manaer for StandardAero Business Aviation . Trivino was a field service engineer at Honeywell and had been an airframe and jet engine mechanic in the Colombian air force. Honors & Elections
Manufacturer L-3 Display Systems says the panoramic cockpit display in the F-35 contains a single 20 X 8-in. liquid-crystal display with independent left/right-side electronics for redundancy (Jan. 24/31, pp. 158-159).
Active competitions, development programs and recent orders will see the Indian armed forces introduce more than 700 helicopters this decade, making it one of the world’s key military rotorcraft markets. As India’s requirement for helicopters increases across the board, including for homeland security and disaster relief, fresh acquisition programs are almost certain to arise to meet needs for early entry into service.
NetJets pioneered the concept of fractional aircraft ownership, an arrangement that provides wealthy individuals and businesses that own a share in one aircraft access to a fleet of professionally owned and maintained business jets for a fixed number of hours per year.
Russian regulators on Feb. 3 formally issued the type certificate for Sukhoi’s Superjet 100 regional jet, clearing the way for the two lead customers to start operating the aircraft in Russia and 11 other former-Soviet republics. But despite more than 1,000 flights and 2,500 flight test hours, the certification work is far from complete, as acknowledged by Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. officials.
Graham Warwick (Washington), Bill Sweetmen (Washington)
Helicopter pioneer Charles Kaman died Jan. 31 in Bloomfield, Conn., of complications from pneumonia. He was 91. Kaman was an inventor, a musician and a philanthropist who was known for his love of intermeshing rotors, guitars and German shepherds.
Feb. 13-17—21st Annual American Astronautical Society/American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics’ 2011 Space Flight Mechanics. Loews New Orleans Hotel. Also, Mar. 15-17—AAS Space, Propulsion and Energy Sciences International Forum. University of Maryland, College Park. And, Mar. 30-31—49th Annual Robert H. Goddard Memorial Symposium. Greenbelt (Md.) Marriott. Call +1 (703) 866-0020, fax +1 (703) 866-3526 or see www.astronautical.org
Airbus has canceled 12 A330-200F orders over a long-standing dispute with Indian startup Flyington Freighters for the company’s failure to make pre-delivery payments. The move marked the first cancellations the European aircraft maker has had to log in 2011. But overall demand for the A330 is strong enough, Airbus says, to warrant a production rate hike to 10 aircraft per month, to be reached in the second quarter of 2013. The current rate is eight aircraft per month. Airbus, on Feb. 3, reported it booked 32 new orders and delivered 33 aircraft in January.
Alfred Kahn was a visionary (AW&ST Jan. 3, p. 33). Thanks to him, I, and thousands like me, have jobs we would not have held if the industry had not been deregulated. He also provided many smaller carriers, such as Piedmont Airlines, the one I worked for, with the chance to fly overseas as well as on formerly unavailable domestic routes for the first time. This forced the then-“Big Four” airlines to adapt. Kahn’s actions put billions of dollars into the economy across the board.
Airlines that fly the Boeing 737 want the company to develop an all-new replacement rather than rush forward with a re-engining of the existing 737NG. A survey of most of the Top 25 737 customers by RBC Capital Markets finds a “resounding preference” for a next-generation replacement, mirroring what Boeing executives have been saying for the past year. RBC analysts also predict that Boeing’s customers will not defect to Airbus, which plans to bring a re-engined “A320NEO” to market in 2016
Stephane Chery (see photo) has joined Eurocopter Group as head of international media relations, succeeding Cecile Vion-Lanctuit. Chery was a partner at Publicis Consultants.
What constitutes a subsidy, how do you measure it and what is considered fair? Resolving these questions so the U.S. and European Union can establish a level playing field for rival commercial aircraft makers has proven to be one of the great riddles bedeviling the aerospace industry. The World Trade Organization seems to believe it has the answers, but getting Airbus and Boeing to agree is likely to be a long shot, at best.
Jerry Redondo (see photo) has accepted the role of vice president of operations and global sourcing at Crane Aerospace & Electronics . He was director of operations and global supply chain at Parker Hannifin.
The first Delta IV Heavy liftoff from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., illustrated the dramatic purge of hydrogen that results in flames swirling around the three Pratt & Whiney Rocketdyne RS-68 Common Core Booster engines that comprise the first stage.
