The Northrop Grumman/Bell Helicopter Fire-X demonstrator is executing a series of flight trials following its first unmanned flight Dec. 10 in Yuma, Ariz., just days after arriving there for flight testing.
I consider your article “Cargo Clampdown” (AW&ST Nov. 15, p. 32) to be criminally irresponsible. The detailed photograph of Richard Reid’s shoe bomb could be of great assistance to any aspiring bomb-maker. I am aware of the arguments for free speech and freedom of the press, but I am also aware of the need for basic common sense, in understanding the value that this type of information can be to terrorists.
Enabling technologies for a new satellite launcher and medium-lift helicopter and an aero-engine demonstrator are among the projects set to benefit from the first stage of a €35-billion ($46.2-billion) French government bond issue intended to help stimulate the country’s sputtering economy. The program, presented in late 2009 and approved by lawmakers in mid-year, recently moved into the implementation phase. Thirty work package proposals have already been submitted, says Rene Ricol, the government’s director for public investment.
Boeing test engineers were planning to complete a high-blow pressurization test of RC001, the first 747-8 Intercontinental, Dec. 17-19, marking a milestone on the road to the start of flight tests.
The problem the global air cargo industry faces in securing its freight is the same that plagues regulators worldwide: How does an industry set one set of standards for security when rules and processes differ country-by-country, and technology capabilities differ airline-by-airline.
Nicolas Ferri has been appointed VP-Latin America and the Caribbean for Delta Air Lines . He joins Delta from the Oneworld airline alliance, where he was VP-sales and marketing.
Gerald Weber, Airbus executive VP-operations, a member of the Airbus Executive Committee in Toulouse and the head of Airbus Operations in Hamburg, will leave the company at the end of March. He has held senior managerial positions at Audi, Autolatina and Volkswagen-Tabaute in Brazil and was director-central manufacturing-engineering at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg, Germany.
The U.S. Army and Air Force are continuing to field intelligence-collection equipment—especially for detecting and following individuals on the battlefield—to support intensifying operations in Afghanistan.
An unmanned aerial vehicle belonging to the Mexican government crashed in El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 14, according to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. An NTSB spokesman said officials received a call from a “concerned citizen” and recovered a “mini UAV.” A CBP spokesman said the agency is “working collaboratively with other federal agencies and the government of Mexico to return it.”
Test failures, budget cuts to the Missile Defense Agency and low worker morale at MDA are all indications that the Obama administration is weakening U.S. missile defense efforts, complains James Inhofe (R-Okla.) during a Senate debate on ratification of the New Start nuclear arms treaty with Russia. This is reflected, says Inhofe, “in MDA’s ranking of 223 of 224 for employee satisfaction and commitment in the 2010 Best Places to Work survey of Department of Defense agency subcomponents.”
Globally, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects 2011 to be much tougher for airlines than last year as fuel costs continue to rise and added capacity is beginning to affect load factors and yields. IATA predicts a combined industry profit of $9.1 billion for 2011, which is equivalent to a margin of just 1.5%. Director General/CEO Giovanni Bisignani believes airlines will be burdened with $17 billion more in fuel costs and can no longer expect the strong improvement in average yields experienced in 2010.
Southwest Airlines will substitute 20 of its Boeing 737-700 orders for the larger 737-800 aircraft, with the first delivery scheduled in March 2012. Southwest, which has 23 737-700 deliveries scheduled in 2012, says it expects to convert most of them to -800s as it replaces its -300 series aircraft. The carrier has another 19 firm orders for the -700 scheduled for delivery in 2013.
Thales has agreed to acquire SESO, a France-based supplier of very high-precision optical, electro-optical and opto-mechanical components with 80 employees and €12 million in annual revenues. SESO supplies key European space programs, including the CSO very high-resolution optical satellite network that will replace France’s Helios 2.
Mike Brand has been appointed VP-787/commercial airframe entry into service for Goodrich Corp. Dave Castagnola, VP and general manager-programs and manufacturing at Goodrich’s Aerostructures business, succeeds Brand as president of the company’s Landing Gears business.
As he pilots International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC) into a new era, CEO Henri Courpron faces a myriad of challenges: a negative debt outlook, restocking an aging narrowbody fleet, fending off smaller, more nimble competitors, and a parent company that is looking to sell off non-core assets. On top of that, there is the long shadow of Steven Udvar-Hazy.
A broad-based, 19-member Future of Aviation Advisory Committee created by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood defies early expectations merely by reaching a consensus. Now, the question becomes how many of the 23 recommendations presented to LaHood on Dec. 15 will have an impact. The committee reached accord, in part, by punting on some of the most contentious issues.
Aeroflot is pressing ahead with fleet renewal plans even as the carrier faces the reality that one of its new aircraft, the Superjet 100, will miss its 2010 delivery target.
The German cabinet has approved a reduction of its military to 185,000 uniformed personnel and the scrapping of conscription starting July 1. The number of civilian employees also is due to be reduced. The plan still has to go to parliament for final approval. The government is still reviewing how to adapt its equipment plans to the new force structure.
For the first time, Brazilian carrier TAM’s maintenance and engineering arm can count more customer aircraft than TAM aircraft in its hangars outside Sao Paulo. In early December, it inducted five aircraft for service simultaneously, the majority for outside customers, and on Dec. 15, it had one LAN aircraft and one Netherlands Antilles Express Fokker 100 on site.
Eberhard Moebius has been named a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union . A professor of space plasma physics at the University of New Hampshire Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space and the Department of Physics, which he chairs, Moebius is being recognized for contributions during four decades in the field of solar, heliospheric and magnetospheric physics. His work includes the development of instrumentation for space missions that have probed fundamental aspects of how our solar system interacts with the interstellar medium.
The American Society of Aviation Artists joins Aviation Week & Space Technology for the 11th year in presenting art selected from ASAA’s 2010 Exhibition, in this annual special issue. AW&ST has determined its “Best of the Best” award winner and top choices for honors in the categories of Military, Commercial, General Aviation and Space, while ASAA’s prize winners were chosen by an ASAA-invited judge.
European leaders hope to work with the U.S. to build a global space-based surveillance network to provide early detection and identification of vessels engaged in piracy, contraband, illegal immigration and other sea-based threats.
