Graham Warwick wrote about the Boeing DiscRotor concept in “Spin Cycle” (AW&ST Oct. 25, p. 15). As for any powered-lift concept, weight will be critical for achieving a practical, useful VTOL or Stovl disc rotor vehicle. The concept has a large number of components, and several are quite complex.
William Niedzwiecki has been appointed president and general manager of NSF International Strategic Registrations . He was president of Assurance Services at SAI Global and also served as president and CEO of CRS Registrars.
SpaceX will respond to NASA’s heavy-lift launch vehicle study with concepts that can carry 150 tons to orbit and cost no more than $300 million per launch. Outlining SpaceX’s approach to the contract—one of 13 trade-study awards made by NASA in early November to look at innovative launch vehicle concepts and propulsion technologies—CEO Elon Musk says only plans that embrace economic, political and technical solutions will work.
USAF Maj. Gen. Charles R. Davis has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general and assignment as commander of the Electronic Systems Center of Air Force Materiel Command, Hanscom AFB, Mass. He has been commander of the Air Armament CenterAir Force program executive officer for weapons at Air Force Materiel Command, Eglin AFB, Fla. Maj. Gen. Susan J.
The continuing debate regarding the merits of an extra engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter surrounds a prime example of the waste that Defense Secretary Robert Gates is trying to eliminate. Support for an extra engine is another case of parochial interests trying to trump efficiency and military readiness.
A year after signing a contract to supply the United Arab Emirates air force with 25 PC-21 trainers, Pilatus has completed the first flight of the model. Deliveries to the UAE are due to start in the first quarter of 2011.
Garuda Indonesia and its SkyTeam Alliance partners will be working to capture more of Indonesia’s international traffic, but it will be hard competing against Singapore Airlines (SIA). SkyTeam signed an agreement Nov. 23 under which Garuda will work to become a SkyTeam member in 2012. The agreement comes just 16 months after the European Commission took Garuda off its blacklist.
David A. Fulghum (Washington), Robert Wall (London)
The proposed deep cuts to the U.K. defense budget have an emerging benefit—improved intelligence-gathering and analysis for both U.K. and U.S. forces. In a merger that has so far been little-noticed involving the “black” world of advanced intelligence, directed-energy weaponry and sensors operating in unusual parts of the electro-magnetic spectrum, Whitehall plans to institutionalize improved linkages to key Washington intelligence-gathering and analysis agencies, say U.S. officials.
Boeing is developing what it says are “minor design changes” to the power distribution panels on the 787 and adding updates to the systems software that manages and protects power distribution, as a result of lessons learned from the Nov. 9 fire onboard test aircraft ZA002 in Laredo, Texas. “We have simulated key aspects of the onboard event in our laboratory and are moving forward with developing design fixes,” says 787 Vice President and General Manager Scott Fancher.
A chart on p. 46 of the Nov. 22 issue included inaccurate information. Rep. Vic Snyder (D-Ark.) declined to run for reelection and will be replaced by Republican Tim Griffin. Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.) is the chair of the U.S. House Armed Services military personnel subcommittee and was reelected.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) this week will issue a preliminary report that is likely to confirm investigators’ suspicions that oil pipe leaks led to the uncontained failure of a Trent 900 engine during a Qantas Airbus A380 flight Nov. 4. Meanwhile, the carrier plans to resume limited operations of some A380s, although the investigation will remain open.
Hezbollah’s efforts to field an effective, multi-faceted military force are evolving with upgrades emerging in its air defense and aerial attack capabilities.
As the familiar philosophical question goes, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” But I am proposing a Washington variation: “If a federal advisory committee uses a lot of fallen trees to create a report, do the results have any consequences?” I raise the question because the Future of Aviation Advisory Committee, appointed by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, will be completing its six months of work on Dec. 15.
Oneworld’s members appear set to benefit greatly from links with their new partner, S7 Airlines, but Russia’s biggest domestic airline is facing some major hurdles of its own before it can take full advantage of its new status.
Emily Richard (see photo) has been promoted to assistant director-corporate communications and government relations of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority . She joined the authority from the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration, where she was marketing and communications director.
Dec. 6—Aeropodium’s Second Annual “Aviation Asset Management in the Middle East.” Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah Beach. Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Also, Dec. 10—Legal Aviation Workshop “Legal Aspects of Leasing Aircraft Agreements” Cozen O’Connor, Army and Navy Building, Washington. Call +1 (305) 767-4707, +44 (208) 123-7072 or see www.aeropodium.com/law/aircraftlease.html
Patrick Dewar (see photo) has been appointed senior VP-corporate strategy and business development at Lockheed Martin . He was VP-business development for the company’s Electronic Systems Business. Honors and Elections
Aurora Flight Sciences is in talks with potential system integrators to help put its Orion five-day-endurance unmanned aircraft into production if a U.S. Air Force-funded technology demonstration proves successful.
Airbus’s long-running debate about whether it will have sufficient resources to develop its New Engine Option (NEO) upgrade for the A320 centers on the quality of engineering skills available, rather than quantity. The completion of this evaluation, due within weeks, is all that is stopping the aircraft manufacturer from launching the multibillion-dollar program by year-end, says Airbus CEO Tom Enders, as the business case is “convincing.”
A team led by Thales Alenia Space will begin developing the space segment of Europe’s next-generation geostationary weather satellite system under a preliminary contract awarded by the European Space Agency after a year of bickering over the scope of work. The €1.3-billion ($1.8-billion) authorization to proceed covers four imaging satellites and two sounding spacecraft. ESA issued it on behalf of Eumetsat, which will operate the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) system. This move should ensure continuity with the current network through 2037.
Greg Collett (see photo) has been promoted to VP-initial phase operations and Austin Shontz has been named VP-final phase operations, both at Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. .
Space Systems/Loral shipped Hispasat 1E to the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, Nov. 24, in preparation for a December launch on an Ariane 5. The satellite carries 53 Ku-band transponders to serve direct-to-home, digital terrestrial television and broadband mobile, land and marine services from 30 deg. W. Long. for coverage of Europe, the Americas and North Africa. The Hispasat Group serves Spanish and Portuguese-speaking populations.
Kerry T. Nock, President Global Aerospace Corp. (Altadena, Calif.)
From 2000-03, we and our technical partners at SAIC and the Colorado School of Mines conducted an extensive NASA Institute of Advanced Concepts (NIAC) study demonstrating that nuclear thermal rockets (NTR) were unnecessary for a sustained Mars transportation system (AW&ST Oct. 4, p. 48). We found that the use of cycling spaceships, called astrotels, on resonant orbits between Earth and Mars resulted in transit times of about 150 days, 20-40 fewer than for the “game-changer” NTR.
