Capt. Konstantin “K.” Volodzko (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
The “Price of Safety” (AW&ST Sept. 20/27, p. 28) just scratched the surface as to the ill-effects of the new notice of proposed rule-making (NPRM). When FAA Administrator J. Randolph Babbitt was flying the line at Eastern Airlines, two-man flight deck crews could leave the cockpit, stretch their legs and clear their minds, interacting with passengers and cabin crew before returning to their stations. Thanks to 9/11, that world is gone. Pilots are virtual prisoners locked behind bulletproof doors.
India’s Rustom-H medium-altitude long endurance unmanned aircraft is expected to birth a hunter-killer variant to provide the country with its first indigenously developed armed combat unmanned aircraft system (UAS).
Darren Shannon (Dublin ), Andrew Compart (Washington)
A revival in international yields and a commitment to shareholder value produced some of the best third-quarter results on record for U.S. legacy carriers, but behind the grandiose statements there lurks the specter of another fuel-price hike that could destroy this newfound momentum.
Boeing has shipped LightSquared SkyTerra 1 to Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a Nov. 14 launch on an International Launch Services Proton. One of its 702HP series, SkyTerra 1 will combine four gateway ground stations and ground-based beam-forming equipment to create two space-based networks for LightSquared, the former SkyTerra. Once in orbit, the satellite’s 22-meter (80-ft.) L-band reflector antenna will be the largest commercial one launched.
The U.S. Army is close to deploying the first medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned air vehicle system it has developed from the ground up, as a program of record. At the same time, Army researchers are pushing forward with a number of new UAV programs for an unprecedented diversity of missions.
The U.K.’s decision to drastically alter its fast-jet fleet plans introduces new uncertainties into the global fighter market. In a two-pronged move, London is trimming its buy of Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and changing course on the model.
George Larson, senior editor of Aviation Week’s Business & Commercial Aviation magazine, has won the 2010 David Ewald Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement and excellence in journalism. The award was presented by the National Business Aviation Association at its annual meeting in Atlanta (see p. 35). Larson, who also is the author of books on flying, worked at Flying magazine and founded and edited Air & Space magazine for the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum.
Washington sympathizes with London’s making difficult choices in its national security restructuring (see p. 20), but officials are initially defensive about suggestions the U.K. might not remain a strong ally.
I enjoyed the Market Focus commentary “Targeting China, With Eyes Wide Open” (AW&ST Sept. 13, p. 13), but I disagree with the comment that Western companies have entered into similar arrangements, only to be squeezed out after their Chinese partners acquired technology and know-how. Through several years of cooperation with partners in China, most Western companies gained valuable experience with local markets. They discovered better opportunities and ways to do business in China, and then they chose to cash out.
A pie chart accompanying an article on Honeywell’s 2010 business aviation forecast transposed the projected shares of demand for two regions (Oct. 18, p. 40). Latin America’s share is 13%, and the Asia-Pacific’s share is 6% of the world market.
Michael Dill (see photo) has been promoted to vice president-business development and strategy covering the North American, Asian, European and North African aerospace businesses at Circor Aerospace Products Group , Corona, Calif. He was group continuous improvement director.
The Air Force’s tanker fleet will contract significantly as KC-135s become too expensive to repair and new tankers come on line at the anemic production rate of just 15 aircraft per year, analysts warn. USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Norm Seip and Rebecca Grant predict that the first group of 179 new KC-Xs will not be reinforced with follow-on KC-Y and KC-Z aircraft for at least another 20 years—and perhaps never—while a replacement for the larger KC-10 will not show up for 30 years.
A photo of a Porter Airlines Bombardier Q400 in flight (Oct. 11, p. 58) should have been credited to Rick Radell, who also shot the cover photo in that issue.
Virgin Blue is making a last-ditch effort to overcome regulators’ resistance to its joint venture proposals with overseas airlines, and now the Australian government is wading into the fray to pressure U.S. officials to reverse their initial rejection of one of these deals.
Dassault Falcon Jet has recorded 34 new aircraft orders during the first nine months of 2010, but also posted 35 cancellations. Still, President John Rosanvallon notes this year’s sales are double those of 2009, which ended with 160 cancellations.
The U.K. has issued funding to define a new technology demonstrator intended to help develop the country’s space sector. The £770,000-contract ($1.2-million), awarded to Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., will enable planners to identify innovative payloads that could be demonstrated on the small satellite, dubbed TechDemoSat-1, and to define the SSTL-led mission. A follow-on grant of £2.7 million will later be released to design, build and test the spacecraft.
Boeing added another 50 737s to its order column as of Oct. 21. No customers were identified. The orders raise net 737 orders for the year to 432 and net orders for all models to 472.
Wanda M. Austin, president and chief executive of The Aerospace Corp., has been elected to the University of Southern California board of trustees. She served on President Barack Obama’s Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee in 2009, and in 2010 was appointed to the Defense Science Board.
Advanced displays that improve situational awareness without swamping the crew with data are under test in the NASA Langley Flight Research Center’s Integrated Flight Deck simulator in Virginia as part of the Integrated Intelligent Flight Deck (IIFD) program, one of four initiatives in NASA’s evolving Aviation Safety Program. Updates on IIFD, a parallel European advanced flight deck research effort, new integrated visual systems and the challenges posed by NextGen and Sesar air traffic systems are reviewed beginning on page 44. NASA photo.
Mary Case (see photo) was named general manager of Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport . She had been general manager of Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport since July 2005. Case also held the top post for seven years at Houston’s oldest airfield, Ellington Airport. Case is the first person to head all three Houston airports.
Oct. 26-28—Certification Together International Conference. Toulouse. Nov. 1-3—A&D Programs Conference. Phoenix. Nov. 2-3—A&D Supply Chain Conference. Phoenix. Nov. 2-4—MRO Asia Conference and Exhibition. Singapore. You can now register ONLINEfor Aviation Week Events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/events or call Lydia Janow at+1 (212) 904-3225/+1 (800) 240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada Only)
Chinese missile and space group Casic is pushing into civil aircraft manufacturing, announcing that it plans to set up a factory to make composite parts, including some for the Comac C919 airliner. The move presents the world’s composites suppliers with an important new competitor, and it is part of the group’s wider strategy to move into civil markets. That strategy is itself part of a national policy requiring defense manufacturers to diversify.
Guido Casanova (see photo) has joined Sener ’s engineering and construction division as head of its Brazilian operations. He was responsible for the business management of the Brazilian divisions of Pirelli Cabos S.A. and Pirelli Cables in Mexico, as well as managing the Brazilian division of Pirelli Telecommunicaciones.
Bombardier Aerospace’s three newest line maintenance facilities underscore a significant, ongoing change in the business aviation world by virtue of their locations: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Monterrey, Mexico; and Riga, Latvia. Long a North American-centric industry in terms of manufacturing and ownership, business aviation is expanding across the globe in all facets. While the majority of aircraft are in the U.S. and Canada, new machines are going to owners elsewhere in nearly equal numbers.
Asia-Pacific-based carriers saw passenger counts increase 13.4% in September, passenger revenues grow 9.3% and international air cargo increase 18.5% over 2009, the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines reports. “Over the past nine months, we have seen a 14.6% increase in international passenger numbers, and an even more dramatic 30.2% growth in international air cargo traffic, compared to the same period last year,” said AAPA Director General Andrew Herdman.
