When the doors open Oct. 19 for the National Business Aviation Association’s (NBAA) annual convention in Atlanta, attendees are likely to be guesstimating headcounts and gauging smile-to-frown ratios throughout the three-day event. The convention has long been accepted as a bellwether of business aviation’s health, and last year’s gathering felt a bit like a visit to the ICU.
Emirates has been successful in Asia-Pacific markets, particularly where the home carrier is weak, and it has also benefited from the European Commission’s move to ban some Asian carriers due to safety concerns. Travelers in countries subject to an EC ban often have no choice but to fly a foreign carrier to Europe. The commission banned all Indonesian carriers in June 2007, although it did partially lifted that last year by allowing in Garuda Indonesia and a handful of other Indonesian carriers.
In pursuit of lower manufacturing and maintenance costs, a U.K. team has flown an unmanned aircraft in which conventional flight control surfaces can be replaced by air jets blown from the trailing edge of the wing. Developed by Cranfield University, BAE Systems and nine other universities, the Demon UAV results from an unusual partnership between U.K. industry and academia under the five-year, £6.2-million ($9.8-million) Flapless Aerial Vehicle Integrated Interdisciplinary Research (Flaviir) project.
Bill Fitzgerald (see photos) has become vice president/general manager of the GEnx product line and Colleen Athans vice president and general manager of Assembly, Test and Overhaul of GE Aviation , Evendale, Ohio. She succeeds Fitzgerald and was general manager of the CF6 commercial engines and services.
EADS has made noises about becoming a bigger force in the U.S. market for years, mainly through acquisitions and other schemes. If they are truly serious, they should unilaterally move the manufacturing of the Airbus A330 and A340 to the U.S., including the wing manufacturing segment. Doing so would build a constituency of workers and politicians in their court.
The Indian government’s commitment to buy 250-300 Russian T-50 fighters and its decision to acquire General Electric F414 engines for its Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) underscore its long-term plan to maintain a range of international partnerships.
Congress last week sent to President Barack Obama the Coast Guard Authorization Act for 2010 and 2011, sponsored by Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), which will authorize Coast Guard spending of $10.2 billion in Fiscal 2011, if signed. But more importantly, it would codify several procurement reforms put in place in recent years. The Coast Guard, an armed service under the Homeland Security Department, has seen its acquisition workforce and approach overhauled since its Deepwater recapitalization effort was stripped from Lockheed Martin’s and Northrop Grumman’s control.
Finally heeding the helicopter industry’s dire warnings of a production gap beyond 2020, the U.S. Army is launching a program to fly technology demonstrators for advanced rotorcraft that could enter production around 2025. The Army is working to bring other U.S. services into the Joint Multi-Role (JMR) technology demonstration, which is modeled on the Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) program that led to development of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Programs is hoping for additional U.S. Air Force funds to continue evaluation of the X-55A Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft (ACCA), after completing the second flight-test phase of its proof-of-concept low-cost transport at Palmdale, Calif. ACCA integrates the nose, wings, engines and horizontal tail of a Dornier 328JET regional aircraft with an advanced composite fuselage and vertical tail made by Lockheed Martin.
Ron Rand, Senior Vice President (Bethesda, Md.), Corporate Communications Lockheed Martin Corp. (Bethesda, Md.)
Joseph C. Anselmo’s Market Focus column (AW&ST Sept. 20/27, p. 14) about Lockheed buyouts as industry downsizes raises questions about your understanding of the program and its results.
How do you transform a sleepy downtown airport that bans jets into a hub for business travelers? Canada’s Porter Airlines found the answer in the Bombardier Q400 turboprop, which is over downtown Toronto. The four-year-old carrier is challenging Air Canada’s dominance and expanding its routes into the U.S. Porter Airlines photo.
USAF Gen. (ret.) Victor E. “Gene” Renuart, Jr., has become vice president-national security for BAE Systems Inc. , Arlington, Va. He was commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command at Peterson AFB, Colo., senior military assistant to the defense secretary and director of strategic plans and policy for the Joint Staff at the Pentagon.
Tom Wood has been named first senior technical fellow for flight technology and advanced design, and Carlos Fenny, Walt Riley, Paul Oldroyd and Paul Madej technical fellows, all at Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth. Associate technical fellows are John Brieger, Mithat Yuce, Kent Stewart, Jack Shue, Tim Ledbetter, Ron Woods, Marty Shubert, Pat Hollifield, Brad Stamps, Roger Aubert, Jon Coon, Greg Haataja, Mark Chris, Myron Jackson, Pat Tisdale, Randy Johnson and Eric Covington.
Northrop Grumman Corp. employees Kathy McGraw-Davids and Igor Chuyan have won NASA ’s Silver Snoopy Award, which is granted to NASA employees and contractors for achievements related to flight safety or mission success. McGraw-Davids is audit compliance officer and Chuyan a security forces lieutenant for the Northrop Grumman-led joint venture Space Gateway Support at the Kennedy Space Center.
Gregory Hamilton, a 28-year veteran of The McGraw-Hill Companies, last week was appointed president of Aviation Week. He replaces Terence “Tom” Henricks, who left the company to pursue other career opportunities. In his prior role as publisher of the group’s Strategic Media, Hamilton dramatically improved Aviation Week’s presence in events, and developed and expanded global partnerships across Europe and in key emerging markets. He was named publisher of Strategic Media in 2002.
Space managers in Europe say improvements contemplated for the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) and the International Space Station, which it serves, would sharply increase its cargo volume while offering a more realistic cost comparison with a proposed Advanced Reentry Vehicle (ARV) derivative. Luigi Maria Quaglino, vice president for space infrastructure and transport at Thales Alenia Space, says engineers are working on modifications to the ATV’s internal structure that would sharply boost its current 7-metric-ton dry cargo capacity.
Many aviation aftermarket inventory and service suppliers around the world are starting to unveil capabilities designed to make airline operators more efficient and successful in this very competitive market. While having the right capabilities and capacity remains paramount, the shift that is occurring is more subtle. I would argue that it’s about offering more intelligence solutions that better connect the service dots. These introductions also acknowledge fundamental changes in the MRO market due to older aircraft retiring and newer aircraft coming online.
I laughed when I read “Help Wanted” (AW&ST Sept. 20/27, p. 26). As President Ronald Reagan said, “Here we go again.” In the U.S. there is not, has never been nor ever will be a pilot shortage—just a shortage of qualified, experienced pilots willing to work for nothing. The author is 100% correct about the younger generation viewing aviation work as a job rather than a career or passion. I rarely talk to any airline pilots who would want their children to pursue an aviation career. Walk through an airline terminal and look for happy faces on airline crews.
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. David B. Lacquement has been appointed director of operations and Brig. Gen. John A. Davis director of current operations for U.S. Cyber Command, Ft. Meade, Md. Lacquement was deputy director of the Signals Intelligence Director-ate of the National Security Agency, also at Ft. Meade, while Davis was deputy commander of the Joint Task Force-Global Network Operations of the Defense Information Systems Agency, Arlington, Va.
Hawker Beechcraft Corp.’s (HBC) future in Wichita remained uncertain late last week as company executives entered a final week of negotiations with leaders of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) before its members vote on a new contract Oct. 16. The outcome is expected to determine whether HBC, a fixture in Kansas city since 1932, stays or moves to Louisiana.
Peter Knapper (see photo) has become president of TECT Aerospace , Wichita, Kan. He was vice president-operations for both TECT Power and TECT Aerospace. Knapper succeeds Timothy Hassenger.
Airbus researchers are conducting preliminary studies of a dual-use onboard inert gas generator system (Obiggs) that could cut the risk of fuel contamination by water, as well as eliminate the chance of fuel tank explosions. Obiggs introduces inert gas, usually in the form of nitrogen-enriched air, into the air space in fuel tanks to reduce oxygen content below the threshold needed for combustion.
There is mounting concern in the electronic warfare community that as overseas operations start to wind down, efforts to fund vital self-protection programs could be jeopardized.
The unmanned-aircraft strikes against Afghan and Pakistan insurgents or terrorist networks are “the result of one of the most massive and sophisticated targeting efforts in history,” says Anthony Cordesman, an influential defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “They are targeted as a result of the use of virtually every intelligence asset the U.S.
Elon Musk, CEO/chief technology officer of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has been named to receive the Arlington, Va.-based Potomac Institute for Policy Studies ’ Navigator Award for 2010. He is chief designer of SpaceX, overseeing development of rockets and spacecraft for missions to Earth orbit and to other planets. The award is presented to “leaders in science and technology who act as pathfinders in the pursuit of knowledge.”
