Opportunities are increasing steadily for private industry as India’s 2012-17 space budget doubles to $4.7 billion. The Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) heavy workload, particularly in launches, is prompting it to move aggressively to bring industry in as a risk-sharing partner.
Keith Lockwood has been appointed director of business development for the Aerosonic Corp. , Clearwater, Fla. He was a business development consultant with L-3 Display Systems/Aviation Recorders/Avionics Systems.
NASA managers are looking for new ways to get the technology its engineers develop for space exploration out into the broader U.S. economy, where businesses can adapt it for commercial products. A new request for information published on the FedBizOps website seeks suggestions on how the space agency can work with intellectual property management services to match advanced technologies at its field centers with private firms willing to pay for licenses to use the publicly funded technology for private profit.
Belt-tightening for the U.S. Air Force appears to already be underway, heralded by scant new aircraft procurements and developments on the horizon and a rallying cry from the chief of staff for industry to lower its hopes for large profits in a spirit of “unity.” The four-star brass was out in full force Sept. 13-15 at the annual Air Force Association conference near Washington and there were a lot of speeches, but the one consistent message—Cut Expectations—is grim for both industry and the service.
A more modest outlook is emerging on the rebound in European business aviation traffic, prompting a key player to look for new ways to generate revenue. While NetJets Europe is seeing a turnaround in the market, management thinks it is likely to be more gradual than hoped for. The fractional-ownership company believes the slow market rebound, initially expected to take hold in 2011-12, may be delayed another year or so.
Airbus began a three-week flight-test evaluation of the potential impact of the A350XWB’s carbon-fiber fuselage on cabin acoustics using its A340-300 test aircraft on Sept. 6. A 162-sq.-ft carbon-fiber panel made to the A350’s design standard has been installed in place of an existing section of the A340’s fuselage. The tests are designed to evaluate the fuselage’s pressurized acoustic properties to help fine-tune the cabin sound insulation panel.
Virgin Blue has been hit with another regulatory setback to its international growth plans. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on Sept. 10 issued a preliminary rejection of VB’s application to form a joint venture with Air New Zealand on routes across the Tasman Sea. This came just a day after the U.S. Transportation Department’s preliminary decision to deny antitrust immunity to a proposed VB-Delta Air Lines joint venture.
Aaron Grace has become a cyber intelligence specialist, Rick Hensley and Greg Metzler principal cyber security analysts, Mark Magee a cyber team security operations center supervisor, and David Muran-de Assereto and Jerald Tillery principal cyber security engineers, all for the Syracuse (N.Y.) Research Corp. Grace was a network access engineer and network fusion and malware analysis team lead, and Hensley was a network access engineer and offensive network warfare team lead for the U.S. Air Force’s 688th Information Operations Wing.
More airports and aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) hangars around the world are building or upgrading their facilities to save energy, gaining cost-savings as well.
As British Airways reaches the first anniversary of the start of its transatlantic services between London’s downtown airport and New York, Chief Executive Willie Walsh reveals that its success could drive an expansion of the network and its dedicated Airbus fleet.
Jean-Michel Clairis-Gauthier has become vice president of Phoenix-based ACSS ’s Customer Group. He has been an airline marketing and sales executive with stakeholder company Thales Avionics.
Sept. 27-29—Applied Technology Institute’s Short Course: “Tactical Missile Design Integration.” Holiday Inn Laurel (Md.) West. See www.aticourses.com Sept. 27-Oct. 1—61st International Astronautical Congress. Prague Conference Center. Call +42 (2) 2491-8288, fax +42 (2) 8400-1448 or see www.iac2010.cz/en/ Sept. 28-29—Society of Experimental Test Pilots’/Society of Flight Test Engineers’ Fourth Annual European Flight Test Safety Workshop. Royal Aeronautical Society, London. See www.aerosociety.com/conference
Boeing signaled completion of the first forward fuselage for its 747-8 Intercontinental passenger aircraft by lifting the 89-ft., 2-in. section to an assembly tool where it will undergo sealing and testing before the beginning of systems installation.
Three of NASA’s four orbiting “great observatories” continue to operate, scanning the heavens without Earth’s atmosphere to obscure their views and producing images whose beauty is matched only by their value to science.
Sept. 28-30—MRO Europe. London. Sept. 29-30—MRO Military Europe. London. 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)
Electric aircraft have hit the news, with Cessna and Sikorsky to fly demonstrators soon, but scaling up the technology to produce a commercial aircraft with low or no emissions remains an enormous, if tantalizing, challenge.
Japan’s IHI Aerospace is cooperating with the U.S. Air Force as it investigates the failure of its first Advanced Extremely High-Frequency (AEHF) satellite to reach orbit after an Aug. 14 launch, according to U.S. government sources. IHI made the satellite’s model BT-4 liquid apogee engine (LAE). The engine failed during two firing attempts to raise the spacecraft’s orbit shortly after launch. Air Force officials are now in a new effort to get the satellite into geosynchronous orbit after declaring the LAE useless.
French defense officials say France’s third Harfang medium-altitude long-endurance UAV, which was returned to Israel early this year to repair damage suffered in a crash landing, is back in action in Afghanistan.
Eurocopter and South Africa’s Advanced Technologies & Engineering are jointly developing a new weapon system designed for light and medium helicopters. Flight trials using an EC635 and the Stand-Alone Weapon System were recently conducted in South Africa. The weapon system includes various sensor options and a mission and fire-control computer.
In 2009, Delta Air Lines gutted its hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport after its merger with Northwest Airlines. Today the airport is a shadow of its former self, with one terminal shuttered and flights down 45% from pre-merger levels.
Airbus has awarded CAC Commercial Aircraft Co. the work package for A350XWB spoilers and droop panels. The deal brings to 5% the amount of A350 airframe work that Airbus has placed in China, meeting a commitment made early in the program.
Commercial aircraft often are retired at 28-30 years of age, but the recent economic trough has pushed that age down to as young as 7-8 years, which is helping aircraft leasing and parts reclamation companies to grow. The recession has accelerated a trend that has emerged in the last decade—airlines sell off inventories and buy parts more on a just-in-time basis. This trend, along with the number of aircraft phased out or discontinued in recent years, has expanded the market for used surplus parts for both rotable and expendable or on-condition parts.
Jamie Smith and Joe Higgins have been named service center coordinator and service team manager, respectively, at the General Dynamics Aviation Services facility in West Palm Beach, Fla. Smith was a completion team manager for Midcoast Aviation, Savannah, Ga., while Higgins was the avionics/electrical lead at the West Palm Beach facility.
The New Start nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia clears the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but challenges remain. Three Republicans joined 11 Democrats in endorsing the April treaty, while four Republicans voted against it. Ratification requires two-thirds, or 67 senators, not a simple majority. The full Senate’s vote may come until next year. Many Republicans have reservations about the treaty, but Democrats and the administration sound confident.
Boeing’s win of an $89-million contract to develop a solar-/electric-powered prototype for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Vulture five-year endurance unmanned aerial system is a boon for the company’s burgeoning unmanned business. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) selected the Boeing/Qinetiq Solar Eagle design (see photo) over an offering from Lockheed Martin. An Aurora Flight Sciences’ option was eliminated earlier in the competion.
