It was interesting to read about Brian Morgan’s vertical lift, light jet concept, a complex and presumably very expensive approach to a viable personal/corporate jet (AW&ST Aug. 16, p. 39). You correctly point out that a host of other start-ups (many of which were far further along than Morgan’s concept) failed miserably. They failed because their founders were largely promoters with little aviation experience and their designs attempted to break new ground in aerodynamics or construction.
Paul E. Levi has been named senior vice president-investor relations of the Science Applications International Corp. , McLean, Va. He was senior vice president/group chief financial officer for its Information Technology and Network Solutions Group.
The Indian navy wants to field an unmanned rotorcraft sooner than first thought, triggering a procurement competition even ahead of an existing bilateral development project.
Susan Cotten has become manager of patient transport development at the Corporate Angel Network , White Plains, N.Y. She was a corporate flight attendant for the American Express Co.
Pratt & Whitney is upping the ante in the ongoing F-35 Joint Strike Fighter engine war by revealing the F135 has achieved 20% more military-power thrust than specification. The disclosure raises the demonstrated sea-level thrust for the F135 close to 50,000 lb. and follows results from the General Electric/Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team that indicate the F136 alternate engine has in excess of 15% thrust margin against the same specification (AW&ST Aug. 16, p. 18).
Air Force Program Executive Officer for Space Lt. Gen. Tom Sheridan says the first Space-Based Infrared System early missile warning satellite is now slated for launch in the spring of 2011, a slight slip from the most recent expectation of an early 2011 launch. Flight software for Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft is still being tested following an anomaly that cropped up in a classified satellite with a similar architecture
Bankruptcy has, unfortunately, become a fact of life for the airline industry, but even after so many of its flaws have been exposed, the collapse of Compania de Mexicana provides an illuminating insight into how an airline with links to Charles Lindbergh can be so easily felled.
The U.S., and the other nations involved in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, are about to commit to building the most expensive single-engine fighter ever. And yet in “JSF Plus Jammers” you report that “sophisticated antiaircraft missile threats will endanger even stealthy designs”(AW&ST Aug. 9, p. 46). You also report that in order to avoid destruction the JSF will need the Next Generation Jammer (NGJ). Where’s the value?
Russia is moving ahead with a new launch site for human and other spacecraft, but it doesn’t plan to abandon the leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Kicking off construction of the Vostochny Cosmodrome in eastern Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin notes that its contract with the former Soviet republic for use of Baikonur will remain in effect until 2050.
German aerospace center DLR plans to build a long-range, long-endurance fuel-cell demonstrator. To fly next year, the Antares H3 is designed to reach a range of 6,000 km. (3,700 mi.) with 50 hr. of endurance, exceeding the 750 km. and 5 hr. of the previous Antares H2 demonstrator. It will also have four rather than two underwing containers for fuel cells and hydrogen. Based on Lange Aviation’s Antares 20E glider, the H3’s electric motor is driven by hydrogen fuel cells that create electricity through a chemical reaction with ambient oxygen.
John Di Bert, vice president-finance of Pratt & Whitney Canada, Longueuil, Quebec, has been named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 for 2009. The program chooses honorees for their vision and leadership; innovation and achievement; impact; community involvement and contribution; and strategy for growth.
Raytheon will continue developing the Killer Bee unmanned aerial system and—possibly—selling it to international customers, despite the company’s loss of a $43.7-million contract to the Boeing/Insitu Integrator in the U.S. Navy Small Tactical UAS (Stuas) competition. The loss was attributed to a development cost 20% higher than for the Integrator and lack of interest in the net recovery system for ship use, said Robert Francois, Raytheon’s vice president of advanced missiles and unmanned systems.
Japan Airlines will try to restructure its business as quickly as it can to shore up its position before facing stiff new competition from low-cost carriers and major international airlines. The opening of a fourth runway in October at Tokyo’s downtown Haneda airport will lead to a dramatic increase in international passenger services.
USN Rear Adm. (lower half) Randolph L. Mahr has been named commander of Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Div./assistant commander for research and engineering of Naval Air Systems Command, NAS Patuxent River, Md. He has been program manager there for tactical aircraft programs. Rear Adm. (lower half) Patrick H. Brady has been selected for promotion to rear admiral and assignment as commander of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command at San Diego. He has been deputy commander for undersea warfare of Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington.
Boeing will dip further into its commercial satellite toolkit to offer enhancements for its seventh satellite contract for the Wideband Global Satcom series. The U.S. Air Force’s initial award of $182 million for pre-production work for WGS-7 is likely to put Boeing and the Air Force back on a yearly acquisition cycle. A contract award for WGS-8 could come by year-end. A key improvement will be an option for dual polarization so its antenna can handle two signals in parallel.
Jason Rhian (Promontory, Utah), Frank Morring, Jr. (Washington)
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) managers have until the end of the month to decide whether to start work on a third five-segment solid rocket motor for the Ares I crew launch vehicle that NASA—but so far not Congress—has rejected.
A team of U.S. spacecraft controllers is maintaining an old Earth-science satellite in a precarious orbit around the second Earth-Moon Lagrangian point (L2), and has another en route to Lunar L1 between the Earth and the Moon in the first-ever use of the imaginary points where the gravity of the Sun, Earth and Moon are in balance.
Oregon’s Portland International Airport (PDX) is unique among airports of its size in that it manages its concessions—shops and restaurants—itself, rather than hiring an outside management company.
William J. Amelio has been appointed CEO of U.K.-based CHC Helicopter . He succeeds Sylvain Allard, who has retired. Amelio was president/CEO of the Lenovo Group.
Amy Butler (Washington), Michael Mecham (San Francisco)
The first Boeing-built GPS IIF satellite in orbit will require software fixes to reduce degradation in the cross-links for its nuclear-detection payload, says Lt. Gen. Tom Sheridan, U.S. Air Force program executive officer for space.
USN Capt. Matthew J. Kohler is among three of his rank selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half). He has been appointed deputy director for customer relationships in the Signals Intelligence Directorate of the National Security Agency, Ft. Meade, Md. Kohler has been director for intelligence and security within Joint Interagency Task Force South, NAS Key West, Fla. Another of the captains is John W. Smith, Jr., who will be deputy commander of the Joint Interagency Task Force of U.S. Southern Command, Key West.
Gene Fraser (see photo), vice president-engineering for the Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Aerospace Systems Sector/lead executive for unmanned systems, has been named to the Association of Unmanned Vehicles Systems International National Board of Directors.
Robert Grant, who is general manager for the Signature Flight Support Corp. in West Palm Beach, Fla., has been elected president of the Florida Aviation Trades Association . He has been vice president and treasurer.
U.S. Navy officials are wrapping up tests on improvements made to the MQ-8 Fire Scout’s software following an incident last month where the unmanned rotorcraft flew into restricted airspace 40 mi. from Washington’s capital area. Officials were forced to ground its flight operations, including critical testing needed before a fall deployment. A government pilot was operating the Northrop Grumman aircraft during an Aug. 2 test; it was flying at about 1,700 ft. when communications—used for command and control of the vehicle—were lost.
Boeing subsidiary Insitu has won the competition to develop the Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, based on its Integrator design, with the potential for procurement of more than 50 land- and ship-based systems (see p. 53). Integrator has been designed using lessons learned operating ScanEagles for the Navy, Marine Corps and other customers in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, and is a larger vehicle with greater payload capability and flexibility. Related stories begin on p. 48. Boeing photo by Bob Ferguson.
