An article on the F-35 in the Sept. 13 edition (p. 29) incorrectly stated the amount of parts on the aircraft that have undergone safety and full-life testing. Lockheed Martin officials now say 60% of F-35 parts have completed qualification testing; 26% of the aircraft’s parts require redesign due either to reliability problems or to make them easier to produce. Of the parts that must undergo full-life trials, 50% have been tested. These trials will run through 2013.
As the European aerospace industry wrestles with improving its environmental footprint, Eurocopter is spearheading an effort to reduce the energy consumption and waste produced in building rotorcraft.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) will move into full-time science operations this week after finishing a year-long mapping mission Sept. 16. Control of the 2,200-lb. spacecraft shifts from the space agency’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate to the Science Mission Directorate, which will use its suite of seven instruments to seek answers to fundamental questions about the Moon’s origins and structure.
Orbital Sciences Corp. plans to start static firing tests of the first-flight Aerojet AJ26 engine for the Taurus II launch vehicle at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi by Sept. 30. The engine will power the first stage of the Taurus II, which is scheduled for initial launch in June 2011.
Senior researchers say recent experiments in Chile could explain why NASA’s Viking landers apparently found no evidence of microbial life on Mars in 1976. Rafael Navarro-Gonzalez and a geophysical team from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) suggest that data from Viking may have been misinterpreted, and that carbon-rich organic molecules may be present on Mars after all. The renewed interest in the Viking data stems from the discovery of perchlorate by the Phoenix Mars Lander in 2008.
Steven A. Rossum, who has been AirTran Airways ’ executive vice president-corporate development, will also be general counsel. In this role, he succeeds Richard P. Magurno, who will continue as senior vice president/corporate secretary.
The prospect of a massive U.S. order for new trainers has convinced BAE Systems to gamble and pursue a prime contractor role to secure the deal. The BAE Systems’ strategy will see the company assemble a U.S. team to help it sell the single-engine Hawk trainer in the competition to replace the T-38 fleet. More than 500 T-38s are in service, with an average age of more than 42 years.
Despite a Sept. 4 Boeing A160T Hummingbird crash in Belize, U.S. Special Operations Command (Socom) officials say they achieved 90-95% of their demonstration objectives using the unmanned rotorcraft with the Forester foliage-penetrating radar. The aircraft that crashed was U.S. government-owned but contractor-operated, Socom says. The accident took place near the takeoff site as the aircraft was on approach. It is said to have lost tail rotor authority. The command abruptly ended the demonstration, which was slated to take 45 days.
“Peer Forward” (AW&ST Aug. 23, p. 47) illustrates a simple-minded approach with fundamental weaknesses in NASA’s plans for technology development. Chief technologist Bobby Braun’s goal of better integration among technology developers, though necessary, falls short of the need. The most difficult technology integration obstacle is not among complementary or competing technologies but rather between a technology and the overall system in which it will operate.
Sept. 19-21—Aircraft Builders Council Conference. Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg (Fla.) Resort and Golf Club. See www.aircraftbuilders.com Sept. 20-22—Speednews’ 11th Annual Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference. Hotel Palladia, Toulouse. Call +1 (310) 203-9603, fax +1 (310) 203-9352 or see www.speednews.com Sept. 21-23—Technology Training Corp.’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems East Conference. Holiday Inn, Alexandria, Va. Call +1 (310) 563-1223 or see www.ttcus.com
The U.S. government has awarded four satellite operators more than $100 million in grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help deploy high-speed Internet to rural communities. The biggest of the grants went to Hughes Network Systems to support 259,000 households nationwide. Other operators receiving stimulus money were ViaSat affiliate WildBlue, Echostar and Spacenet.
The popularity of the Mi-17 Hip for operations in the difficult operating conditions of Afghanistan is driving up prices for used versions of the rotorcraft and has created an order surge for Russian Helicopters.
Drew McEwen has become director of sales for the Americas for Piper Aircraft , Vero Beach, Fla. He was a sales executive for the Hawker Beechcraft Corp.
Embraer signed an agreement with 25 international financial institutions on Sept. 9 for $1 billion—$400 million is for pre-export financing and $600 million is for working capital—in credit, providing the company with funds at pre-negotiated rates for the next two years. The company originally sought $800 million, but the banks offered $1.6 billion, and the final agreement was struck for $1 billion. The deal renews a 2006 credit facility of $500 million, Embraer says.
Boeing’s concept of a 737 outfitted for U.S. Air Force ground surveillance missions is based on the U.S. Navy’s P-8A, which is housed on a 737-800 with -900 wings and carries sensors for intelligence collection. Company officials are offering the aircraft as the service concludes an analysis of alternatives for the mission traditionally handled by the Joint Stars. The Air Force would decide whether to put weapons in the internal bay designed for the P-8A, but Boeing officials say this space also could carry additional sensors.
Aurora Flight Sciences is to demonstrate an unmanned aircraft capable of staying aloft for 120 hr. at 20,000 ft. carrying a 1,000-lb. multi-sensor payload under the Medium-Altitude Global ISR and Communications Relay joint concept technology demonstration sponsored by U.S. Central Command and led by the Air Force Research Laboratory. Rollout of the Orion UAV, powered by two Austro Engines turbo-diesels, is planned by year-end, with first flight scheduled for a year from now.
Karl Sutterfield’s letter “Glass Cockpit Pitfalls” (AW&ST Aug. 16, p. 8) zeros in on a critical issue for pilots, avionics manufacturers and FAA avionics evaluators—the user interface for flat panel displays. After going through the NTSB study on the safety impact of glass cockpits, one wonders if anyone from the NTSB was aware that in 2003 the FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute published a human factors evaluation guide for multi-function displays (DOT/FAA/OAM-TM-03-01) that should serve as a checklist for evaluating the usability issues Sutterfield mentions.
Once every 10-15 years, the U.S. Air Force takes a hard look at its research plans to ensure its technology base will keep it ahead of future threats. In the past, the emphasis has been on speed, stealth and reach. But the new mantra for Air Force science and technology is to do more, faster, with less.
Saab has secured a four-year, 312-million-Swedish-kronor ($42.7-million) contract to fully integrate the MBDA Meteor ramjet-powered air-to-air missile on the Gripen fighter. Gripen has been serving as the launch platform for all Meteor test flights, but those trials were not undertaken with a full integration into the Gripen weapon systems.
Expect more vocal support from lawmakers—most of them face voters in November and support for the Middle Eastern ally is a common campaign theme—for Israeli missile defenses and other bilateral security efforts. For instance, House Democrats on Sept. 8 quickly and publicly praised a Pentagon notice that it is signing the David’s Sling Weapon System Project Agreement with Israel.
Kevin Wright (see photo) has become executive vice president of TTTech North America Inc. , Carlsbad, Calif. He was senior vice president-strategy, sales and marketing for Meggitt Control Systems.
Air China will greatly expand its business aircraft operation at Beijing Capital International Airport with support from the city government, a strong sign of official confidence in the prospects for general aviation in China. The expanded operation will compete with a similar facility owned by Hainan Airlines. Separately, the city of Dalian is negotiating with Air China for creation of an airline at its local airport, but in that case the new company will offer normal scheduled services, not business aviation.
Engineers are beginning work on a hardened spacecraft they hope will be tough enough to fly through the Sun’s million-degree corona repeatedly on a quest for scientific data that could someday save the lives of astronauts on the way to Mars.
President Barack Obama went into the Heartland of America over Labor Day weekend, rolled up his shirtsleeves and rolled out a $50-billion infrastructure spending plan that promises to create new jobs and improve the U.S. transportation system. While we still do not know exactly how the money would be spent and where—including how much would go to highways and bridges and development of high-speed rail versus aviation—Republicans have condemned the plan, with Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.) calling it a “last-minute, cobbled together stimulus bill.”
