Saverio Bellomo has been appointed director of international operations of Eclipse Aerospace , Albuquerque, N.M. He was airworthiness manager of operational compliance at the former Eclipse Aviation.
Flying low over California’s Mojave Desert, a U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory/NASA Block 50 F-16 is used to conduct tests of an automatic ground collision avoidance system (Auto-GCAS) designed to prevent controlled flight into terrain. With experimental flight tests coming to an end, the Air Force is poised to begin operational tests of the system for fighter-attack aircraft with digital flight controls. The upgrade, which does not require any hardware changes, will initially be applied to later Block F-16s before being installed in F-22s and F-35s.
The military utility of unmanned aircraft is beyond dispute, but two issues are increasingly problematic. First is figuring out how to process the deluge of data being generated. Second, the Pentagon and FAA must come to terms about domestic airspace access just so the armed services can keep up with training needs. At a Capitol Hill meeting organized by Women in Aerospace and moderated by Aviation Week, Brig. Gen.
The automatic ground collision avoidance system (Auto-GCAS) projects the aircraft’s trajectory over a digital terrain map and, by comparing known and predicted position to the terrain on the path ahead, determines if there is an impending collision. If it determines there is a possibility of a collision, it will execute an evasion maneuver. The system evaluates the aircraft’s energy state and whether this is sufficient to support the trajectory estimation, while simultaneously using the digital terrain elevation database.
Tom Horton has been promoted to president of American Airlines and its parent AMR Corp. from executive vice president-finance and planning/chief financial officer. He has been succeeded as CFO by Bella Goren, who was senior vice president-customer relationship marketing. Virasb Vahidi, who was senior vice president-planning, is now senior vice president-marketing and planning/chief commercial officer. Rob Friedman has been appointed vice president-marketing.
USAF Cols. Michael Moran and Bernard Gruber have assumed command of the Space Development and Test Wing and Global Positioning Systems Wing, respectively, of the Air Force Space Command’s Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles AFB. Col. (select) Michael Nobel and Col. David Goldstein have assumed vice commands of the Space Based Infrared Systems Wing and Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing, respectively. And, David Madden heads the senior executive service command of the Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing. Col.
Wendy Taylor has become vice president-internal audit for the Goodrich Corp. , Charlotte, N.C. She was a partner in advisory services for Deloitte & Touche.
Increased emphasis on platform survivability in a key U.K. UAS requirement—now known as Scavenger—means BAE Systems must reconsider its options in bidding for the Defense Ministry project. Scavenger is the deep and persistent surveillance element of what wasDabinett. The collection and dissemination part of Dabinett is now called Solomon. The Scavenger requirement is looking for a “stealthy” platform, which probably also will be capable of weapons delivery. BAE’s Mantis medium-altitude long-endurance technology demonstrator does not have a low observable design.
Contractual uncertainty still hovers over the Airbus Military A400M, but development personnel are pressing forward to enter a new stage and will explore more challenging elements of the aircraft’s performance. Flight testing, which kicked off in December and now encompasses three aircraft, focused largely on validating basic handling. Much of that work is now wrapping up, so more onerous mission-related elements are being tackled, says Fernando Alonso, Airbus flight testing leader.
Another debut at AirVenture, noteworthy more for name than design, was that of the EAA’s new president, Rod Hightower. A business executive from Creve Coeur, Mo., long-time EAA member and a director of the National Stearman Foundation, Hightower assumes his new role Sept. 7. That day will mark the first time the organization has been led by someone other than a Poberezny since its founding by Paul Poberezny in 1953. Tom Poberezny, the current chairman and president, succeeded his father in 1989.
Shanghai Airlines will leave the Star Alliance by Oct. 31, ending months of speculation over the carrier’s future. Star confirms the move and says the decision was due to Shanghai’s recent merger with China Eastern Airlines. Star is still present in Asia’s fastest-growing economy through Air China. Industry sources say the airline and Star are working on filling the gap in Shanghai. Air China itself may boost its presence in the market or use capacity provided by Shenzhen Airlines.
Pressure is building in the U.S. for government mandates that would require airlines to fully disclose their fees and total trip cost to customers before they make a booking on airline websites—and to order the carriers to provide data to third-party distributors such as global distribution systems (GDSs) so they can do the same.
Mark Bass has become vice president/general manager of the Maintenance, Modifications and Upgrades Div. of Boeing ’s St. Louis-based Global Services and Support unit. He was vice president of the F-15 program for Boeing Military Aircraft, and succeeds Tony Robertson, who is retiring. Following Bass is Roger Besancenez. Tim Norgart has been appointed the unit’s vice president-business development. He was director of business development for Boeing Military Aircraft’s Airborne Battle Management and Unmanned Airborne Systems Div.
Instead of de-orbiting the venerable Hubble Space Telescope following its useful service life, why not use a rocket motor to boost it into a higher “museum orbit,” out of the way of other satellites and above where atmospheric drag can degrade its orbit. Someday, advanced rocket propulsion will be dirt cheap, at which time the Hubble can be returned to Earth for celebrated display in a museum.
Israel’s military, like any other, has to create a budget balance among all the services, branches and agencies. Its methodology is a rolling five-year fiscal plan that is refreshed and updated every year. The multi-part effort begins with an intelligence assessment of the full spectrum of threats and predictions of what may actually happen. Then officials have to decide what threats to prepare for and where risks can be taken.
General aviation is famous for second acts, and that legacy continues with the Kestrel. A pressurized, single-engine turboprop, the composite-construction aircraft was created in the U.K. by Farnborough Aircraft but then left in limbo awaiting further funding. Now, the design has been taken over by Kestrel Aircraft, a new entity headed by former Cirrus Design chief Alan Klapmeier, who hopes to win FAR/EASA Part 23 certification for the aircraft by 2013.
Kris Bauer has been appointed senior vice president-operations and Scott Sheldon senior vice president/chief financial officer of the Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel Co. Bauer was senior vice president-technical operations of Northwest/Delta Air Lines. Sheldon was Allegiant’s vice president/principal accounting officer.
Michael F. Canders (see photo) has been named president of the Telephonics Corp. ’s Communication Systems Div., Farmingdale, N.Y. He was a colonel in the U.S. Air National Guard and had been vice president-business development for Telephonics’ Command Systems Div.
Accident investigators will rely primarily on Airblue Flight 202’s data recorders to determine what factors led to Pakistan’s worst air disaster. On July 28, the Airbus A321-231 crashed while trying to land in heavy rain and low visibility at Islamabad; 152 people died.
Joseph D. Burns has been appointed to the board of directors of Atlanta-based EMS Technologies . He is managing director of technology and flight test and an Airbus captain for United Airlines.
Thai Airways International expects to cut costs by as much as 20 billion baht ($620 million) from 2010-12. Last year, the airline cut its non-fuel costs by 13% to 12.8 billion baht. To further reduce operational expenses and as part of expansion plans, Thai will be replacing its aging fleet with new, more fuel-efficient aircraft such as Airbus A330-300s and Boeing 777-300ERs.
Believing programs are becoming too complex for available system-engineering tools, causing delays and cost overruns, the Pentagon’s advanced research arm wants to follow the lead of the microchip industry and develop a new way to design and test systems.
Dassault is bracing for a long, slow recovery period for business jets, but the French aircraft maker is hopeful that the downward slide has finally ceased. Although cancellations for Falcon jets are still occurring, they have slowed markedly. In the first six months of 2010, the company was able to log a positive net-order intake of two Falcons. The development makes Chairman Charles Edelstenne is hopeful that a bottom has been reached in the market.
Technicians at Scaled Composites have feathered the tail structure of the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane as its assembly continues at the company’s facility in Mojave, Calif.
India successfully conducted a test of its Advanced Air Defense (AAD) low-altitude missile defense system on July 26, even as developers were starting to focus on how to expand the system to a full multi-layered missile shield.
