Overall performance of the X-51A experimental hypersonic vehicle and its scramjet engine was robust and “better than expected” despite the early termination of the May 25 flight due to an as-yet-undetermined cause, say program officials.
USN Capt. David J. Gale is among six of his rank who have been nominated for promotion to rear admiral (lower half). He is executive director for sea warfare, Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington. The others are: Brett C. Heimbigner, commander of Joint Intelligence Command, U.S. Central Command, MacDill AFB, Fla.; Jeffrey R. Penfield, major program manager for Air to Air Missile Systems, and Mathias W.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and commercial aviation will meet this week’s congressionally mandated deadline requiring 100% security screening of cargo on passenger-carrying aircraft. It’s been a herculean task of preparations these last three years. But getting there could have been made a lot easier.
Planetary scientists will use radar images collected by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) to pinpoint thick deposits of water ice in lunar craters. Work with the Mini-RF synthetic aperture radar (SAR) on the LRO follows findings by a similar instrument called the Mini-SAR on India’s Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter, which used the polarity of radar returns from the Moon’s north polar region to identify more than 40 small craters displaying the signatures of ice.
As the government considers increasing the foreign direct investment (FDI) cap in the defense manufacturing sector to 74% from the existing 26%, Indian industry has vociferously opposed the proposal. Opportunities arising from growing obsolescence of military hardware, limited indigenous production, domination by government-backed manufacturers and India’s growing defense capital plan of $12 billion up to 2012, have led private industry to call for leveling of the playing field by permitting them to seek participation in every defense project.
There is a growing expectation within U.K. industry that at least another 24 of the 72 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft destined for Saudi Arabia will be built locally. The original plan was that 48 out of the 72 would undergo final assembly in Saudi Arabia, but delays in selecting an assembly site have contributed to a probable change in tack.
A Boeing A160T Hummingbird unmanned helicopter crashed on July 28 at the company’s Victorville, Calif., test site, autorotating to the ground 1.5 mi. from its planned landing point and rolling onto its side. The aircraft, Serial No. A007, is owned by the U.S. Army’s Aviation Applied Technology Directorate and was being used for tests of the A160T’s optimum-speed rotor. The crash is not expected to affect U.S. Special Operations Command’s deployment of two A160Ts to Latin America for operational assessment in the counter-narcotics mission.
David L. Jensen has been appointed vice president-communications for Raytheon ’s Falls Church, Va.-based Intelligence and Information Systems business. He was senior vice president-marketing and communications for GE Capital International Services.
European Union carbon dioxide emissions allowance (EUA) prices fell by almost €2 ($2.60) per metric ton in trading since mid-June. EUAs for December 2010 delivery closed at €13.78 per metric ton on July 28, down from €15.19 on July 1, according to Platts’ assessments. The price range during the July 1-28 period was €13.51 to €15.37, compared with €15.13 to €15.83 in June.
France’s Picard microsatellite is sending back images of the Sun after only about five weeks in orbit, presaging a productive two-year mission studying the linkages between Earth and its star. The first image of the solar disk, generated by the Solar Diameter Imager and Surface Mapper (Sodism), came down July 22, showing an “almost immaculate” surface with only one small group of sunspots, according to the French space agency CNES. Launched on a Russian Dnepr-1 on June 15 in tandem with Sweden’s Prisma technology mission (AW&ST June 28, p.
John Varley has become senior vice president/general counsel of Virgin America . He was vice president/deputy general counsel of Delta Air Lines. Varley succeeds Dave Pflieger, who is now CEO of Fiji-based Air Pacific.
Japan Airlines has softened its restructuring effort, planning fewer job cuts than were discussed in June, reports in major Japanese media suggest. JAL is also asking for less debt forgiveness from its banks—¥320 billion ($3.84 billion) instead of ¥360 billion—in a restructuring plan that it hopes they will endorse to the bankruptcy court. JAL has been under protection from creditors since January. The airline is considering requesting an additional injection of capital from a government bank, the Development Bank of Japan.
Despite heavy rainfall and sodden fields that delayed or defeated many visitors to the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual AirVenture, held July 24-Aug. 1 in Oshkosh, Wis., one of the earliest arrivals was among the more unusual at an event known for “Hey, look at that” aircraft.
European engine makers are seeing slightly better earnings prospects for this year than first thought. Rolls-Royce is expecting its full-year profit to be slightly ahead of 2009 levels, the company says in reporting half-year results. Underlying profit was up slightly to £465 million from £445 million the year before. Writeoffs actually led to a £331-million net loss for Rolls-Royce in the first six months, but the operational performance was seen as largely positive.
MD-11F operators may have to confront an uncomfortable truth, namely that the cargo aircraft, for all its cost and payload virtues, is so difficult to land that safety could be compromised.
Robert Wall (London), Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Andy Nativi (Genoa)
Despite growing concerns about military cutbacks, European contractors are riding a strong earnings-performance wave. To prepare for a drop in government spending, companies are crafting new cost-cutting and restructuring plans. Several big primes such as BAE Systems are already well down that path, while others are only starting to act now. Qinetiq, for example, says “management is rolling out its action plan to refocus the businesses,” with labor talks already underway on staff reductions and productivity improvements.
With an eye both on cutting training costs and boosting the ability of pilots to act in concert, the Israeli air forceis looking to field an enhanced mission-training system in the coming years. The service already extensively employs simulator tools across its aircraft types, but the majority of those activities are focused on improving aircraft handling or on how to deal with emergency situations. As a result, the air force concluded that it needed a capability to actually carry out tactical operational flights in a so-called synthetic setting.
Daniel Oltrogge has been named senior research astrodynamist for the Center for Space Standards and Innovation of Analytical Graphics Inc. of Colorado Springs. He was lead systems engineer for SkySentry and senior analyst/CEO of 1Earth Research
Looking beyond the aerospace and defense industry for more than just inspiration, the Pentagon’s advanced research arm wants to tap a wider population for ideas ranging from spacecraft software to military vehicles. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) calls it “the democratization of innovation.” Others call it crowd-sourcing, the art of outsourcing tasks to a large community of people via the Internet. Examples include open-source software and Wikipedia.
Brian Roberson (see photo) has been named global platform director for aerospace coatings for PPG Industries , Sylmar, Calif. He was its director in Canada for the automotive refinish business.
Chris VanderWeide has been named chief inspector for foreign airworthiness for Duncan Aviation , Battle Creek, Mich. He was chief inspector for Great Lakes Aviation.
Troubled Sea Launch is moving closer to emerging from Chapter 11, where it has been stuck since filing for bankruptcy protection on June 22, 2009. Last week, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware confirmed a reorganization plan filed by Sea Launch on May 10. The plan will become effective upon completion of regulatory review. The court move followed conclusion of an agreement for three new satellite launches with EchoStar. Earlier Sea Launch inked a launch agreement with AsiaSat in settlement of claims.
Concepts are useful, but demonstrators get the work done. And when the task at hand is maturing technology for the next generation of commercial aircraft, demonstrators have a key role to play.
A lightweight carbon-fiber composite that can conduct electricity and heat is the holy grail of structural design, and may be within reach with plans to scale up production of a nano-engineered “fuzzy fiber” material developed by the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI).
