The Indian military is buying 57 more BAE Systems Hawk advanced jet trainers, with 40 to go to the air force and 17 to the navy. The trainers will be built by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. under a £500-million ($780-million) agreement with BAE for parts and support. Another £200 million will go to Rolls-Royce and Turbomeca for the Adour engines. The contract was signed during British Prime Minister David Cameron’s recent visit to India.
Todd D. Sigler has been appointed assistant vice president-civil aviation for the Arlington, Va.-based Aerospace Industries Association . He was vice president-manufacturing support and process engineering for Cirrus Aircraft.
Launch vehicle engineers here believe a shuttle-derived vehicle built around the space shuttle main engine (SSME) is probably the fastest route to a heavy-lift launch vehicle. Some kind of heavy lifter is emerging as a centerpiece of the compromise space policy being worked out between Congress and the White House.
Roy Kinnear has become senior vice president of United Arab Emirates-based Etihad Crystal Cargo . He succeeds Des Vertannes, who has been named global head of cargo for the International Air Transport Association. Kinnear was vice president-revenue management of Etihad Airways.
Commercial crew and cargo transportation to orbit is emerging as the big sticking point in the ongoing debate over U.S. space policy, both between the House and Senate, and between Congress and the White House. Senate authorizers cleared $612 million to support the new industry in Fiscal 2011, while their House counterparts would authorize only $164 million. NASA requested $812 million, according to an analysis prepared by the Space Foundation. But the agency is running into some reservations even among its own advisers.
Even though the technology is still in its infancy and its practical application is not at all assured, the electric aircraft is more than a concept being pursued by small group of green-thinking devotees. Well-established aviation manufacturers—notably Sikorsky Aircraft and Cessna Aircraft—have now come forward to further develop and exploit the alternate power source. Those companies and others outlined their plans for and challenges to electric flight during a July 30 symposium at the EAA AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wis.
Richard Shaw (see photo) has become manager of the PlaneParts sector of the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. , Savannah, Ga., He was a product support executive for Bombardier Aerospace in Montreal.
As U.S. major airlines regain their financial footing, the biggest question facing the industry is whether it will revert to old habits and let an oversupply of capacity unravel all of its hard-won gains.
Israeli’s top young minds are being identified and put to work early with the goal of introducing radically new ideas and concepts of operations that can be applied to rapidly changing threats and technological innovation. The program, called Talpiot, finds these youngsters with the same screening process that the nation uses to identify its elite fighter pilots. In this case, it is designed by the government to institutionalize creativity across the spectrum of military, political, industrial and intelligence organizations.
The Auto-GCAS’s capabilities can best be appreciated firsthand. During a 1-hr. 20-min. flight on the Air Force Research Laboratory/NASA F-16 testbed, this Aviation Week editor observed a variety of scenarios, many flown at extremely low altitudes and high speed, designed to show how the automatic ground collision avoidance system (Auto-GCAS) will prevent mishaps while allowing the full range of tactical flying without triggering nuisance fly-ups.
Peter Hruz has become subject matter expert in oceanic and domestic air traffic control for Metron Aviation , Dulles, Va. He was the FAA’s support manager of international operations, airspace and procedures, and military operations.
Susan Irwin has been named Washington-based president of Euroconsult USA Inc. She was head of Washington satellite industry consulting firm Irwin Communications. Partnering with Euroconsult will be the Jones Consulting Group, headed by Dennis Jones, a former senior executive with GeoEye, Space Imaging and The Aerospace Corp.
House defense appropriators are following their authorizing colleagues and earmarking funds toward the General Electric-Rolls Royce F136, the alternate engine for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, despite the Obama administration’s continuing veto threats. Behind closed doors July 27, the spending panel overwhelmingly approved a Republican-pushed provision to direct $450 million toward the F136, even over the new subcommittee chairman’s reservations.
Retiring the space shuttle is the best thing that could happen to U.S. manned spaceflight. After 38 years in low Earth orbit, now maybe we can go somewhere. Why let robots have all the fun?
Boeing Co.’s second-quarter operating profit was down 15% from the same period a year earlier amid a 9% decline in sales. But dig deeper into the results and a more nuanced picture emerges. Call it a tale of two Boeings.
European network airlines are starting to see improving financial performance and are witnessing a return of business to pre-crisis levels in some key areas. Airlines in Europe have been trailing other markets in putting the recent two-year decline in passengers and revenue behind them, but stronger-than-expected cargo operations and structural changes implemented by network carriers are starting to show results. However, the weak economic situation in Europe keeps carriers from celebrating prematurely.
Gerald P. Leary has been appointed Brussels-based president of FedEx Express for Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa. He succeeds Robert W. Elliott, who is retiring. Leary was senior vice president-European operations.
The U.S. Air Force is starting operational development of an automatic ground collision avoidance system (Auto-GCAS) that potentially could save many front-line combat aircraft.
Six North American carriers launched a new group for developing a standardized code to govern the display of fee-based services such as checked bags or roomier seats by flight searchers and ticket sellers, even though another group is already undertaking a similar effort.
USAF Lt. Col. (ret.) Charles D. Foran (Dallas, Texas)
The first airplane I ever flew was a North American AT-6D as an aviation cadet in 1949. I’ve owned—and performed the maintenance for—a 1944 SNJ-5 for 20 years. I’ve also flown F-51s and old and “tired” F-80Cs that had the pressurization worn out at 30,000 ft. I suggest the Air Force forget about its plan to pressurize the AT-6B to save weight, complexity, cost and maintenance (AW&ST July 26, p. 59).
Reader Karl Kettler repeats several false “truths” about commercial spaceflight (AW&ST July 26, p. 10). The first is that commercial crew transport leaves America’s astronauts in the hands of “start-up space boutiques that have little to offer.” Actually, United Launch Alliance has expressed a strong interest in bidding on commercial crew contracts, as has Orbital Sciences. And Boeing has been working with Bigelow Aerospace on a low-cost spacecraft (via NASA’s CCDev Space Act Agreement) that could service Bigelow’s proposed commercial space station.
Jon Nemo has been named Philadelphia-based managing director of the Aerospace, Defense and Government Services Group of Harris Williams and Co. He was a managing director in the Aerospace and Defense Investment Banking Group (formerly Jefferies Quarterdeck).
Marc Wittingen has been named director of international sales for airlines and fleets for StandardAero , Tempe, Ariz. He was director of customer programs for StandardAero’s PW100 business in Tilburg, Netherlands, and was an executive with KLM Engineering and Maintenance/Air France Industries. Dale Hawkins has been appointed airframe sales manager for business aviation. He was an airframe service sales representative for Kal-Aero/Duncan Aviation.
Ian Massey has been appointed to the Strategic Advisory Council of Denver-based Bye Energy Inc. He is a member of the board of directors of the Republic Financial Corp. and a fomer executive vice president of Republic’s aviation and private equity businesses.
