Launch of Russia’s Rassvet research and docking mini-module on the space shuttle Atlantis (see p. 19) has NASA Administrator Charles Bolden thinking about other cooperative ventures with the Russian space agency. Under the Fiscal 2011 budget request, Bolden hopes to reverse his agency’s thrust from a destination-driven technology effort to one that aims to develop technologies that will enable reaching distant destinations, with Mars the ultimate goal. That will include in-space propulsion work designed to cut the dangerously long transit time for a human Mars crew.
The Defense Department has turned to Franwell, Inc.—a company that focuses on supply chain solutions and Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology—the University of Florida and Georgia Tech Research Institute to develop RFID systems that can improve the quality, safety and security of combat rations. Using wireless temperature sensors, remote monitoring algorithms and diagnostics, the shelf life of semi-perishable foods can be calculated in real time using web-based computer models, according to VertMarket’s IT Group for RFID Technologies.
Results from the first test phase on the common high-pressure core for the Pratt & Whitney PW1000G geared turbofan (GTF) and PW800 business jet engines have validated performance goals and shown “excellent starting and operability characteristics,” the company says. The 100-hr. test phase at Pratt & Whitney Canada’s Longueuil, Quebec, facilityvalidated the aerodynamic efficiencies and operability characteristics for the high-pressure compressor, combustor and the high-pressure turbine.
Finmeccanica CEO Pier Francesco Guarguaglini is laying out an ambitious five-year roadmap, re-directing the company’s strategy toward a greater emphasis on international sales and a renewed focus on aerospace and defense. The intent is to craft a truly international company, with the CEO suggesting that by 2016 Finmeccanica could generate 50% of its revenue from outside its three “domestic markets”—Italy, the U.K. and, increasingly, the U.S. The aim is for the global market to become the source of half of the company’s orders within the next five years.
The U.S. government continues to wrestle with how to provide satellite-based weather-monitoring data after the recent collapse of a tri-agency spacecraft program, and major design decisions are expected this summer. During the transition, Northrop Grumman, the satellite bus prime contractor, is now pitted against another key supplier on the program, Ball Aerospace, which is designing a risk-reduction pathfinder satellite.
Boeing’s 787 flight-test program is retiring risk ahead of schedule and probably will conclude in October to meet an FAA certification schedule that would allow delivery of “the first couple of airplanes” to launch customer All Nippon Airways this year, says Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh.
The FAA has set March 31, 2013, as the deadline for holders of FAA certificates other than pilots to convert their paper certificates into a plastic format. The requirement initially affected only pilots, who had to convert their licenses as of March 31, 2010. The next phase affects aviation personnel other than pilots and includes air traffic controllers, airframe and powerplant mechanics, aircraft dispatchers, repairmen and parachute riggers.
German researchers are continuing work on advanced thermal protection systems (TPS) for returning spacecraft. This hypersonic wind tunnel model of the upcoming Sharp-Edged Flight Experiment (Shefex II) uses actively cooled ceramic tiles to dissipate the heat of reentry. At the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology in Gottingen, a scale model of the Shefex II flight article is subjected to blasts of air at 12,000 kph. (7,456 mph.).
Airlines need to take more responsibility for congestion instead of simply blaming the FAA and the air traffic control system, says agency administrator Randy Babbitt. Overscheduling is increasing delays at busy airports, he said at the Aviation Week NextGen Ahead conference here last week. And if this practice continues, it could “virtually eliminate” any capacity benefits from NextGen ATC modernization. “Technology and procedures alone will not solve the [congestion] problem,” Babbitt said. “We know full well exactly the impact of over-compression in scheduling.
EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou is taking his battle with airline management to the next level, quitting its board and vowing to become an activist shareholder to try to block expansion plans. Stelios wants the airline to focus more on profitability than growth and lost a board fight last year to do so, although the airline did curtail expansion. Stelios says contracts with Airbus for future deliveries should be renegotiated.
Latecoere has come to an agreement with banks to restructure its medium- and short-term debt, and has asked NYSE Euronext to relist its shares. Under the deal, the French aerostructures builder will trade in 20% of its current bank debt for €71.5 million ($88.7 million) in five-year convertible notes and obtain a freeze in principal on other medium-term debt until Dec. 31, 2011.
The Defense Department is improving in its major weapons acquisitions, according to nonpartisan congressional auditors, but it has a ways to go to institutionalize recent reforms. The Government Accountability Office’s Michael Sullivan adds that the Pentagon may still have to cut the number or size of its programs now just to meet expected budget pressures.
Mitigating the debilitating effects of fatigue on human performance is a top aviation safety priority—and the preliminary findings of the first study of how fatigue affects pilots flying multi-leg trips are to be revealed at the May 24-27 Regional Airline Association (RAA) convention. Previous research has focused on flight crews operating long-haul routes of major airlines that have the human and financial resources to set up fatigue risk-management programs (AW&ST Sept. 21, 2009, p. 42).
The U.K. has established a new type of volcanic ash-related airspace, allowing airlines to fly in “medium-density” ash for a period of time and effectively reducing the scope of no-fly-zone. The so-called Time Limited Zone allows aircraft to operate by presenting the Civil Aviation Authority with a safety case that includes the agreement of their aircraft and engine manufacturers. Flybe was the first carrier to meet the standard.
The crash of a Pamir Airways Antonov An-24B in Afghanistan is reviving concerns about the safety of aircraft manufactured in former Soviet republics. At 9:30 a.m. local time on May 17, Flight PM-112 was en route to Kabul from Kunduz in northern Afghanistan with 44 people, when the 38-year-old twin-engine turboprop aircraft disappeared from radar screens.
NASA will try to “tailor” the approach it takes to human-rating commercial vehicles for its astronauts, looking for middle ground between the prescriptive approach it has taken with its own human spacecraft and the analysis it gave Russia’s Soyuz vehicles before U.S. astronauts started flying on them.
South African manufacturer Denel Dynamics is aiming for the first test firing of its A-Darter dogfight air-to-air missile from a Saab Gripen by year-end. Ground-launch shots of the imaging infrared-guided missile will conclude this month. The development program is scheduled for completion by mid-2012. Missile test activity was ramped up at the beginning of this year, including ground-launched firings, while March saw captive-carry trials on Saab Gripens that are being delivered to the South African Air Force.
The latest in a series of NASA requests for information (RFIs) under its proposed Fiscal 2011 budget lists six “flagship” space testbeds costing $400 million to $1 billion each that would push technologies needed for exploration beyond low Earth orbit.
Air Canada launched new services to U.S. destinations from its Toronto hub last week with twice daily flights to Memphis, Tenn., and Cincinnati, using regional partner Air Georgian’s Beech 1900D aircraft; and to Syracuse, N.Y., and Portland, Maine, using Air Canada Jazz Bombardier Canadair Regional Jets. The move underlies the airline’s commitment to drive growth at Toronto Lester B. Pearson International Airport, according to Ben Smith, Air Canada executive vice president and chief commercial officer.
Amy Butler (Fort Worth), Graham Warwick (Washington)
Lockheed Martin officials are lifting the veil on a classified technology to bolster their claims that maintaining the stealthy Joint Strike Fighter will be less expensive than operators may anticipate. The move to reveal its existence comes amid mounting criticism of the JSF because of huge cost overruns and schedule delays. Estimated life-cycle cost is just the latest point of contention.
Canadian suppliers will have a chance to bid for work on the Seastar amphibian after investment by the Quebec government persuaded Dornier Seaplane to locate final assembly in the Montreal area. The provincial government’s investment arm is to make a reimbursable contribution of C$35 million ($33 million) toward the C$71.5-million cost of setting up final assembly at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, a suburb of Montreal.
U.S. low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines is warning employees that the airline might have to “shut down operations permanently” if its pilots union goes on strike, as it is threatening to do as early as June 12, adding more tension to what could become a high-stakes showdown. The Spirit group, a unit of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), wants to move closer to pay parity with carriers such as AirTran Airways and JetBlue Airways.
New Delhi is turning to Europe for support of the naval version of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) because efforts to work with U.S. industry are being stymied by an inability to gain the requisite approvals from Washington. India had selected Lockheed Martin to provide consultancy work on the LCA (navy), but failure to secure U.S. State Department approvals—at least in a timely fashion—has led it into negotiations with EADS for the work. This is not the first time regulatory issues have tripped up U.S. ambitions in India.
Boeing is downplaying the impact of a redesign of shear ties in the aft fuselage of the 787 which results from discoveries made during thermal testing last December. Tests revealed that ties used to connect the fuselage frames to the skin started detaching from the composite skin after several cold-hot cycles. Commenting at an investors conference, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Vice President for Programs Pat Shanahan describes it as a “very, very low level” risk.
State acceptance trials of the long-range missile for Russia’s Almaz-Antey S-400 (SA-21 Growler) surface-to-air system are due to be concluded in the third quarter of 2010, according to the manufacturer’s general director. The longest-range weapon associated with the S-400 is thought to be the 40N6. This missile has a fly-out range of up to 400 km. (250 mi.). The head of Almaz-Antey also reportedly confirmed that the S-500 SAM system is intended to be ready in 2015.
