I’m not sure where Richard G. Norris is coming from in his letter “Another CAS/ISR Aircraft Idea” (AW&ST March 22, p. 10), or what aircraft he is talk-ing about. The U.S. Air Force A-1E is a renamed Navy AD-7 Skyraider manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Co. in the late 1950s and early ’60s. USAF picked it up and renamed it for use during the Vietnam War. The AD-7 was a single-place light bomber and nevercould carry “10 troops, cargo or stretcher cases.” It had two guns, one in each wing root, not four, as Norris described.
On April 14, the NTSB recommended that the FAA require Honeywell to revise software logic in its MK XXII Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) and all helicopter operators using the system to install the revised software. The NTSB issued the recommendations in response to investigative testing that revealed a failure within the radio altimeter system could prevent the look-ahead feature of the EGPWS from functioning in flight—and that a pilot could be unaware that the feature was not operational.
Along with other major U.S. space players, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) is hoping for firmer guidance from the Obama administration—and in particular a rescoped road map for heavy-lift launch vehicle development—in the wake of the decision to abandon NASA’s Constellation program.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of the Philippines says it will upgrade the quality and skills of its personnel, including airworthiness and flight inspectors, in a bid to get the country’s carriers removed from the European Union’s list of unsafe airlines. Citing safety deficiencies identified by aviation authorities of the United Nations and U.S., the EU has banned all Philippine carriers from entering its airspace.
Deputy Defense Secretary Bill Lynn says major new investments for traditional national security space mission areas are not likely to materialize, so new approaches to delivering space capabilities are being examined. He says cooperation is possible in areas such as rules of behavior for operating in space, climate monitoring from space and even the critical mission of missile warning. Furthermore, international cooperation could deter malfeasance with U.S. allied satellites.
Gary Driggers, who is retired senior vice president of Midcoast Aviation, has received the William A. Ong Memorial Award from the Alexandria, Va.-based National Air Transportation Association. NATA’s Award for Distinguished Service went to Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee on aviation. Driggers, a former NATA chairman and member of the board of directors, “played an instrumental part in the . . .
The argument between quality and quantity regarding pilot training is too shallow and perhaps even silly (AW&ST Feb. 1, p. 11; Nov. 30, 2009, p. 52). Both views offer substantive points; both complement each other. I believe it is necessary to go much deeper into the issue. •First, “training” and “education” are not interchangeable. While air carrier pilots are expected to perform at a professional level commensurate with doctors, lawyers and others, they alone matriculate through a course that is built almost solely around “training.”
Cerberus Capital Management, the private-equity firm best known for buying ailing U.S. automaker Chrysler in 2007, is acquiring defense contractor DynCorp International, in a $1.5-billion deal that includes assumption of DynCorp’s debt. Cerberus will pay DynCorp shareholders $17.55 per share, a 50% premium from the stock’s April 12 closing price of $11.75. Although the deal is subject to shareholder review, affiliates of Veritas Capital, which in aggregate own 34.9% of DynCorp’s stock, have agreed to the acquisition.
FlightSafety International will offer training to customers on the full range of Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC) engine products, under an agreement signed with the engine manufacturer this month. P&WC, a United Technologies Corp. company, will oversee the global customer training program, while FlightSafety will manage daily operations, develop and produce courseware material and provide Learning Management System capabilities. Flight Safety’s Learning Center in Montreal will lead the support of Pratt customers and employees.
GE Aviation and the U.S. Navy have driven down costs, cut back orders and improved material availability and repair turnaround times using performance-based logistics (PBL) on the F404 and F414 engine programs. GE undertook its first F404 PBL contract in 2003 and its first F414 PBL contract in 2006, both for five years, to support Boeing F/A-18 Hornets and Super Hornets. They are firm fixed-price contracts aimed at controlling costs and incentivizing reductions in demand. The Navy’s goal is for GE to meet or exceed performance metrics.
Boeing is preparing to demonstrate a high-power and lightweight solar electric array developed under the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s Fast Access Space Testbed program, which it says could offer unprecedented power density for space vehicles. Delivering up to six times the power capability per cubic inch than current power systems, the array consists of a louvered set of solar electric array elements that can be packaged in relatively small fairings for launch. The “wings” extend to 23.1 meters (76 ft.) on either side of the vehicle.
Arianespace and its Ariane 5 partners will conduct a quality audit and set up a special task force to determine the underlying reasons for an anomaly that occurred during an April 9 countdown. The flaw in the launch vehicle pressurization system forced a flight postponement for the German military telecom satellite Comsat Bw-2 and SES’s Astra 3B for the second time in as many weeks. The task force, whose investigation is to be conducted concurrently and independently of the quality audit, was slated to report back with initial findings by April 16.
Russia is offering a version of the Club family of cruise missiles that can be packed in a standard cargo container and transported by ship, train or on roadways. Versions of Club are already fitted on the Kilo-class submarine and the Project 1135.6 frigate. The Moscow-based Morinformsystema-AGAT, the designer of Club’s control system, is developing the Club-K container modification. The system would be capable of being used against naval and land targets, depending on which versions of the Novator 3M-54 and 3M-14 missiles were included.
The European Commission has given the regulatory nod for French aerospace providers Daher-Socata and Sogerma to receive aid to develop composite components for the Airbus A350. Both companies are benefitting from French government support, which was decided on last September. Daher-Socata will receive €12.3 million ($16.7 million) toward its €30.9-million main landing-gear-door effort; Sogerma will receive €22.8 million to help underwrite the €57 million needed to develop the A350’s main landing gear bay. These loans are to be repaid via royalty payments
USN Rear Adm. (lower half) Norman R. Hayes has become director of intelligence for the U.S. European Command, Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany. He was director of the National Security Operations Center of the National Security Agency, Ft. Meade, Md. Rear Adm. (lower half) William E. Leigher has been named deputy commander of the Fleet Cyber Command/deputy commander of the Tenth Fleet at Ft. Meade. He was director of information operations/deputy director of naval intelligence for cryptology in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations at the Pentagon.
Pratt & Whitney is facing its most critical period since the early 1990s, with key developments looming in commercial and military propulsion that will affect its destiny for the next decade or beyond.
The U.S. Air Force says the first Space-Based Space Surveillance spacecraft, made by a Boeing/Ball Aerospace team, is ready for launch July 8 on a Minotaur IV from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. A clone of the first satellite is likely to be bought to add more capacity in orbit and improve the revisit rate in surveiling objects in geosyncrhonous orbit. The satellite will boost into low Earth orbit.
The Pentagon is conducting basic cyberwarfare courses for lawmakers as they struggle with the confirmation of Army Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander as the first chief of U.S. Cyber Command. At the heart of congressional concerns is the confusion over restrictions (or more accurately, the lack of rules) governing cyber-attack.
General Electric Aviation has opened an Air Transport Authority Level 3 line maintenance training course at its headquarters in Evendale, Ohio, for M601E and H80 turboprop engines produced by GE Aviation Czech. Classes, which began last month, cover inspections, layout and operation of the engine and its airflow, oil and fuel systems as well as their components, power turbine section, combustion chambers, engine maintenance practices and general troubleshooting.
John Miyamoto, a vice president in the U.S. Air Force Advanced Extremely High Frequency program, led by the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., Sunnyvale, Calif., has received an Asian American Executive of the Year Award, presented by the Chinese Institute of Engineers/USA . Winners of Asian American Engineer of the Year Awards are Northrop Grumman Corp. employees Roger Fujii, F. Dong Tan and Melissa Sandlin.
Don Osmundson has been promoted to vice president from director of flight operations for Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings and Kathy Wooldridge to vice president from director of human resources. Daniel Shurz has been named vice president-planning and strategy, Greg Aretakis vice president-revenue production for branded airline operations, Jan Fogelberg vice president-customer experience and technology and Aaron Workman vice president-information technology.
Thrust from a Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engine of a Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 was stuck at 70% during approach to the Hong Kong airport on April 13, forcing the crew to land at far beyond the normal speed, deflating main-gear tires. The other engine was idling, but the reason for that has not been stated. That engine’s thrust had fluctuated earlier in the flight, when the aircraft reached cruising altitude after takeoff from Surabaya, Indonesia. The No. 1 engine developed its fault 20 min. before landing.
As space shuttle program ends, Lockheed Martin Michaud delivers its last tank, and other business fades, expertise in leadership, production and research risk being lost forever. NASA could bid for the Air Force’s aerial tanker, and like Northrop’s Tigershark vs. Falcon, save billions in negotiating prices.
