A little-noticed set of engineering experiments at Langley Research Center could be a harbinger of things to come at NASA, as the U.S. space agency adjusts to tight-money times with a greater focus on technology development for commercial applications.
There’s more change afoot in the leadership at SR Technics—this time at the top. CEO Bernd Kessler stepped down Jan. 31, just two years after taking the job, and CFO James Stewart took over.
NASA is taking advantage of chance scheduling to conduct interferometric ground-deformation studies with its airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) over the island of Hispaniola, following the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake in the Haiti portion.
Douglas Barrie (London), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
European missile manufacturer MBDA is now planning the initial test firing of its Scalp Naval cruise missile in the first or second quarter of this year. A test shot had originally been slated for 2009. Despite the shift in dates , the French defense ministry asserts that delivery of the long-range cruise missile remains on track to begin in 2013. Neither the manufacturer nor ministry are willing to discuss the reasons behind the change in the firing schedule.
Regarding letters on crew rest and fatigue in the Jan. 11 issue (p. 8) , there is no question that crew duty periods and rest requirements need to be revisited and revised. The gentleman who wrote “Current Fatigue Rules Just Fine” obviously has not flown a 14-hr. duty day with 8-plus hr. of solid IFR approaches to maybe 10 airports. To make it more interesting, add a fast-moving cold front with squall lines of thunderstorms.
The advance of Asian aerospace industries is seemingly relentless, driven by factors that include national ambition, abundant engineering talent, competitive costs and government money.
While most carriers are reducing fleet capacity, AirAsia plans to add service to eight Indian destinations. The Malaysian budget carrier, which now serves four cities in India, plans to start daily Chennai-Penang service on Apr. 28. In May, it will offer flights between Kuala Lumpur and Chennai, Mumbai and Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore). In July, the airline plans to launch daily Hyderabad-Kuala Lumpur service, and on Aug. 1, daily flights to New Delhi. The carrier will operate Airbus A320s on the new routes except for Mumbai and New Delhi, where it will fly A330s.
After a recent transmission failure on the X-2 Technology Demonstrator, Sikorsky says it will be ready to return the aircraft to ground test in March. During ground test work on the hub faring, the X-2 experienced a transmission failure that was not due to an X-2 technology process, according to Steven Weiner, director of engineering sciences. A manufacturing process error occurred, he said. “They didn’t prep the gear properly.” The gear box has been repaired and was shipped to Sikorsky’s facility in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Charles Champion has been named head of engineering of Airbus , effective Apr. 1. He will succeed Patrick Gavin, who will retire. Champion has been executive vice president-customer services
In “Critical Conditions” (AW&ST Jan. 4, p. 28), the head of Air France’s pilots’ union, Gerard Arnoux, says “the AF447 accident could have been avoided,” asserting that regulatory agencies failed to act to address known safety deficiencies. In the accompanying article, Jens Flottau writes that “the prevailing lack of transparency has allowed deficiencies to fester in the global air transport system for years.”
Kawasaki’s prototype C-X airlifter flew for the first time on Jan. 26 from Gifu Air Base in Japan, earning the designation XC-2. The aircraft, powered by a pair of General Electric CF6-80C2 turbofans, was rolled out alongside Kawasaki’s XP-1 (formerly P-X) maritime patrol aircraft in July 2007. The XP-1 first flew in September of that year, but problems with the structural integrity of the XC-2’s airframe delayed its flight debut by more than two years. The XC-2 is designed to replace the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s Kawasaki C-1 transports.
A swath of Asia-Pacific states is in the throes of revamping their fighter inventories. As a result, Western and Russian manufacturers are either wrestling to sustain market share or vying with rival fighter builders in traditional client markets.
AIG is holding an online auction for the US Airways A320 that landed in the Hudson River on Jan. 15, 2009. The Flight 1549 aircraft is being sold “as is.” However, Aircraft Fleet Recycling Assn. Executive Director Martin Fraissignes cautioned that no one should try to fly this aircraft again. “If the aircraft is to be stripped down, it should be done so in the safest and most environmentally responsible fashion possible, with the parts disposed of for their salvage value alone.
As a former director of flight standards and training for a reputable Part 121 airline, I remain disturbed over the industry’s debate concerning pilot training “quality or quantity” (AW&ST Nov. 30, 2009, p. 52). Framing the issue in this fashion favors only half of a solution . We cannot achieve the required results without a solid foundation in applied academics, comprehensive flight training and experience sufficient to reinforce training, and development of adequate flying skills in a variety of conditions.
The focus of tensions between Boeing Commercial Airplanes and its unionized workforce has been on machinists. Their strike in 2008 was a catalyst for the company’s decision to establish its second 787 final assembly line in South Carolina. But friction has long been a fixture in the relationship between Boeing and its Seattle-area workforce. In 2004, it was one reason Boeing sought tax, transportation and training incentives from the State of Washington as the price for keeping 787 assembly in the region.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has reaffirmed that France will not send any more combat troops to Afghanistan. In a television appearance last week, Sarkozy reiterated his refusal to increase France’s Afghan combat contingent, despite calls by the U.S. and other allies to raise its contribution. The country agreed to send 700 extra troops to the Afghan theater in 2008 and has 3,750 men stationed there . However, contrary to previous statements, the president left the door open for contributing more personnel for training, police duty and economic reconstruction.
A coalition of U.S. trade groups offers the Obama administration suggestions as it grapples with reforming controls on the export of defense technologies.
The article “Quality or Quantity” provides a useful summary of circumstances in the pilot profession. The point of Dick Leland, president of the National Aerospace Training and Research Center, that “there is an overdependence on automation in today’s flying environment” is particularly relevant.
NASA is in a race against time to prepare its stranded Mars rover Spirit for survival through the upcoming Martian winter after abandoning further attempts to free the bogged-down vehicle.
:The Avic Defense L-15 trainer represents an early example of increasingly competitive aircraft developed in Asia, initially with foreign assistance. As the 2010 Singapore Airshow opens, manufacturers in China and South Korea are aggressively taking on roles as prime contractors (see p. 60). For the moment, they do not have strong brands to take to market, but eventually they are sure to overcome that deficiency. Avic Defense photo.
RapidEye, a private German geospatial information service provider specializing in integrating customized services, says it has completed a mapping campaign of the Helmand water basin in Afghanistan. The campaign, intended to obtain baseline imagery maps and ground cover information prior to the beginning of the 2010 opium growing season, was requested on Dec. 4, with most of the data collection taking place Nov. 18-28, the company states. The 250,000-sq.-km.
U.S. airlines are beginning 2010 by slowly clawing back some of the ground they lost during a grim 2009. The big question, though, is whether this is the start of real recovery or yet another false dawn for the industry.
Don’t look for full details on U.S. space policy in the administration’s Fiscal 2011 budget request due out Feb. 1. An eerie silence hovers over the broad budget outlook, including big-picture items like the funding trend for human spaceflight and the fate of the Ares I crew launch vehicle. That leads to speculation in some quarters that those decisions have not been made, and that the budget will offer only a starting point for debate on the human-spaceflight options developed over the summer by the Augustine panel.
