China’s airlines are heading into a “V-shaped” recovery in yields, with growth in domestic air travel greatly outpacing global economic growth, according to a new analysis from the Hong Kong office of Macquarie Equities Research. The government’s continued consolidation of smaller airlines also should benefit China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Air China in 2010, the report states.
The short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing F-35B engaged its lift system in flight for the first time on Jan. 7 during a test sortie from NAS Patuxent River, Md. Test pilot Graham Tomlinson engaged the shaft-driven lift fan at 5,000 ft. and 210 kt., slowed to 180 kt., then accelerated to 210 kt. and converted back to conventional-flight mode. The Stovl propulsion system was engaged for 14 min. On subsequent flights, the aircraft will fly progressively slower, hover and eventually land vertically.
EADS Astrium Services will carry out a European Defense Agency contract to determine how Europe’s defense ministries can meld their commercial telecommunications satellite needs. Last year, the EDA was given responsibility for coordinating this requirement. The one-year pilot project will seek to define a centralized system—to be called the European Satellite Communications Procurement Cell (ESCPC)—that would purchase and manage the military use of Ku-, Ka- and C-band civil satcom capacity.
Malaysia’s AirAsia and the Qantas group’s Jetstar Airways are likely to deepen cooperation after announcing an alliance whose ambitions so far include seeking to influence the design of future narrow-body airliners from Airbus and Boeing. The planned joint specification from the two budget carriers will present Western manufacturers with a powerful Asia-Pacific-region influence in the design of narrow-body aircraft, just as airlines in the Far East have long been heavyweight players in determining the characteristics of wide-body commercial transports.
The Pentagon’s new year begins with a crashing hangover from yet another round in the aerial refueling tanker procurement fight. Each bidder seems determined to put the other under the table, even as U.S. taxpayers and war-fighters are getting left out in the cold.
Brazil has awarded Eurocopter subsidiary Helibras a contract to modernize 34 AS365K Panther helicopters for army troop transport and light support. The upgrade includes reconstruction of two aircraft and installation of more powerful Turbomeca Arriel 2C2 engines with full authority digital engine control, Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 glass cockpit and 4-axis autopilot. Deliveries will take place from 2011-21.
A new F/A-18C/D Tactical Operational Flight Trainer (TOFT) has been installed at MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, to provide instruction for pilots of Fighter Attack Sqdn. 242. The simulator, which replaces an aircrew proficiency trainer, is a high-fidelity device consisting of two individual, networked cockpits for the pilot and weapons sensor operator. It supports both single-seat F/A-18C and two-seat F/A-18D aircraft. In addition, the TOFT can be networked with other training devices, according to manufacturer L-3 Communications Link Simulation & Training.
European defense research and development investment has fallen by nearly €1 billion ($1.4 billion) according to the European Defense Agency, a finding that only serves to bolster industry fears of a continuing downward trend. The EDA figures released recently reveal that R&D expenditures among the 26 member states dropped by 9.5%. European spending continues to fall far behind that of the U.S., with Washington spending almost seven times as much. EDA figures show that in 2008, collective R&D expenditure fell to €8.6 billion from €9.5 billion in 2007.
With lower fares, newer aircraft, inexpensive hotel packages and what some regard as better service, Middle East carriers are gobbling up market share in India at the expense of local and European competitors. The Middle East carriers are using their hubs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, and Doha in Qatar as waypoints to seat Indian passengers bound for Western Europe and the U.S.
Republican senators are turning up the heat on Obama’s nominee to head the Transportation Security Administration. Seven of them wrote the White House expressing “serious reservations” about Erroll Southers, and demanding answers to questions about his record as an FBI agent. Their main focus is an ethical violation that drew Southers a censure more than 20 years ago, when he accessed the files of his ex-wife’s boyfriend. Southers initially told senators someone else peeked at the files for him, but now admits he did it himself and claims a hazy memory of the events. Sen.
In the Jan. 4 issue, the engine in Block 52 F-16s ordered by Egypt was incorrectly identified on p. 21. The Block 52 version is powered by the Pratt & Whitney F100-229 Engine Enhancement Package.
Boeing says a reorganization and leadership changes in its Integrated Defense Systems unit will “reposition the company for growth in the current business environment.” Effective immediately, the unit will be called Boeing Defense, Space & Security in response to anticipated “flattening defense budgets and shifting customer priorities,” according to BDSS President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg.
Mesa Air Group has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after attempts to reject leases on roughly half its fleet collapsed. The regional operator, which serves as a feeder for Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and US Airways, says it intends to continue scheduled services while it attempts to restructure through the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The company’s Hawaiian joint venture with Republic Airways Holding, Go! Mokulele, is not affected by the filing.
The debate over whether air cargo is another Achilles’ heel in the aviation security system was renewed by the Dec. 25 attempted terrorist attack on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.
The 24th U.S. Air Force, the service’s newest numbered force for cyber-operations, has been declared “ready” after a major command readiness assessment by an Air Force Space Command inspector general team. A USAF statement Jan. 4 said the goal was to evaluate the force’s ability to conduct USAF network operations, as well as command and control of the service’s network. The 24th was stood up Aug. 18, 2009, and came into being after a massive cyber attack in late 2008.
Terma, of Aarhus, Denmark, and Boeing are one step closer to the Danish company becoming a viable partner and supplier of commercial aerospace structures, now that the Chicago-based aerospace giant has completed a detailed site survey of Terma’s Grenaa-based facilities. That site already produces winglets for some commercial aircraft and various composite structures for fighter jets and engines.
Embraer has delivered the first Phenom 300 light jet to Executive Flight Services on behalf of an undisclosed customer. Executive Flight Services is the wholly owned aircraft management subsidiary of Kansas City, Mo.-based Executive AirShare, one of the U.S.’s largest regional fractional aircraft ownership companies.
French armaments agency DGA has ceded its nuclear engineering unit to the French atomic energy commission, CEA, as part of an ongoing streamlining of the French agency. The unit, in Gramat in southern France, employs 250 and is responsible for evaluating the vulnerability of weapon systems to nuclear or conventional arms. The CEA will add several dozen specialists. Overall, the DGA plans to cut 3,000 from its 13,000-man payroll under the streamlining program and close down or transfer seven of 22 sites, including six engineering installations.
European Union emissions allowance (EUA) prices stabilized in late December, following volatility earlier in the month that was driven by speculative activity relating to the U.N. climate negotiations in Copenhagen. December 2010 EUA prices rallied from €12.82 ($18.46) per metric ton on Nov. 24 to €15.00 on Dec. 7 on what some traders say was speculation ahead of the Copenhagen talks, which ran from Dec. 7-18.
The Viewpoint “Rethinking Crew Fatigue” comes off as esoteric overkill. The regulations and compliance that deal with fatigue, which William S. Voss disdains, seem clear and deal effectively with the fatigue issue. Instituting and implementing an exotic and complex fatigue risk management system (FRMS) seems to add arbitrary complexity without the promise of better results than are provided by dreaded current regulations and compliance. Also, permitting pilots to nap in the cockpit as part of an FRMS system is absurd in the extreme.
Jan. 20-21—Practical Aeronautics Short Course: “Introduction to Aeronautics: A Practical Perspective.” Holiday Inn Express, Niceville, Fla. Call +1 (970) 887-3155 or see www.practicalaero.com Jan. 20-21—American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ Strategic and Tactical Missile Systems Conference. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif. Call +1 (703) 264-7500 or see www.aiaa.org
Aviation Week, continuing a proud tradition begun more than 50 years ago, is honored to present the nominees for Laureate awards for 2010. These individuals and teams have been nominated for lasting contributions and extraordinary achievements—and in some cases, heroics—in civil, military and commercial aviation and aerospace. While some were nominated by industry and government—a first in the history of Laureates—all of the candidates listed on the following pages were selected by the editors alone, based on a rigorous review of the nominees’ accomplishments.
Swiss and Brazilian fighter competitions are edging closer to a decision, but industry officials fear both projects may unravel this year. The Brazilian air force says it concluded its technical review, although that document has not yet been submitted to the defense ministry.
The White House has gone dark on its new space policy as Obama and his top aides wrestle with the airport security issue, and it’s unclear when NASA will get clear guidance on what to do. Administrator Charles Bolden tells the American Astronomical Society, “I don’t know anything,” although he promises that “the future of human spaceflight will not be paid for out of the hide of the science budget.” NASA is working with White House aides to help them figure it all out, Bolden says, but space policy “fell off Obama’s desk” over the holidays, according to one insider.
