The U.S. Air Force’s newest MC-12W Project Liberty intelligence-collection aircraft was the first of its type to arrive last week at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, to establish the 4th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Sqdn. there.
Analysts at federal information technology (IT) consultancy Input say five technology trends are likely to have a major impact on U.S. IT spending, procurement and adoption over the next five years, at all levels of government. They are cloud computing, virtualization, service-oriented architecture, open-source software and geospatial technology.
On Dec. 21, 2009, the U.S. Transportation Dept. ruled that passengers on a flight that is “stranded” for 2 hr. are entitled to bread and water (a detainee right that evaporates should they actually become airborne!) and to be released under their own recognizance after 3 hr. Now, every passenger becomes an empowered “sea lawyer” with a different interpretation of entitlements.
The airport at Mojave, Calif., may be the epicenter of what some call the “New Space” industry today, but the movement has been gathering steam for decades and encompasses a wide range of players with vastly different personalities and prospects.
In any discussion about training pilots, one needs to be careful to avoid apple-to-orange comparisons. Yes, the military can produce a combat pilot with 400 hr. of flight time. But this is done through a rigorous program costing millions of dollars in which those who fail to meet the requirements are eliminated. Students are being paid to learn to fly and are required to perform within a defined syllabus. It can be assumed that an airline company-paid ab initio training program would operate in similar fashion.
Winfield Beyea (see photo) has become Tampa. Fla.-based vice president of Landrum & Brown ’s Facilities and Operations Div. He held a similar position at CH2M Hill. James G. Walsh has been appointed vice president of the Business and Commercial Planning Div. He was deputy executive director/chief financial officer at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
Bruno Delile has been appointed president of AMG , a U.S. subsidiary of Air France Industries and KLM Engineering and Maintenance, and senior vice president-operations of the parent company. He was senior vice president-industrial and business development of Air France Industries. Fabrice Defrance has been named the combined companies’ head of industrial commercial and business development. He was an executive of engineering and aircraft maintenance for Air France Industries.
Europe and the U.S. are poised to embark on a twin lander-orbiter-rover mission to Mars as part of a road map that eventually will see the return of Martian samples to Earth.
USN Vice Adm. David Architzel has been appointed commander of Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. He was principal deputy assistant Navy secretary for research, development and acquisition at the Pentagon.
The U.K. Competition Commission’s call for the BAA to sell London Stansted and Gatwick airports, as well as either the Edinburgh or Glasgow airport was thrown into limbo when an appeals body determined one of the commissioners had a conflict of interest. The appeals body did not uphold the BAA’s claim that the panel’s timeline to divest the airports was not appropriate. Ryanair, a major user of Stansted, is concerned the ruling could delay the sale of the airport; BAA has already sold Gatwick. The issue will be reviewed again if the parties fail to settle on their own.
Transatlantic misunderstandings are once again clouding the complex process of choosing a new U.S. Air Force tanker. The Europeans hope their candidate—conceived as part of an EADS North America/Northrop Grumman teaming arrangement—will be evaluated fairly against Boeing’s proposal; however, U.S. domestic politics seems to be playing a growing role in the “Round 3” evaluation.
Boeing’s Shanghai airframe maintenance shop is aiming to match Western labor efficiency with its new Chinese workforce, presenting a challenge to local as well as international rivals.
The first NFH90 maritime helicopter is now in the hands of the Netherlands military, the lead customer for the rotorcraft, but the system is still not ready for operational use. Development of the NFH90 has been plagued by problems with a range of systems, including the maritime search radar and tactical navigation system. To minimize the already extensive delays and expedite getting the rotorcraft to users, the NH Industries consortium and government buyers have opted for a phased-fielding program, which is now unfolding with last week’s delivery at AgustaWestland.
Barriers to sharing vital aviation safety information may start coming down this year, but the prevailing lack of transparency has allowed deficiencies to fester in the global air transport system for years. The recent focus on pitot tube icing highlights that while various stakeholders were aware of equipment shortcomings, no concerted effort was made to understand what was going on or to remedy the situation.
Recommendations to improve aviation safety in the wake of the crash of Air France Flight 447 last June and other Airbus A330 incidents are inadequate, several stakeholders warn. Pilots and industry officials fear that unless more is done, system-wide failures will persist, with dangerous consequences for passengers.
Following a series of verification and operational trials, Qinetiq has brought into service the Mirach advanced sub-sonic aerial target, as part of the Combined Aerial Target Service (CATS) contract for the U.K.’s armed forces. Qinetiq will provide ground-based air defense training for the Army, aerial target services for the Royal Navy and an air-to-air service for the RAF. The Defense Ministry awarded the contract to the defense and security firm in December 2006.
Investigators have still not determined what caused a serious runway excursion in Jamaica Dec. 22, involving an American Airlines Boeing 737-800. The aircraft, bound from Miami, was landing at Kingston’s Norman Manley International Airport during a rainstorm, when it skidded off the runway, across a road and came to rest on a beach. The aircraft’s fuselage cracked, its right engine detached, and its left main landing gear collapsed.
It is good to see that progress is being made on unducted fan (UDF) noise and pitch-change mechanisms (AW&ST Dec. 14, 2009, p. 54), but no mention is made of the 800-lb. gorilla in the room: damage containment in the event of a blade loss. None of the suggested UDF-powered airframe configurations I have seen appear to be certificable because it is unlikely they could be shown to survive catastrophic blade loss.
U.S. piston aero-engine manufacturer Teledyne Continental Motors is to enter the diesel market, aiming at powering small unmanned aircraft as well as general aviation aircraft sold in parts of the world where avgas is scarce and expensive. The company is expected to announce this month that it has acquired the rights to diesel engine technology from an outside source. In the late-1990s, TCM developed a diesel aero-engine under NASA’s General Aviation Propulsion program, but the powerplant was heavy and the U.S. market was not ready.
At year-end, Boeing garnered several orders. All Nippon Airways plans to add five 777-200ERS and five 767-300ERs to its fleet under a contract valued at about $2 billion, according to Boeing. The airline says the 767-300ERS will be delivered in the April 2010–March 2012 period, and the 777-300ERs from April 2012 to March 2014, to meet anticipated traffic growth at Tokyo Haneda airport. Indonesian private carrier Lion Air added four 737-900ERs to its fleet in December.
Rainer Hiltebrand has been named chief operating officer of Swiss International Air Lines , effective in May. He will succeed Gaudenz Ambuhl, who will be retiring. Hiltebrand has been operations director at Zurich Airport.
Virginia Sen. Jim Webb (D), a former Navy secretary and Marine combat veteran, is fighting the Navy’s proposal to home-port a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in Mayport, Fla. Webb, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), opposes the move because it would drain prestige and economic power from Norfolk, home of the Navy’s Atlantic operations. In a letter to Deputy Defense Secretary Bill Lynn, he questions the cost, noting that the Navy already is $3 billion short of the money needed for upgrades at its four shipyards.
Michael A. Taverna (Kourou, French Guiana, and Paris)
A new optical imaging satellite will provide Europe with an integrated, optical/radar very-high-resolution imagery capacity to meet the growing demands of overseas military theaters.
Michael S. Lipscomb has been named interim CEO of Sifco Industries Inc. of Cleveland. He succeeds Jeffrey P. Gotschall, who has retired but will remain as non-executive chairman. Lipscomb is a former Sifco director and was chairman/CEO of the Argo-Tech Corp.
