Simon Luxmoore (see photo) has become chief executive of the London-based Royal Aeronautical Society . He succeeds Keith Mans, who has retired. Luxmoore was group vice president of Messier-Dowty’s Boeing and Military Business Unit and managing director of Messier-Dowty Ltd.
The Japanese government is considering guaranteeing as much as ¥700 billion ($7.7 billion) in investment in Japan Airlines, including loans, to prevent it from running out of cash. The government will guarantee 80% of loans extended to the embattled airline. The move effectively ensures that the carrier can raise the funds it needs beyond the ¥100 billion already available from the Development Bank of Japan.
As one who was deeply involved in the X-43, I congratulate you on a great editorial that tells it like it is (AW&ST Nov. 30, p. 66). Unfortunately, hypersonics is just one of many areas in aeronautics where the U.S. is giving up its hard won leadership to our international competitors through neglect.
Airship Ventures concluded its first year of commercial operation of the Zeppelin NT “Eureka” in November, having carried more than 5,000 paying passengers in 800+ flights. While it will continue to be based at Moffett Field near the southern end of San Francisco Bay, the 12-passenger, semi-rigid airship will expand its activity in Southern California during 2010 because of the more favorable weather there.
Edward G. Carson has become CEO of Growth Management and Constructive Changes , Laguna Niguel, Calif. He was executive vice president of Hitco Carbon Composites and chief operating officer of its aerostructures programs.
Douglas Barrie (London), Robert Wall (Dubai), Andy Nativi (Genoa)
Technical and financial obstacles appear to be tying up Italy’s attempt to seal the M-346 advanced jet trainer contract with the United Arab Emirates. And there are now indications that one of the losing bidders could actually still be a contender. The selection of the M-346 to meet the UAE air force’s advanced jet trainer requirement was announced in February, knocking out Korea Aerospace Industries’ T-50.
If the National Mediation Board (NMB) implements a new rule on how unions are elected under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), airlines say, it must make it easier to decertify unions. Airlines oppose the proposal—that for a union to be approved, the majority of those voting say “yes,” not that a majority of those eligible to vote actually cast “yes” votes. But if that change goes into effect, the carriers argue, workers must be allowed to vote a union off the property just as easily.
How about global collaboration to hypersonics? The issue is not to recommit to hypersonics, but rather provide continued commitment. Furthermore, real gains can be made from international collaboration in actualizing hypersonic capability. The same issue was found and reported out by the 2000 Air Force Science Advisory Board. The funding peaks every 15-20 years have repeatedly brought the creation and then loss of critical mass and domain knowledge.
Bombardier’s rail business is helping offset a tough environment in the Canadian transportation giant’s business jet and regional aircraft operations. Cameron Doerksen, an analyst at Versant Partners in Montreal, estimates that the rail business will account for 63% of the company’s earnings before interest and taxes in the coming fiscal year, with the aircraft side bringing in just 37%. That denotes a flip from a year ago, when Bombardier Aerospace accounted for 64% of the profits.
Boeing is scouting beyond the unionized Seattle area for second sources for the 787’s vertical stabilizer and other assemblies in an attempt to guarantee a steady supplier base for the final assembly line it is building in North Charleston, S.C.
As the Pentagon seeks to strengthen its industrial base and U.S. allies press for reliable partners in this post-9/11 world, Congress and the Obama administration would do well to keep this in mind: Nearly half of all U.S. aerospace sales come from exports—and those support nearly half of the U.S. industry’s workforce.
U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz says his service may begin funding two new programs in the upcoming budget request, despite bleak projections that Pentagon spending will flatten in the coming years.
The U.K. government has decided to create an independent space agency. Space activities have been coordinated by the British National Space Center, with funding responsibility spread among a half-dozen departments and research councils. Lord Drayson, the U.K. minister in charge of space, had asserted that this setup placed the U.K. at a disadvantage in its dealings with the European Space Agency.
Rick Walsh has been named senior staff engineer for technical business development for the Trak Microwave Corp. , Tampa, Fla. He was vice president-engineering for Tampa Microwave.
John Kim (see photo) has been appointed vice president-planning and production control of the Sabreliner Corp. of St. Louis. He was a vice president of former subsidiary Midcoast Aviation.
France has contracted with Thales Communications and Thales Alenia Space to accelerate delivery of new medium- and very-high-rate protected ground stations for its Syracuse III secure military communications satellite system, and to modernize an overseas communications facility for the system. The contracts, worth €42.2 million ($62.9 million)—more than half through a €2.4-billion economic stimulus fund for defense hardware established last year—will ensure in-theater requirements are met through 2020.
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) has run its first test on the new Castor 30 solid-fuel rocket motor it is developing for a variety of applications, including the upper stage of the Taurus II medium-lift launch vehicle Orbital Sciences Corp. is building to deliver cargo to the International Space Station.
David A. Fulghum (Washington), Bill Sweetman (Washington)
The U.S. has been flying a classified, stealthy, remotely piloted aircraft in Afghanistan. That single fact reveals the continued development of low-observable UAVs, hidden aspects of the surveillance buildup in Afghanistan, the footprint of an active “black aircraft world” that stretches to Southwest Asia, and links into the Pentagon’s next-generation recce bomber.
Robert J. Butler has been appointed deputy assistant Defense secretary for cyber and space policy in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy . He was an executive of the Computer Sciences Corp. in San Antonio.
The next episode in a long-running European piece-de-theatre will be aired in the next few days, when a French oversight agency determines whether EADS and Airbus executives, past and present, are guilty of insider trading.
Efforts between Russia and India to set up a joint venture to co-develop a multirole transport aircraft (MTA) took an important step forward during a Dec. 7 meeting in Moscow. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding that makes both Russia’s state arms export agency Rosoboronexport and the transport division of United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) the Russian partners with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL).
Mark Taylor has been named general manager of BBA Aviation Engine Repair and Overhaul’s Component Repair and Accessories, Portsmouth, England.He was head of component repair for H+S Aviation, also in Portsmouth.
Virgin Galactic says its newly unveiled SpaceShipTwo (SS2) suborbital vehicle will give the company a virtually unassailable lead in the growing space tourism and science payload business, despite delays to the ambitious program.
American Eurocopter is now certified to perform all tailboom repairs for the EC145 at its Grand Prairie, Tex., facility now that it has received D-Level certification from Eurocopter. It is already certified to work several other models.
