The use of automatic dependent surveillance—broadcast (ADS‑B) to provide cockpit alerts of potential runway collisions is being demonstrated under an FAA effort to accelerate the safety and efficiency benefits of equipping aircraft with the required avionics.
Carl S. Kirkconnell (see photo) has become chief technology officer of Iris Technology , Irvine, Calif. He was a senior fellow/product line manager for Raytheon’s space cryocooler production and development programs and lead technologist for spaceborne cryogenic system designs.
Aer Lingus says that in the absence of a pay deal with the Irish Airline Pilots Assn., it is being forced to implement layoffs beyond those specified in its recent transformation plan. The airline wanted a deal to achieve €97 million ($146 million) in annual savings as of 2011.
USAF Col. (ret.) Ward Heinke (see photo) has become director of cyber-defense solutions for Raytheon Information Security Solutions , Falls Church, Va. He was commander of the 608th Air Force Network Operations Center, Barksdale AFB, La.
Mark Abbott (see photo) has been appointed Cape Town, South Africa-based group fixed-base operations director for the ExecuJet Aviation Group . Honors and Elections
Government backing of improved remote-sensing satellites and growing consumer demand has created a solid commercial market niche for Ball Aerospace. The company is best known for the precise instruments it builds for scientific missions, whether orbiting observatories like the Hubble Space Telescope or climatic missions such as Cloudsat. But it also pursues an annual market for 3-5 high-performance remote-sensing platforms, often with partners, but also by itself with the Ball Commercial Platform (BCP).
The Malaysian armed forces are looking for ways to fund an upgrade of their 28 Sikorsky S-61 helicopters by the company that maintains them, Airod. The contractor says it can improve reliability and performance while lowering operating costs by fitting the aircraft with glass cockpits, composite rotor blades and improved transmissions. Malaysia said last year it would buy 12 Eurocopter EC725s but they would only partially replace S-61s.
European Union emissions allowance (EUA) prices eased back in November on a lack of buy-side support amid uncertainty ahead of the Copenhagen climate summit and jitters over the strength of economic recovery in Europe. December 2010 EUAs became the front-year contract after most over-the-counter forward contracts for December 2009 delivery went to expiry on Dec. 1.
This mosaic of images collected in space by NASA’s three Great Observatories shows the center of the Milky Way galaxy in near-infrared (yellow), infrared (red) and X-rays (blue and violet). Compiled to commemorate the International Year of Astronomy, the image gives one of the most detailed views yet of the galactic core. Produced by the Hubble Space Telescope, the yellow near-IR images show hundreds of thousands of stars and the energetic star-birth regions where new ones form.
The current economic crisis has cost industry two years of growth, says International Air Transport Assn. Director General Giovanni Bisignani. IATA October results reflect a slow improvement trend—passenger demand increased 0.5% compared to the same month last year. While international cargo was 0.5% below 2008 levels, the numbers are “significantly” better than the 5.4% decline reported for September. Meanwhile, passenger and cargo load factors, of 78% and 54.1%, respectively, continue at pre-recession levels—an improvement IATA attributes to careful capacity management.
In your excellent article “Help Wanted” (AW&ST Nov. 16, p. 42), it is reassuring to find a lot of very good minds focused on the issues and requirements of bringing large and important programs to successful conclusions. The bigger problems really lie elsewhere. Could America have put men on the Moon in 1969 in the same atmosphere of continual delay caused by today’s habitual contract decision appeals and industry lobbying?
Orbital Sciences Corp. lives in a comfort zone of pursuing the industry’s smallest-sized orders for geostationary spacecraft, but as it sees demand for more power it is positioning its Star bus to grow with the market. In the past five years, Orbital reports capturing about 50% of the market for 3-5 kw.-powered geostationary spacecraft for direct-to-home television broadcasting, cable program and business data distribution, and regional mobile communications services against competition from Astrium and Thales Alenia.
The new-generation fighter that China will field in 2017-19 will be an improved J-10, the Chinese air force says, seemingly ruling out a genuine competitor to the Lockheed Martin F-22 and F-35. The statement was published in English by the People’s Daily, so it can be taken as an announcement that China wants foreigners to notice. The deputy chief of the air force, He Weirong, said on television on Nov. 9 that the country could in 8-10 years deploy a fighter of “the fourth generation,” a classification that China has previously attached to technology of the F-22 standard.
With forest fire seasons growing in length and severity, additional quick response assets seem necessary. There are many UH-1 and AH-1 operational and core helicopters available on the open market and in U.S. military fleets. For the price of one commercial Firehawk (S‑70), 50-75 UH-1s and AH-1s could be fitted with bubble windows, long lines and water buckets, and made serviceable for standby duty. Strategic prepositioning could limit the rapidly spreading, out-of-control fires that occur more frequently.
The FAA has issued rulemaking designed to reduce the hazards of aircraft icing. Starting Jan. 30, all aircraft contaminated with “polished” (smooth) frost on wings and on stabilizing and control surfaces will be prohibited from takeoff, under a final rule published last week. Major and regional airlines are already prohibited from operating aircraft with polished frost. The changes will affect 57 operators and 188 aircraft.
John W. Brown has been named chief financial officer of Bye Aerospace Inc. of Denver. He was a founder of Sandia Capital Partners, Albuquerque, N.M., and was chief operating officer of PricewaterhouseCoopers Securities. Brown continues as president of Bye Energy Inc. Paul Schumacher has joined Bye’s Strategic Advisory Council. He is a retired vice president-manufacturing of the Raytheon Aircraft Co. and vice president-operations of the Lock- heed Martin Aeronautical Systems Co.
The Dubai Airshow and an order for 52 A320s from an undisclosed customer helped Airbus boost its full-year intake to 225 gross orders or 195 net aircraft additions. The aircraft maker did suffer a few cancellations, however, with elimination of one order each for the A319, A330-200 and A340-500, the latter belonging to India’s Kingfisher. The thin A340-500 backlog was aided, though, by an order for a VIP model last month. Other changes in the order book include cancellation of an A330-200F by Etihad, with two remaining in the backlog.
Douglas Barrie (London), Robert Wall (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
The new Japanese government is expected to end its period of reflection early next year and finally kick off what is shaping up to be a compressed competition to pick a replacement for its aging F-4s—if the target in-service date is to be met.
Raytheon received a $17-million contract modification to upgrade South Korea’s Patriot air and missile defense system. Prime-power equipment will be delivered as an alternative power source for Patriot system operations, as will communications equipment to enhance the system’s interoperability with air defense command centers. The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command contract adds to Raytheon’s systems integrator work for South Korea’s Patriot SAM-X program, for which the company already received contracts worth $280 million.
In the case of the F-35, one need look no further than to the F-16 it is replacing and the success of its alternative engine program. Because of budget cuts to the F-16 program soon after the aircraft entered the fleet in the early 1970s, the U.S. Navy’s F-14 Tomcat was plagued with underpowered engines and the loss of numerous crew lives directly related to compressor stalls and throttle restrictions. It wasn’t until the General Electric F110 engine became available on the F-14A+ (F-14B) in 1987 that the Tomcat finally got the powerplants it needed.
The International Space Station modules will seem a little empty for most of this month, after the space shuttle Atlantis and Soyuz TMA-15 capsule took all but two of 12 space travelers back to Earth. NASA’s Jeff Williams, the Expedition 22 commander, and Russia’s Maxim Surayev are minding the store until Soyuz TMA-17 docks on the nadir port of the Zarya module on Dec. 22. Seven NASA astronauts rode Atlantis home on Nov. 27 after the orbiter spent 11 days in space getting the ISS ready for the day when shuttles will no longer be flying.
Max Kamenetsky, an engineer for Space Systems/Loral in Palo Alto, Calif., who works on enhanced payload features and total system solutions, has been honored by the Society of Satellite Professionals International for leadership in driving technical developments. The award recognizes young executives and leaders in the global satellite communications industry. Kamenetsky also was cited for his contribution to the development of a ground-based beam-forming system that is undergoing final testing.
Japanese controllers are checking out an optical reconnaissance satellite designed to monitor North Korea and other potential military threats after its launch on an H-IIA rocket Nov. 28. The $565-million optical information-gathering satellite (IGS) lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in southeast Japan at 10:21 a.m. local time, and separated nominally 20 min. later. The new satellite was built to work in coordination with two other radar satellites and another optical IGS.
The British Royal Air Force last week finally received the first of eight Boeing Chinook helicopters intended to have entered service more than a decade ago. A botched procurement program meant the Chinook Mk3s could not be accepted into service. A further two of the helicopters will be handed over in the next few weeks, with all eight in service by the end of 2010. The Mk3 Chinooks originally were intended to be used to support Special Forces operations.
