The U.K. government needs to reassess its plans for the country’s air transport infrastructure to address a growing mismatch between demand, capacity and environmental targets. That is the underlying message of two new reports issued last week, one by Parliament and the second by an advisory body to the government.
Patricia McMahon (see photo) has become vice president/deputy of the Northrop Grumman Corp. Aerospace Systems sector’s Battle Management and Engagement Systems Div., Bethpage, N.Y. She headed the company’s information operations/electronic attack business.
The French air accident investigation office is looking into an incident involving an Air France A330-200 to see if there may be links to the June 1 crash of AF447. On Nov. 29, AF445 flying between Rio de Janeiro and Paris (the same route AF447 was flying when it plunged into the Atlantic) encountered severe turbulence, triggering a Mayday call and causing the pilots to descend around 10,000 ft. to continue their flight.
New momentum on Capitol Hill could help find a more lasting—and effective—research and development tax credit. Nonpartisan auditors there suggest that lawmakers consider eliminating the regular credit option while adding a minimum base to the alternative simplified credit. Last June, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and the panel’s top Republican, Chuck Grassley (Iowa), pitched a legislative proposal to do as much. The senators’ proposal would also make the credit permanent so businesses can plan better.
United Airlines is committing the future of its international fleet to the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350, in a split-buy decision that has major ramifications for the manufacturers as much as for the airline. While a large-scale order was expected, United surprised analysts by selecting both of the competing widebodies. The airline admits there would have been operational savings in choosing just one type, but points out that the specifications of the two airplanes vary enough to provide greater choice in matching aircraft to routes.
Boeing’s stretched 747-8F freighter took major strides toward first flight next month with the start of the aircraft’s General Electric GEnx-2B engines for the first time on Dec. 8., followed two days later with the initiation of control input work in the cockpit by Boeing test pilots. Initial engine start, and the customary white smoke caused by the burn-off of residual lubrication oil (below), coincides with the approach of natural icing test flights for the GEnx-2B mounted on GE’s 747 flying test-bed.
Aviation aftermarket companies, building on their success of bundling services in support of cash-strapped airlines, will be expanding the business practice as airlines continue to grapple with reducing costs and improving their core business.
Brussels Airlines last week officially became a member of the Star Alliance. The airline was accepted by the Chief Executive Board. Brussels Airlines hopes to build its home base into the group’s hub in Western Europe. It plans to expand its already sizable African network and add transatlantic services as soon as the market improves. Brussels Airlines is 45% owned by Lufthansa. Several North American carriers—including United, Air Canada and US Airways—have recently announced new or more frequencies into Brussels.
CitationAir, the fractional aircraft ownership, charter and management operation in which Cessna Aircraft has a majority interest, thinks it has a way to assure nervous prospects that their aircraft investment will not plummet: guaranteeing value stability. The company says it will guarantee residual values on new purchases of its pre-owned Citations for up to three years. The offer is good through the end of 2009 or until the inventory is gone.
Russia’s S7 Group will house and maintain full flight simulators for Boeing Next Generation and “classic” series aircraft and a 737 flat panel trainer at its training center near Domodedovo Airport in Moscow. Boeing says this is the first step in integrating Russia into the company’s global Training and Flight Services network, as part of an agreement signed last summer that calls on Russia and Boeing to expand cooperation in flight safety.
Robert J. de Boer has been named professor of aviation engineering at the Amsterdam University of Applied Science . He was engineering director at Stork Fokker.
Michael Kraft (see photo) has become senior vice president/general manager of Textron Lycoming Engines , Williamsport, Pa. He succeeds Ian Walsh, who was promoted to chief innovation officer at Textron Systems. Kraft was Lycoming’s vice president-research, development and engineering.
I taught high school mathematics to many aerospace engineers reading Aviation Week & Space Technology today. Students often asked for practical applications for our math, or “what good is this stuff?” My military experience helped to suggest several applications in the analog world, but now a universe of digital applications is commonplace. All of our information and power, at some stage, is delivered over a wire. Television, radar, communications, tomography and finite element analysis are noteworthy to me.
Russia’s next fighter aircraft, the Sukhoi T-50 (also known as PAK FA) is to commence flight trials next year, Vice Premier Sergei Ivanov confirmed last week. The tentative in-service date is 2015.
Solar Impulse has completed initial tests of its prototype solar-powered aircraft, HB-SIA, after a brief first flight at Duebendorf, Switzerland, on Dec. 3. The1,600-kg. (3,527-lb.), single-pilot aircraft flew 350 meters along the runway at an altitude of about 1 meter. First tests were conducted on battery power. The 11,600-plus solar cells on the upper surfaces of HB-SIA’s 63.4-meter (208-ft.) wing, and tail will be connected after the aircraft is disassembled and relocated to Payerne Air Base for full flight testing, which is scheduled to begin early next year.
Lawmakers are calling for a review to determine how sensitive Transportation Security Administration (TSA) information came to be published on the web, and they want assurances that it will not happen again.
Investors and airlines are not the only ones crossing their fingers that Boeing Co.’s 787 jet will finally make its inaugural flight this month. A lot of small suppliers pegged their investments in facilities and materials to the 787’s original flight date of Aug. 28, 2007. More than 27 months later, they are still waiting for revenue to begin flowing in.
The 12th test launch of the R-30 Bulava (SS-NX-30) solid-propellant ballistic missile failed on Dec. 9. Only five Bulava launches have been successful since trials began in 2004.
French accident investigation bureau BEA plans to release its second interim report this week on the loss of Air France Flight 447. The Airbus A330‑200 departed from Rio de Janeiro May 31 and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean several hours later, killing all 228 people on board. Before releasing the latest findings, BEA officials indicate they have seen no information that leads them to alter their main determination that the airplane did not break apart in flight.
Used business jet inventories and flight operations are both showing encouraging signs, according to several industry reports. In its recent Business Jet Monthly update, JPMorgan says the used jet inventory—the number of jets for sale in proportion to the active fleet—decreased 10 basis points to 13.2% in November.
Jan. 4-7—48th Annual American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition. Orlando (Fla.) World Center Marriott. Also, Jan. 20-21—Strategic and Tactical Missile Systems Conference. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif. Call +1 (703) 264-7500 or see www.aiaa.org Jan. 5-7—AUSA’s Army Aviation Symposium and Exposition. Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel, Arlington, Va. Call +1 (703) 907-2672 or see www.ausa.org
Michael A. Taverna (Darmstadt, Germany, and Paris)
Hopes that selection of a contractor for Europe’s third-generation geostationary weather satellite system might coincide with climate talks in Copenhagen will not be realized. But the undertaking—a key asset for studying and analyzing climate change—is still expected to obtain a prompt go-ahead from the European Space Agency.
Thai Airways has begun service to Dubai using Airbus A340-600 aircraft configured with eight seats in first class, 60 in business class and 199 in economy class. Airline officials view the Middle East market, which has seen double-digit growth in recent years, as one of the most important in the carrier’s network, despite strong competition from airlines based in that region.
Unbridled ambition is being tempered by a survivor instinct as Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) tries to secure its place in the Middle East’s emerging aerospace industrial world.
Newfound confidence in the ability of two Space Tracking and Surveillance Satellites (STSS) launched in September to track ballistic missiles in the midcourse of their flights has prompted Navy officials to descope the radar requirements for their next-generation cruiser called CG(X). “When we started the [analysis of alternatives] for CG(X), we laid out as an initial condition or assumption that it would have to operate autonomously because the STSS was in total disarray,” says Vice Adm.
