KLM has founded a consortium, SkyEnergy, to accelerate development of economically viable sustainable jet fuel after completing the first passenger-carrying biofuel flight. A Boeing 747 with about 40 non-paying passengers on board completed an hour-long flight from Amsterdam on Nov. 23 with one of its four engines burning a 50:50 blend of conventional jet fuel and biokerosene derived from camelina, an inedible plant.
An intense industry debate surrounds the question of whether current training is cultivating vital piloting skills. Is more legislation aimed at developing “fail-safe” flight crews the right answer, or is it time to toss the U.S.–centric model and adopt a new global standard?
StandardAero’s Government & Military sector in San Antonio will provide overhaul and Quick Engine Change assemblies for 56 Rolls-Royce T56s for 12 Lockheed Martin P-3 Orions that Taiwan is purchasing through the U.S. Navy as a foreign military sales customer. The four-year contract is for $36 million.
The business aviation community has launched a campaign to promote the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as the ultimate authority on aviation emissions policy and standards, and has promised to become carbon-neutral by 2020. The Washington-based General Aviation Manufacturers Assn. and the International Business Aviation Council said Nov. 24 that they supported the emissions targets and monitoring proposals put forward by ICAO.
Engineers have switched on the Miras radiometer on Europe’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite, which will improve scientists’ understanding of the role these variables play in regulating Earth’s water cycle. The second in the European Space Agency’s Earth Explorer series, SMOS was launched on Nov. 1 and is to become operational next spring. All key subsystems on the L-band instrument, including its 69 receivers, optical fibers and the correlator unit, are reported to be working as expected, as is the active thermal control system.
When Lockheed Martin sat down to talk about building a simulator for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), it faced a multi-level challenge: build one trainer suitable for four military services and three aircraft variants. According to Joanne Puglisi, the company’s director of training, that is exactly what they did. The new JSF, or F-35 Lightning II, will be operated by the U.S. Air Force (as a conventional-takeoff-and-landing-aircraft), U.S. Navy (as a carrier variant) and U.S. Marine Corps and U.K. military (as a short-takeoff-and-landing version).
Russia’s rotary industry is revamping its helicopter plans and extending them to the end of the next decade as it pursues government subsidies and grapples with engine supply problems. Russian Helicopters, which consolidated the country’s helicopter manufacturers, is now pursuing a three-stage strategy to sustain the sector throughout the coming decade. The revised plan sits within the government’s civil aircraft and defense procurement program that is scheduled to go into effect in 2011.
In response to Ryan Rebers’ letter “Pilot Bill Could Hurt,” I agree that paying pilots more could hurt the regional airlines that “are already having a difficult time making a profit.” I suggest his mind will be changed the next time he is riding into Buffalo, N.Y., in icing conditions with inexperienced pilots being paid commensurate with their experience levels.
The Nov. 25 first flight of Gulfstream’s G650 long-range, high-speed business jet from the Savannah, Ga., airport was cut short, the aircraft making a precautionary landing after just 12 min. in the air, after the pilots were alerted to “a slight vibration in a landing gear door,” the company says. The aircraft reached an altitude of 6,000 ft. and airspeed of 170 kt. Gulfstream’s largest business jet, the Mach 0.925, 7,000 nm.-range G650 was rolled out at the end of September and is scheduled for certification in 2011 and service entry in 2012.
Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, at Kamra, handed over the first locally assembled JF-17 Thunder lightweight fighter to the Pakistani air force on Nov. 23. The first squadron is scheduled to become operational in 2010. The JF-17 has been developed jointly with Chengdu Aircraft in China, where it is designated the FC-1. The fighter first flew in China in 2003. Beginning in 2007, eight test aircraft were delivered to Pakistan, which ordered 42 production JF-17s earlier this year.
British technology company Qinetiq is aiming for a 14-day duration flight next summer using the initial production standard of its Zephyr high-altitude long-endurance solar-powered UAV. The structure for the latest version, the Zephyr 7, has now been put together. Several design refinements have been introduced to increase efficiency, with the intent of allowing the air vehicle to maintain a higher cruise altitude at night. Modifications include the move to a T‑tail configuration, as well as the introduction of greater chord on the inner wing section, and ogive wing tips.
The Australian defense department’s uphill struggle to control acquisition programs is progressing, but it is far from reaching fruition. The government’s decision to go ahead with the purchase of up to 100 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters will test what lessons have been learned from delays on airborne early warning aircraft, tankers and helicopters.
The 3D-LZ system that allows helicopter pilots to see through brownouts is a wonderful safety enhancement, but it won’t help much if dust or smoke from a marker grenade enters the cockpit, obscuring the flight instruments and the view outside (AW&ST Nov. 9, p. 35).
In the matter of aviation safety in France, opinions run the gamut and tempers run hot. Restoring the public’s confidence in flight safety remains an uphill battle because recent initiatives are manifestly too weak to yield positive results.
AgustaWestland, Bell, EADS North America and Sikorsky are all vying for Iraq’s light- and medium military helicopter requirements with a package value of $1.2 billion. Contenders for the light helicopter buy include the AW109 (right), Bell 429 and UH-72A Lakota. The initial requirement is for 15 of the selected type. For the medium helicopter program the options are the AW139, Bell 412 and Sikorsky UH-60M. Up to 12 of the chosen model will be acquired.
Goodrich and ATK are beginning to manufacture a one-of-a-kind reconnaissance satellite that will be launched by the end of next year to support urgent needs from military leaders overseeing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Called Operationally Responsive Space-1 (ORS-1), the spacecraft is needed to provide a new layer of electro-optical and infrared reconnaissance to airborne collectors, such as unmanned aerial systems and high-altitude aircraft, as well as to the sophisticated national intelligence satellites overhead.
NASA redeployed its General Atomics Predator B in the national airspace system with an improved visible, infrared and thermal imaging capability on Nov. 19 to assess the damage caused by two of Southern California’s worst wildfires in recent years.
Changes to the source-selection plan for the U.S. Air Force’s $35-billion KC-X program are not likely to be substantial, and this could lead the procurement effort down a familiar path of contractors threatening not to bid or more calls for a split buy.
British Airways’ planned merger with Iberia to form Europe’s third-largest airline block is being largely well received, but there is concern the carriers’ short-term problems outweigh the long-term benefits. The promise of €400 million ($596 million) in annual savings is paltry when compared with the high losses both airlines have been suffering of late. The savings are also far less than Air France and KLM promised to generate by combining their operations, and they still leave BA-Iberia behind its main European network rivals in size.
The extent of the aerodynamic modifications required to turn Russia’s Kh-55 nuclear-armed cruise missile into a conventional weapon may now be becoming apparent. Russia is believed to have fielded a variant of the Kh-55SM fitted with a conventional, rather than a nuclear, warhead. Terminal guidance is provided by some form of electro-optical seeker, possibly using terrain scene-matching.
The sanctions committee of French stock market regulator AMF is expected to issue its ruling on alleged EADS insider trading charges before year-end. Formal hearings were held last week on accusations that EADS executives sold shares knowing of A380 problems that later caused the company’s stock price to become depressed. The AMF’s case investigator exonerated EADS shareholders Lagardere and Daimler, as well as 10 executives, including Airbus CEO Tom Enders.
The U.S. Air Force is preparing for a Dec. 2 launch of the third Wideband Global Satcom satellite, the first to be lifted with a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle. WGS manufacturer Boeing is slated to conduct testing on the wideband communications spacecraft while it is in a test position in orbit over California for about three weeks. This will be followed by about one month to shift the satellite into its operational orbit supporting forces in Europe and Africa and then three weeks for payload calibration.
Australian officials Nov. 25 welcomed the initial delivery of two Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft from Boeing, although they acknowledged the problem-plagued Wedgetail program had far to go. “Development, test and evaluation are still ongoing with many hurdles still to be overcome, particularly with respect to radar, electronic support measures and integrated system performance and stability,” said the AEW&C program manager, Air Vice Marshal Chris Deeble.
The Senate appears satisfied with Obama’s so-called Phased Adaptive Approach program featuring the use of sea- and land-based SM-3 interceptors to defend Europe from ballistic missile attack. The Senate recently approved its version of the Fiscal 2010 appropriations bill for military construction and veterans’ affairs. It includes an amendment cosponsored by Sens.
China, France and Russia are increasingly aggressive in courting customers for their military products, but it is the U.S. that is raking in the big dollars—and increasingly so.
