Global space leaders plan to meet in Brussels in the second half of next year to hammer out Europe’s role in a proposed international exploration undertaking. The European Space Agency has long been deeply involved in planetary exploration, having sent probes to Mars, Venus and Saturn’s moon Titan, with flights to Mercury and the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko to come. However, tight budgets have hampered ESA’s role, as witnessed by the difficulties encountered in planning the ExoMars lander mission.
After years of delay, the Airbus Military A400M airlifter has entered the final test phase before its planned first flight next month. Airbus Military has handed the aircraft over to its flight test organization to undertake the preflight checkout—including engine runups—and then taxi tests, beginning with low-speed tests reaching a maximum of 60 kt. and rejected take-off brake tests at 120 kt. During this phase, telemetry equipment to be used during flight tests will also undergo final checks.
Conventional wisdom holds that a weak dollar benefits U.S. exports by giving domestic producers an edge over competing products priced in euros and other currencies. But don’t argue that to Joe Murphy.
David A. Fulghum (Washington), Robert Wall (Paris)
The Pentagon is trying hard to reorganize itself for the next several years of combat in Afghanistan, Iraq, Eastern Africa, the Indian Ocean and elsewhere.
The experimental Solar Impulse prototype could begin taxi tests this month and take to the air this year, although the formal first flight is not planned until early 2010.
AgustaWestland’s AW159 Lynx Wildcat multirole helicopter had its first flight at Yeovil, England, on Nov. 12, conducting initial general handling checks. Two other prototypes are to join the flight-test program next year, leading to initial deliveries to the U.K. Defense Ministry in 2011. The AW159 will begin to enter service with the British Army by 2014 and Royal Navy in 2015. The ministry ordered 62 of the six-ton, twin-engine helicopters in June 2006. The AW159 is a remanufactured and upgraded Lynx, featuring more powerful engines—CTS800s delivering 1,281 shp.
Switzerland’s fighter competition is drawing to a close, but industry officials are worried that after years of updating proposals and a flight-test campaign, the entire modernization undertaking may be put on ice while Bern evaluates its military priorities. Three contestants remain for the Swiss F-5 Tiger replacement program: Dassault’s Rafale, EADS’s Typhoon and Saab’s Gripen. All three have this month given the Swiss government updated pricing and program status information, the final element of paperwork to be submitted in the tender process.
Alitalia, following losses in the first and second quarters, scored better than expected in the third quarter, with a €15-million ($22.4-million) operating profit on revenues of €838 million, despite the global traffic stump. The airline carried 6.3 million passengers in the quarter for a 74% load factor, compared with 51% in the first quarter and 65% in the second. During the first nine months, revenues reached €2.1 billion, with a €258-million operating loss. In the same period, Alitalia carried more than 16 million passengers and had a 64% load factor.
Japanese engineers are working to recover one of two surviving ion thrusters on the Hayabusa asteroid-sample-return probe, and plotting a new course to bring it back to Earth if the engine can’t be restarted. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency says Thruster D on the spacecraft failed on Nov.
Testing of the U.S. Air Force’s new $1.2-billion developmental ground surveillance radar, which has previously suffered technical setbacks, is continuing and officials are confident that they have surpassed some of the more complex technical challenges with new modes for the system.
Boeing plans to hold a ground-breaking ceremony for a 610,000-sq.-ft. final assembly line building in North Charleston, S.C., on Nov. 20 that will be a major step toward meeting a commitment to build 10 aircraft a month there.
Europe’s Rosetta comet chaser was due to swing by Earth for the last time late last week before heading out on the final leg of its 10-year journey to the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The swingby, set for Nov. 13, is the last of four planetary assists (including three around Earth) intended to provide the gravity-slingshot boost needed to continue into the outer Solar System, where the rendezvous will take place.
The photo with the article “Complexity Specialists” (AW&ST Oct. 26, p. 81) shows three hinges. The central one has an additional lug for what seems to be the actuator connection. This does not concur with Michael Mecham’s description of the replacement of a continuous hinge with a central one. (The main landing gear door’s center hinge is the load-bearing hinge. Two auxiliary hinge points form the hinge line.—Ed.)
Graham Warwick, senior technology editor of Aviation Week, will receive the 2009 Lauren D. Lyman Award for excellence in aviation journalism, sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Assn. He will be presented with the award at a ceremony in Washington on Dec. 16.
Although the Neuron unmanned combat air vehicle demonstrator is aimed chiefly at advancing UCAV technology in France, Sweden, Italy and other European countries, Northrop Grumman’s German Litef subsidiary has snagged a subcontract from Saab to provide the attitude and heading reference system. Northrop Grumman will provide the LCR-100 gyrocompass for the autonomous vehicle, which France considers to be a stepping-stone for a pan-European UCAV project. Neuron’s first flight is planned for March 2012.
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology will develop components to boost the efficiency of electrical propulsion systems used on satellites and planetary probes. The work, funded under a $6.5-million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s Defense Sciences Office, aims to demonstrate the use of non-propellant cathodes with Hall effect thrusters to reduce fuel consumption and allow spacecraft to remain in orbit longer.
If the Airline Safety and Pilot Training Improvement Act is passed, it may not only fail to remedy the actual problem, but might make it worse. If the number of flight hours needed to just reach the right seat is increased sixfold, as the bill suggests, it is only logical that the pool of available pilots will be reduced, and regionals will have to start paying higher wages.
The Direct launch vehicle approach seems the most rational for maintaining an advanced human space-faring capability. Technology allows a return to the Moon or missions to Mars, but budget constraints limit the number of missions. Implementation of Option 5C of the Augustine spaceflight commission’s report and development of Jupiter launchers for the Direct approach would allow full International Space Station support, a bigger follow-on station for the 2020s and human missions around the Moon, asteroids and Lagrange points.
Two winners in NASA’s Centennial Challenge competitions plan to use their prize money to develop uprated systems that they hope will return profits. Masten Space Systems, fresh from a million-dollar win in the Lunar Lander X-Prize Challenge (AW&ST Nov. 9, p. 23), hopes to use its vertical-takeoff-and-landing rocket technology to launch a commercial enterprise by mid-2010. Dave Masten, founder and CEO of the Mojave, Calif., company, says his team will use the $1.15 million it won to upgrade its Xoie vehicle for higher and faster flight.
It amazes me that you, the FAA, Air Line Pilots Assn., U.S. Defense Dept., and European Aviation Safety Agency continue to ignore the root cause of fatigue: what we eat. Ordinary folks know a heavy holiday meal makes them sleepy. Flight attendants notice that passengers doze after eating. A common sedative for insomniacs is a glass of milk. Savvy executives feed fancy foods to visitors to make them drowsy during after-lunch negotiations. We also know CO2 bubbles in carbonated beverages displace the oxygen that our bodies need to be alert.
Pratt & Whitney Canada has received Transport Canada type certification for its PW535E engine, which is designed to power the Embraer Phenom 300 light business jet. The engine, which generates 3,360 lb. take-off thrust, was selected by Embraer in May 2005. It is equipped with a full-authority digital engine control and includes improvements in the turbine and compressor. Certification comes 26 months after the first run of the engine. The 10-passenger Phenom 300 is expected to receive certification by year-end.
Efforts to rebuild the Iraqi air force have taken a big step forward with this month’s first launch of an AGM-114 laser-guided Hellfire missile from an AC-208 Combat Caravan. The Iraqi air force (IqAF) and its coalition advisers have been working for well over a year to introduce the air-to-ground capability, with a special focus on laying out appropriate rules of engagement for the weapon’s use. A three-person crew belonging to Squadron 3 launched the weapon on Nov. 4 using a bombing range near Al Asad Air Base.
President Barack Obama says he hopes to work toward a world free of nuclear weapons. But Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, overseer of U.S. Strategic Command and the U.S. nuclear arsenal, sees his nukes as here to stay—at least for the next 40 years or so. While noting that his view is “not inconsistent” with that of his commander in chief, he makes the case for continuing to fund the programs needed to keep the U.S. arsenal functional and safe until mid-century.
The main aerospace and defense research associations of Europe and Russia have agreed to work together more closely. Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, representing the Aerospace and Defense Industries Assn. of Europe, and Alexy Fyodorov, representing Russia’s Union of Aviation Industry, formalized the pact in Rome. Among its goals are harmonizing Russia’s airworthiness regulatory framework with European Union legislation; exchanging information about defense and security; and promoting common research activities.
Airline pilot job hiring is not expected to liven up in the U.S. until the economy shows steady recovery. But there is hiring activity among carriers in the Asia-Pacific region, which is showing the first signs of a turnaround. All Nippon Airways, Korean Air and Shenzhen Airlines will be eyeing recruits at the FltOps.com/Flight Safety Foundation Pilot Safety Symposium and Job Fair to be held at New York LaGuardia Airport on Nov. 21. Airline pilots and pilot-wannabes who have registered for the fair are reflecting a wide range of experience—from 201 hr. to 27,091 hr.
