Tracy Robinson has been appointed vice president-quality for the Cessna Aircraft Co. , Wichita, Kan. She was director of paint and interior operations and succeeds Brad Thress, who has been named vice president-customer service.
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. (ret.) John W. Holly (see photo) has become vice president of the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. ’s Missile Defense Systems, Huntsville, Ala. He was the corporation’s vice president-Huntsville operations. Honors and Elections
They went looking for water where water should have been and found it. But there are such strong hints of organic chemicals and metals from the south pole crater impacted by NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (Lcross) mission that it is likely to be a science treasure trove for years.
Dec. 1-2—Aerosolutions’ Business Convention for Aeronautics, Space and Defense. Palais de Congress, Bordeaux, France. See www.aerosolutions-bordeaux.com Dec. 1-3—FAA International Runway Safety Summit. Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington. Call +1 (202) 385-4789 or see http://events.aaae.org/sites/091107 Dec. 1-5—Langkawi (Malaysia) International Maritime & Aerospace Exhibition. Mahsuri International Exhibition Center. See www.lima2009.com.my
Next year will be pivotal for Airbus and Embraer as they map out their product strategies, and engine makers will have a lot riding on the outcome of those discussions.
This autumn, China and the U.S. began moving toward greater cooperation in space. As China lifted a little more of the veil covering its space program, U.S. officials expressed a greater desire to work together in exploring space. Presidential science adviser John Holdren floated the idea of increased cooperation in human spaceflight last spring. The Augustine committee raised the idea again, and Presidents Barack Obama and Hu Jintao pledged to deepen space cooperation last week (see p. 33).
Europe’s Rosetta probe is en route to the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko after swinging past Earth Nov. 13 to pick up one last slingshot gravity boost for the trip. As it approached its closest pass just south of Java, the spacecraft used its narrow angle camera to collect this image of Earth’s southern limb, with parts of South America and Antarctica visible at a range of 350,000 km. (217,500 mi.) and a resolution of 6.5 km./pixel. The maneuver boosted the spacecraft’s speed by 3.6 km/sec., as planned.
The National Center for Advanced Materials Performance (NCAMP) has chosen Cytec’s 5320 medium-toughness out-of-autoclave prepreg system and Cytec’s 5276-1 high-toughness prepreg systems for its latest material qualification program. Funding is provided by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory.
Two U.S. Navy E/A-18G Growlers conduct a vertical maneuver over California during the operational evaluation period for the test aircraft. This phase of trials culminated in a Navy decision in September to declare the new electronic warfare system operational, and the Growler will first be deployed next year onboard an aircraft carrier abroad (see p. 48). Boeing photo by Ted Carlson.
As CEO of EADS Astrium’s U.K. business, Colin Paynter offers a particular view of how the British government and military appreciation of space continues to grow, even if not always reflected by budgets. Since becoming chief executive, Paynter has worked to increase awareness of the value to the U.K. space sector—and to support and grow his own company’s U.K. business footprint. Closely involved in the ongoing government and industry’s Space Innovation and Growth Team, Paynter shared his perspective with London Bureau Chief Douglas Barrie.
Hawker Beechcraft has acknowledged that it notified its Machinists union local last week that it intends to close its Salina, Kan., facility that fabricates wings, spars and other subassemblies. The move was not entirely a surprise since CEO Bill Boisture said in an interview a month ago with the Wichita (Kan.) Eagle that the Salina plant would probably close. The company says a time line for the closing has yet to be determined. There are currently 240 employees in Salina, down from about 500 last year.
Kunpeng Airlines will be the latest Chinese airline to fall more directly under government control after the Henan provincial government agreed to recapitalize it this month. The investment is part of a broad trend in which Chinese provinces and cities are buying into airlines that, typically, are adopting the geographic name of their new government owner. In the case of Kunpeng, set up two years ago by Shenzhen Airlines and the U.S.’s Mesa Airlines, the new name will be Henan Airlines, state media report.
Europe’s main network and low-cost airline players will exit the current downturn in air travel with significantly altered operations and business plans, showing that two years into a financial crisis for the industry, these carriers seriously underestimated the need to adjust capacity and staff. The recent restructuring moves also signal that a meaningful financial rebound is still some time off.
Look for some kind of endorsement for space cooperation in the joint statement issued at the end of President Obama’s meeting this week with Chinese President Hu Jintao, including an invitation to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden to visit his counterpart in Beijing next year. But just who that counterpart will be remains to be seen. In negotiations with U.S.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. has created a federal advisory committee to study every facet of the industry and draw up a road map for moving the FAA’s NextGen modernization effort forward within one year. Secretary Ray LaHood, following a 5-hr., invitation-only meeting Nov. 12 with airline, airport, labor and consumer group representatives, and analysts, asked them to email three things to him: who should be on the panel, how many and what the top five agenda items should be. NextGen was the only subject the entire industry could agree on and support.
In his European Perspective column, Pierre Sparaco refers to the so-far unsuccessful effort to launch a program to replace the U.S. Air Force KC-135 tanker transport (AW&ST Oct. 19, p. 66). He also cites why this effort will continue to be fraught with disputes, so no one can tell when, if ever, the Air Force will receive new tankers.
Verification tests of the Boeing 787 side-of-body structural modification are set to begin later this month, following the completion of the upgrade on the first aircraft, ZA001, on Nov. 11. The modification involves installing new fittings at 34 stringer locations per aircraft, within the joint where the wing is attached to the fuselage, says Boeing. The company “remains confident the first flight of the 787 will occur before the end of the year,” adds Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program.
L-3 Communications’ Link Simulation & Training will supply its Advanced Helmet Mounted Display (AHMD) on F-16 unit training devices. The AHMD provides 360-deg. field of regard of computer-generated “out-the-window” imagery. The helmet also supports night-vision goggle training and incorporates F-16 head-up display symbology. Plans call for L-3 Link to begin integrating the AHMDs on F-16 training devices at U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard installations in March 2010 and conclude in December.
A Chinese fighter of nominally the same technology generation as the Lockheed Martin F-22 will soon enter flight testing, while a jet airlifter larger than the Airbus A400M should be unveiled by year-end.
NASA and the European Space Agency have signed a statement of intent (SOI) for the Mars Exploration Joint Initiative (MEJI), a proposed string of cooperative lander and orbiter missions to the red planet intended to lead to a sample return. ESA’s science director, David Southwood, says the SOI marks joint acceptance of the architecture for the first two MEJI missions, planned under ESA’s ExoMars initiative. The first, set for 2016, would feature a European entry, descent and landing system (EDLS) and orbiter and a NASA-led orbiter payload.
Rather than waiting for the U.S. Army to flight-test the Fire Scout vertical-takeoff unmanned aerial vehicle (VTUAV), Northrop Grumman is investing heavily in a test program of its own. The company’s impatience may well pay off—when the Army finally makes a decision about air vehicles for its new Brigade Combat Team Modernization (BCTM) program, Fire Scout will be ready to go.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Frank Morring, Jr. (Washington)
Struggling Sea Launch is now assured of sufficient working capital to continue operations until its Chapter 11 reorganization is complete, following interim approval of debtor-in-possession financing by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
When Alaska Air Group CEO Bill Ayer rang the New York Stock Exchange opening bell on Nov. 10, he might as well have rung it to celebrate the end of a fantastic quarter for the airline. Alaska reported a third-quarter profit of $87.6 million, in a period when most U.S. mainline carriers bled red ink.
With two proposals in, the U.S. Air Force’s source selection for the 250-lb. Small-Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) moving-target killer is underway. This will be the first of potentially many fixed-price competitions for major Pentagon development contracts.
I am one of the West Coast-East Coast commuters Capt. (ret.) Ralph Omann mentions in his letter (AW&ST Oct. 12, p. 8) and worked under Omann when he was 777 assistant chief pilot.
