KLM plans to conduct the first passenger-carrying biofuel demonstration flight on Nov. 23, using a Boeing 747 burning a 50-50 blend of conventional kerosene and camelina-derived bio-jet fuel in one engine. Honeywell UOP handled processing of the biofuel from camelina, a member of the mustard family that can be grown on marginal land to avoid competing with food crops. Camelina was used in a sustainable biofuel blend on a Japan Airlines 747 demonstration flight—without passengers—in January.
The chief of the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command would prefer the Navy assume oversight and execution of the budding mission to base SM-3 Block IB ballistic missile killers ashore in Europe for protection against an Iranian attack. “Today, we have a number of priorities that we have trouble meeting outside of missile defense,” Lt. Gen. Kevin Campbell says, including providing weapons for the wars abroad. The Pentagon plans to field in Europe the Block IB interceptors designed for use on Aegis ships by 2015, and later the longer-range Block IIAs.
Battery-maker Saft has announced a €120-million ($176.4-million) capital increase to help build two new U.S. plants, including a Jacksonville, Fla., facility that will be dedicated to lithium-ion batteries for aerospace and defense applications. Half of the plant will be funded by the U.S. Energy Dept.
Regarding Robert M. Newton’s letter (AW&ST Oct. 26/Nov. 2, p. 8), one of the pleasures of growing up in Southern California in the 1960s was being in the middle of the technology explosion that was being created by numerous aerospace companies of the time. As a college student then, I was in the midst of one of the greatest pools of thinkers, doers and achievers of modern times.
The Defense Dept. often performs so-called analyses of alternatives (AOAs) for weapon systems, but the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says this process may not be providing enough in-depth assessments. The AOAs that GAO reviewed “did not effectively consider a broad range of alternatives for addressing a warfighter need or assess . . . risks associated with each alternative.” The congressional auditors found that the “narrow scope” and “limited risk analysis” in most AOAs is due to program sponsors choosing a solution too early.
Boeing’s penalty payments to airlines for late deliveries of its 787 jet have reached $5.1 billion, estimates Macquarie Equities Research analyst Robert Stallard. But many carriers have agreed to accept interim 767s as “payments in kind” in lieu of cash, he points out. Deliveries of the 787 are now set to begin in the fourth quarter of 2010, 2.5 years behind schedule. However, Stallard notes that the program has suffered only 83 cancellations and still has a robust backlog of 840 orders. “The global airline industry still wants the Boeing 787,” he says.
Tracy Simpson (see photo) has become vice president-strategic sourcing and supplier development for Crane Aerospace & Electronics , Lynnwood, Wash. He was vice president/general manager of the Lynnwood facility.
A Soyuz rocket is set to lift off on Nov. 10 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with Russia’s “Poisk” mini-research module, setting up an automatic docking of the 8-ton spacecraft at the ISS at 10:44 a.m. EST on Nov. 12. In its planned position on the Zvezda Service Module, Poisk will serve as another docking port for visiting Russian vehicles, beginning with a Soyuz crew capsule in January, and as an airlock for Russian-side spacewalks. Its hull will be used as a platform for space-exposure experiments, and it will deliver 1,800 lb. of cargo when it arrives.
The European Commission is proposing a broad overhaul of how aviation accidents are investigated in Europe, but is stopping short of creating a central authority to manage the activities. Instead, in a new legislative package, Brussels is pushing for closer cooperation between European entities, a more formalized sharing of recommendations made to improve safety and to allow the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to participate in the entire process.
Germany’s new governing coalition is expected to pursue a new course on defense and aerospace, with some technology initiatives likely to go forward, but the future of some big spending programs is uncertain. Defense and aerospace were hardly front-page issues during the elections, but nevertheless they feature prominently in the agreement signed on Oct. 24 by the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) of Chancellor Angela Merkel and its new junior partner, the Free Democratic Party (FDP).
Vice Premier Sergey Ivanov says that by 2020, 80% of the country’s military aviation activity should be with modern helicopters. At present this figure is less than 10%. According to news agency Itar-Tass, Ivanov says the defense ministry purchased 62 new helicopters in 2007-09: 27 Mil Mi-28N Havocs, seven Kamov Ka-52s and three Ka-50s, 19 Mi-8s and six Ansats.
The Israeli air force commander-in-chief, Brig. Gen. Elyezer Shkedi, has been appointed president/CEO of El Al Israel Airlines , effective in January. He will succeed Haim Romano, who has resigned.
An EADS Innovation Works-led consortium is developing energy-autonomous sensors to embed in aircraft skins to detect impact damage. The sensors draw energy from the difference in temperatures of the air outside and in the passenger cabin. Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute is working with Micropelt to develop a thermoelectric generator to extract enough energy from the temperature difference to power the sensor and a radio to transmit measurements to a central unit. A prototype system including sensor and thermoelectric generator is to be completed within three years.
The winner and runner-up in the Lunar Lander X-Prize Challenge are moving toward commercializing their vertical-takeoff-and-landing rocket technology, with an eye on the education, science and space tourism markets. Masten Space Systems of Mojave, Calif., took home $1.15 million in the NASA-organized contest, which was run by the X-Prize Foundation and sponsored in part by Northrop Grumman (see p. 23). Armadillo Aerospace of Rockwall, Tex., won a total of $850,000.
Gulf Air Airbus A330-200 is parked at the Sheikh Rashid Terminal at Dubai International Airport with the main control tower behind. After years of aggressive growth among Middle East airlines, the global economic downturn also has caused the region’s carriers to pause and reassess their strategies (p. 60). Nevertheless, these carriers, in many respects, have proved to be more resilient than those in other regions, with fleet updates and airport developments continuing, even if at a moderated pace. Photo by Mark Wagner/aviation-images.com
Thales Aerospace Vice President Pierre-Eric Pommelet warns that contractual relief being sought by Airbus Military to allow the troubled A400M airlifter program to move ahead must be shouldered by major risk-sharing suppliers if the restructuring is to be viable. The seven launch nations gave Airbus until last month to present an acceptable way to amend the initial €20-billion ($30-billion) contract, but no plan has emerged. German elections are one reason for the delay, but Pommelet’s remarks suggest supplier displeasure with discussions is another.
The recession continues to take its toll on business aviation ventures. SATSair, a regional air taxi service based in Greenville, S.C., suddenly grounded its fleet of single-engine Cirrus SR22s in late October. President/CEO Stephan Hanvey says he hopes to get the operation flying again, since “we know our business model works.” SATSair had been regarded by many as an exemplar of cost-effective, on-demand business travel.
Japan Airlines will progressively drop 16 passenger routes and one cargo route beginning next month as it struggles to return to profit. International routes will be thinned by reducing frequencies or using smaller aircraft. Separately, the government’s Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. says a rescue package for JAL will not be ready before January.
Japan’s unmanned H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) reentered the Earth’s atmosphere as planned on Nov. 1, capping a successful inaugural mission to the International Space Station. After the station’s Canadian-built robotic arm pulled the trash-filled cargo carrier from its berth on the Harmony pressurized node and released it, the HTV performed three deorbit maneuvers before reentering the atmosphere over New Zealand en route to splashdown in the South Pacific.
Ricardo Khauaja has been named vice president-management and personnel of Brazil-based GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes . He was a vice president of Whirlpool.
Charles Moore has been appointed chief executive in the United Arab Emirates for Lockheed Martin Global . He was vice president/deputy for global sustainment for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. Honors and Elections
Honda Aircraft Co. reports it has completed the fuselage, wing, empennage, landing gear and other components for the first conforming HondaJet and expects to fly the aircraft in early 2010. The company also has chosen the new Garmin G3000 avionics suite for the aircraft, a second major win for the new flat-panel, touch-screen-controlled G3000, as Piper has also selected it for the PiperJet.
Some military hands are being wrung here as China’s air force continues an aggressive stance on space control, even as it opens a dialogue with its U.S. counterpart aimed at increasing transparency. Gen. Xu Qiliang, head of the People’s Liberation Army air force, tells the Xinhua news service, “Competition between military forces [in space] is a historical inevitability and cannot be undone.
Submarines may soon be able to launch the latest AIM-9X missile to defend themselves against air or surface-ship attack. AIM-9X is usually described as an air-to-air missile, but with a special underwater shroud (the combination is called the Littoral Warfare Weapon), it can be carried in an unmodified configuration and fired from a submarine’s vertical launch tube, says Michael Sharp, Raytheon’s director of advanced maritime technology and a former submarine commander.
“Amelia,” the biopic about the fated aviatrix played by Hilary Swank, launched on a less than stellar box office trajectory. Despite that, the Earhart legend can still open wallets. In fact, the goggles Amelia Earhart wore on her 1932 solo transatlantic flight—the second ever, and first by a woman—fetched $141,600 from an undisclosed bidder at the 37th Hollywood Memorabilia Auction last month. By contrast, Neil Armstrong’s ball cap, which he donned after Apollo 11’s splashdown, fetched $14,160.
