U.K. Royal Air Force crash investigators are in El Centro, Calif., examining the wreckage of an AW101 Merlin HC3 medium helicopter that crashed at a nearby airfield being used for night landing exercises. Three of the crew sustained injuries in the mishap, which occurred early on Nov. 9 at Holtville, Calif. The aircraft, which fell on its side after a hard landing, was one of four Merlins deployed to El Centro for Exercise Merlin Vortex, a four-month pre-Afghanistan-deployment training program that is due to be completed this month.
France has approved the purchase of a further batch of 60 Rafale fighters, bringing the number on order to 180. The aircraft will include items from the so-called Post-F3 standard, notably an active, electronically scanned array antenna and an improved self-protection suite. Delivery dates were not given, as they will depend on France’s success in placing Rafale on the export market.
U.S. experts doubt China can field a new fighter with F-22-like capabilities within 10 years, an event predicted by Gen. He Weirong, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force deputy chief. But while replicating the F-22 seems improbable, fielding an F-35-like aircraft (with larger signature and less aerodynamic performance) could be a threat to the U.S. if thousands of them are built, says a U.S. military pilot with F-22 experience. “Even a fourth-generation fighter, when pitted against 187 F-22s in large numbers, will eventually wear [the stealth fighters] down,” he says.
NetJets Aviation confirmed last week that it intends to furlough as many as 495 of its pilots in January after a memo on the cuts was released by the pilots union, NetJets Assn. of Shared Aircraft Pilots. Back in April, NetJets management and the union launched a “joint preventive measures campaign,” which gave pilots a menu of voluntary options to avoid furloughs, including early outs, long-term and personal leave, and reduced schedules.
With its modern glass cockpit, twin-engine safety and performance, and reduced noise and vibration, the Eurocopter UH-72A Lakota provides a chance for U.S. Army National Guard units to at last catch up with the advances made in light utility helicopters.
Boeing hopes to fly its ScanEagle Compressed Carriage (SECC) unmanned aircraft by December after dealing with technical problems that forced it to scrap plans for a summer flight. The compressed carriage version is an air-launched evolution of the Insitu ScanEagle program, which Boeing acquired. It also draws on the company’s experience gained during the Air Force-funded Air Dominator project and its precursor, the Persistent Munition Technology Demonstrator.
Iridium reported growth in subscribers and commercial revenue for the third quarter of 2009, offsetting continued weak subscriber equipment sales and a drop in net income due to the company’s acquisition on Sept. 29. The third quarter saw 16.1% growth in total subscribers and 23% in commercial services, which tallied $43.9 million in the third quarter versus $35.7 millionin the year-ago period. Net income dipped 11.2% to $15 million from $16.9 million in the third quarter of 2008, which was in part a reflection of acquisition-related expenses totaling $12.3 million.
With a U.S.-Japan open-skies deal on the horizon, airlines in the two countries already are maneuvering to take full advantage of a liberalized market. If an open-skies agreement is signed in December as expected, U.S. and Japanese carriers will be quick to apply for antitrust immunity to form closer joint ventures on Pacific routes. This has become a major factor as Japan Airlines decides whether it should stick with American Airlines and the Oneworld alliance, or join Delta Air Lines in SkyTeam.
India’s dilemma with trainers is not going away. Charges and counter-charges are being made over why government defense manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) has delivered only five of the 25 Advanced Jet Trainer Hawk Mk. 132s it promised by year-end.
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.
