Joe Pearson has been named managing director for air safety and regulatory compliance for the Federal Express Corp. He was regional chief pilot in Anchorage, Alaska, for international operations.
Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter program expects to conduct new capacity studies next year for the multinational aircraft’s projected global sustainment center needs, according to Kimberly Gavaletz, vice president for the F-35’s autonomic logistics and global sustainment. She acknowledged at Aviation Week’s A&D Programs conference that several sites have been discussed in press accounts, such as Singapore or Australia, but she asserted it was too early to tell.
Jim Dolle (see photos) has become manager of New York-based FlightSafety International ’s Quality Management System. He was a quality specialist within the system. Debbie Jones has been appointed assistant manager of FSI’s Hawker Beechcraft Learning Center, Wichita, Kan. She was director of customer support. Nora Ann Brozek has been promoted to assistant manager of FSI’s Learning Center in Tucson, Ariz., from product marketing manager.
This fall, a summit of USAF four-star generals rejected establishment of a major intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) command that could coordinate operational planning for the emerging arsenal of non-kinetic and asymmetrical weaponry. Perhaps the rejection is permanent. “I don’t think we’re going to do an ISR command,” says Scott. “The way I explain that is manpower. It takes people, and manpower costs a lot of money.” Nor does it appear that the world of electronic warfare and attack will be brought under a single command.
Air New Zealand, in an effort to operate one narrow-body aircraft type on domestic and short-haul international routes, has ordered 14 Airbus A320s to replace the 15 Boeing 737-300s in its fleet. ANZ intends to use the new aircraft to increase capacity on routes that are facing constraints at peak travel times. The airline operates 12 A320s on short-haul international routes now. Under terms of the agreement announced Nov. 2, ANZ also holds purchase options for another 11 of the same aircraft type, including the larger A321.
Boeing is preparing to clear wetland forest adjacent to its facility in North Charleston, S.C., following its controversial decision to establish a site there for final assembly of the stretched 787-9 variant.
Eric Keim, a senior scientist working on a classified sensor in use by the intelligence community to track real-world targets, is among five employees of The Aerospace Corp. , El Segundo, Calif., who have received its President’s and Trustees’ Distinguished Achievement Awards. Keim’s project took him overseas, where he worked in hazardous conditions around the clock for three months.
The Pentagon’s new director of industrial policy, Brett Lambert, suggests administering Defense Contract Audit Agency-type inspections at companies of their cyber-preparedness. Speaking at Aviation Week’s A&D Programs conference in Phoenix last week, Lambert said there is a need to get companies to volunteer more information about preparations for being attacked in cyber-space. The issue has been highlighted by the revelation that federal agencies and U.S.
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.
