Boeing has kicked off flight trials for the aerospace industry’s largest fighter jet procurement battle—India’s choice for 126 Medium Multi-role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA). Boeing is competing with the F/A-18. The trials are to be wrapped up by next March and are being held in Leh for altitude testing, Jaisalmer for hot operations and Bengaluru (Bangalore) for humidity. Five other contenders are participating in trials lasting three weeks each. The Lockheed Martin F-16 is expected to begin in early September and the Dassault 3+ Rafale later that month.
Aug. 22-23—Royal Air Force Assn.’s Shoreham Air Show. Shoreham Airport, West Sussex, England. Call +44 (127) 344-1545 or see www.shorehamairshow.com Aug. 22-23—Roskilde Airshow 2009. Copenhagen Airport. Call +45 2543-1897 or see www.airshow.dk Aug. 22-23—Colorado Sport International Air Show/30th Annual Rocky Mountain Regional Fly-in. Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport. Call +1 (720) 323-6784 or see www.cosportaviation.org/airshow.htm
A new group has formed under the leadership of former NASA science directorate chief Alan Stern to try to further the research and education potential of the current crop of suborbital reusable launch vehicles under development by industry. “The innovative vehicles being developed by a wide range of commercial suborbital companies—including Armadillo Aerospace, Blue Origin, Masten Space Systems, Virgin Galactic and XCOR Aerospace—represent valuable new capability for scientists, engineers and educators,” Stern says.
While I was a senior engineer at Boeing in Seattle in 1986, I learned that 747s were not equipped with ram-air turbines (also known as wind-driven turbines) to provide emergency hydraulics for primary flight controls and electrical power in the event of total engine failure or fuel starvation, including the auxiliary power unit.
Christopher A. Hart was sworn in Aug. 12 as an NTSB member. Hart, a licensed pilot, comes to the U.S. safety board from the FAA, where he had worked since 1995, most recently as deputy director for air traffic safety oversight. He is no stranger to the safety board, having served from 1990-93. Hart’s new term expires Dec. 31, 2012.
Call it a case of bad news that could be worse. A new “Global Aerospace Update” from Credit Suisse predicts the large commercial jet industry is heading into a slowdown, but one that will be less painful than the sector’s last downturn. The forecast sees Airbus’s deliveries peaking at 500 this year and declining a total of 21% during the next two years. Boeing Co.’s deliveries are projected to peak at 482 this year and decline 14% by 2011.
Airplanes are made to be flown by pilots, not engineers. We have witnessed the failure of automation too often. Pilots are trained to decelerate safely after touchdown, instead of pushing a few more buttons on final approach. This may sound a little old-fashioned, but a pilot’s judgment should not be overlooked. This means: Avoid maximum braking when possible and do not use up the whole runway to stop the aircraft while increasing taxi time and fuel burn. Leaving this task to a computer is dubious.
Assembly line workers at the former Vought 787 factory in Charleston, S.C., are set to vote Sept. 10 on a petition to decertify the International Assn. of Machinists in Aerospace (IAM) as a bargaining representative for about 300 of 600 employees. Boeing took ownership of the factory July 30 in a $1-billion deal intended to consolidate production of the new long-range jet. South Carolina is a “right-to-work” state, which means workers cannot be compelled to join a union. Nonetheless, the IAM began representing machinists shortly after the factory opened in 2006.
Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), the House’s top defense appropriator, relents on an earmark that would have forced the Air Force to buy more VIP-transport jets. “If the [Defense Dept.] does not want these aircraft, they will be eliminated from the bill,” Murtha said after the issue grabbed headlines earlier this month and embarrassed lawmakers across the country (AW&ST Aug. 10, p. 23).
The 11-month-old Afghan National Army Air Corps has pilots who average 45 years of age and have only flown Russian-built aircraft. It is being reassembled and re-trained by the U.S.-led Combined Air Power Transition Force. The corps has 36 aircraft and plans to grow to 139 by 2016. So far, its fleet includes Russian-built Mi-17 cargo helicopters outfitted with machine guns and Mi-35 attack helicopters for escort missions. The Mi-35s are about to reach initial operational capability, says U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen.
Large-scale slot trades at Northeast airports show that U.S. airlines are becoming more selective in choosing their battlefields, increasing their focus on core markets instead of beating each other up across the board.
Austrian Airlines is meeting the 5% fuel savings goal it planned for the four Boeing 767-300ERs that received winglets this year. This equates to 1,000 tons of kerosene per year per aircraft. Most of the fuel savings results from reduced flow resistance and lower takeoff weight due to the need to carry less kerosene. Austrian says Timco Aviation Services completed the wing modification—which included strengthening the wing, installing sensors and adding winglets—in 21 days per aircraft.
The UAV developmental and operational boom continues across the U.S. services, a trend illustrated by the fact that the Air Force is now training more unmanned aircraft pilots than manned ones.
The blue-ribbon panel reviewing human spaceflight has found no good options for returning astronauts to the Moon by 2020 within the constraints set by the Obama administration’s Fiscal 2010 budget plans for NASA. Says panel member Sally Ride: “It’s very difficult to find an exploration scenario that fits within this very restrictive budget guidance we’ve been given.” Panel chief Norman Augustine was able to expand the group’s charter to include analysis of options requiring more money.
Southwest Airlines said Aug. 13 that its $170-million bid to acquire bankrupt Denver-based Frontier Airlines was rejected in favor of one by Republic Airways Group. In Dallas, Southwest Chairman Gary Kelly said “a key reason” the airline’s bid was rejected was its refusal to remove a clause requiring the two carriers’ pilots unions to reach agreement. Southwest’s pilots insisted that an integration plan with Frontier’s 600 pilots be reached before a deal went through. They feared that their negotiating leverage would be reduced under a two-union deal.
The technical performance of NASA’s Kepler planet-finding spacecraft is so positive that its mission span could be stretched beyond a nominal 3.5 years to 6 years, says John Troeltzsch, program manager for prime contractor Ball Aerospace. “It really looks [like] we are poised for a long-duration experiment, which is the whole idea of Kepler,” he says. The 15-ft.-tall, 9-ft.-dia.
A virtual gag order is in place by order of the U.S. Marine Corps deputy commandant of aviation, Lt. Gen. George Trautman, on two of the service’s biggest programs: the new CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter and the V-22 Osprey.
AirAsia has formally terminated a dormant plan to set up an affiliate in Vietnam with shipbuilder Vinashin. The letter of intent between the two has expired, according to AirAsia. The deal with Vinashin already looked improbable, since the Vietnamese government effectively blocked the proposal in 2008 by telling Vinashin and other state companies to concentrate on core activities. AirAsia is hardly likely to give up on Vietnam, however.
The White House’s acting cybersecurity chief, Melissa Hathaway, is departing for industry. Also resigning is Mischel Kwon, director of the Homeland Security Dept.’s Computer Emergency Readiness Team. They were both preceded in March by Rod Beckstrom, who left the post of director of the National Cybersecurity Center. Beckstrom took the unusual step of spelling out his policy differences in his resignation letter.
Hawker Beechcraft has won a $170.4-million contract from the U.S. Air Force to provide seven T-6A Texan II trainers, ground-based training systems, spares and two years of contractor logistics for the Iraqi air force. Iraq also will benefit from an $11-million contract through 2010 to Arinc Engineering Services from the U.S. Army for contractor support for up to 17 Mi-17 cargo helicopters. An option for support of another 10 Mi-17s are included.
Relatives of victims of a 2004 Bombardier CRJ 200 crash are undertaking landmark litigation against the airframe manufacturer, engine maker General Electric and operator China Eastern. A Chinese court’s acceptance of the case marks the first instance of air crash litigation going to trial in the country. The crash at the Inner Mongolian city of Baotou on Nov. 21, 2004, killed 32. The relatives are seeking 123 million yuan ($18 million) in compensation.
The FAA update of its advisory circular on foreign object debris (FOD) encourages airports to report basic information on their FOD findings. Reporting on the debris found on runways, taxiways and aprons is not mandatory. The agency was spurred at least to “move in the direction of reporting” as a result of the controversy over low reporting rates of bird strikes and release of that data, says Edwin E.
One of two interceptors is launched from the land-mobile U.S. Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system during a March test. The first of two interceptors destroyed a short-range ballistic missile target as planned, and the second achieved a hit-to-kill collision with the largest piece of remaining debris in what Missile Defense Agency officials say was a satisfying engagement (see p. 38). Lockheed Martin photo.
A long contract dispute between the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. (Natca) appears to finally be resolved, with an arbitrator settling the last disputed items. Neither side is revealing details. However, pay increases are believed not to be retroactive. This means that the extra cost is not as high as it would be under proposed legislation.
