Members of the advisory committee reviewing U.S. human spaceflight goals are putting the finishing touches on seven different options for NASA’s way forward in space, working against an end-of-month deadline for presenting them to the White House for final decision.
USAF Maj. Gen. Floyd L. Carpenter has been named commander of the Eighth Air Force of Air Combat Command (ACC)/joint functional component commander of Space and Global Strike for U.S. Strategic Command, Barksdale AFB, La. He was vice commander of the Eighth Air Force. Maj. Gen. Mark T. Matthews has been appointed deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and assessment for Multi-National Force-Iraq in Baghdad. He was director of requirements at ACC Headquarters, Langley AFB, Va. Matthews will be succeeded by Brig. Gen. Thomas K.
The UAV industry is pushing hard for faster integration of unmanned designs into the U.S. national airspace, and is planning a demonstration of how UAVs and manned aircraft can fly in harmony. A cooperative research and development agreement between UAV builder AAI and the FAA will set up a technical center at the FAA facility near Atlantic City, N.J.
Efforts to overhaul management of aviation safety as the mandate of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is expanded are about to touch on one of the most explosive issues on the agenda—how pilot work hours should be further regulated. But the safety agency is attempting to sort out much more than pilot flight-time limitations. As a new set of operating rules for air carriers in Europe is formalized, stakeholders will have to decide how much input EASA will have in interpreting regulations.
Russian low-fare startup Avianova, undeterred by sharp declines in passenger volumes, is pressing ahead with its plans. The airline has taken delivery of its first two Airbus A320-200s (the second was handed over last month) and intends to begin runs on domestic routes shortly.
United Launch Alliance (ULA) is proposing on-orbit propellant depots to increase the capability of NASA’s Constellation exploration architecture. The plan to use depots derived from an advanced upper stage for the Atlas V and Delta IV evolved expandable launch vehicles (EELV) has caught the attention of the Augustine panel, which has included in-space refueling in four of seven options identified (see p. 29).
The U.S. Air Force is moving forward with a program to purchase 25 aircraft for the Air Force Academy’s powered flight program. Offers for new or used aircraft will be considered as long as the latter have no more than 1,500 flight hours on them. A separate contract will be awarded to support the assets. The single-engine aircraft needs to deliver a 500-fpm. climb rate and operate in a minimum of 15-deg. crosswinds. Endurance should be 1.5 hr. with a further 60 min. of fuel reserve, all while carrying two crew (weighing about 450 lb. combined with 16.5 lb.
USAF Lt. Gen. Chip Utterback and Japanese Lt. Gen. Hidetoshi Harata spoke truth about the F-22 and undoubtedly irked politicians (AW&ST July 27, pp. 46-50). These officers, recognizing the significant near-term threats and current economic realities, courageously stated why the F-22 is the only viable option for Japan for replacing its F-4s.
Boeing and NASA will retest the X-48B blended wing body at high angles of attack following installation of new control software designed to tackle unexpected oscillations encountered during stall tests.
Unlike the U.S. Defense Dept., which has more robust research and development funding, the Homeland Security Dept. must rely on the private sector to help meet its obligation to protect the civil side of the federal government’s cyberoperations, according to Secretary Janet Napolitano. In turn, she is asking industry to help the department with its inaugural Quadrennial Homeland Security Review, which is modeled on Defense’s Quadrennial Defense Review.
Japan’s carriers expect this summer’s Aug. 7-16 peak travel period to be decidedly cooler than last year. All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) projected they will carry 1.3 million passengers each domestically as the 10-day period kicked off. That represents nearly a 10% drop from last year. ANA says its international traffic will drop 7% to 186,000. JAL forecasts carrying 338,000 international passengers, a 3.3% decline overall. But there are bright spots. Travel to China is jumping 36%, and passenger counts also are positive to Guam, Taiwan and Europe.
Telespazio has completed selling the transmission capacity of the Thales Alenia Space Sicral 1B military communications satellite, with the signing of a contract with the Polish government. The €30-million ($43.2-million)deal covers the provison of UHF capacity over 10 years. Sicral 1B, which was launched Apr. 20, is primarily used by the Italian armed forces, but extra capacity has been made available to NATO, its members and other European governments.
Richard J. Smallwood has become executive vice president-customer business for Airborne Systems , Santa Ana, Calif. He was senior vice president-airlines for Rolls-Royce plc.
USN Capt. Randall M. Hendrickson is among five of his rank who have been nominated for promotion to rear admiral (lower half). He is head of theater missile defense in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington. The others are: Randolph L. Mahr, who is major program manager in the Program Executive Office for Tactical Aircraft Programs, NAS Patuxent River, Md.; Kevin D. Scott, division director for the Aviation Career Management Div. of Navy Personnel Command, Millington, Tenn.; Herman A.
Lockheed Martin/VT Group joint-venture Ascent Flight Training has signed a five-year, £57-million ($96-million) contract under the U.K. Military Flying Training System program for Rear Crew Stage 1 training of observers for Royal Navy Lynx, Merlin and Sea King helicopters. Four Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350ERs, modified and maintained by FR Aviation, will replace Jetstream T2 training aircraft. VT-owned Grob 11Es will also be used for flying training, while Lockheed Martin will supply ground-based training equipment.
Known as a supplier of sensor and control systems, Raytheon sees the expanding unmanned aircraft market as an opportunity to graduate to the coveted prime contractor role. But it is the company’s long heritage in the missile business, rather than its past involvement in aircraft manufacturing, that is providing the springboard.
Airbus engineers are developing an “auto emergency descent” feature aimed at springing into action if flight crewmembers are disabled by hypoxia. The system would bring the aircraft down to 10,000 ft. to help pilots recover consciousness. The first aircraft to have the feature could be the A350XWB, but it also could be installed in other aircraft. Airbus has started to show the capability to pilots, including a recent delegation from the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Assn.
The new, three-parallel runway layout at O’Hare International Airport is achieving efficiencies in terms of aircraft arrival and departure rates and a reduction in flight delays. Whether these positives will persuade reluctant hub operators American and United airlines to approve the remaining huge portion of the $8-billion O’Hare Modernization Program remains to be seen.
Bombardier’s Global Vision cockpit completed its first test flight on the company’s Global Express XRS on Aug. 3. Capt. Gary Bruce, test pilot for the project, was enthusiastic about the performance, saying, “The comfort and ergonomics of the overall cockpit are like nothing we’ve ever experienced.” The flight-test aircraft departed from the company’s Downsview facility near Toronto at 10:20 EDT and returned at 3:28 p.m. The flight reached a maximum altitude of 17,000 ft. and a true airspeed of 343 kt. Loaded with 22,600 lb. of fuel, the aircraft weighed 74,885 lb.
Is Europe’s aviation safety system proactive enough to head off safety concerns? That has become a question in the wake of how regulators and other stakeholders have dealt with problems linked to Thales pitot tubes on Airbus aircraft.
Operational validation of the U.S. Navy’s EA-18G and an expected requirement for 26-30 more airborne electronic attack aircraft to meet joint expeditionary force needs could trigger the production of more Growler/Grizzly aircraft.
Andrew Grove, who until 1998 was CEO of Intel, the giant computer chip manufacturer, published what became a classic in business circles entitled Only The Paranoid Survive. In the book, he explores how industry is full of strategic inflection points—transformational changes which, if grasped early enough, can ensure a company’s growth, and if not, can lead to their demise.
Experts from Wyle’s Integrated Science and Engineering Group will continue supporting life sciences work at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston under a $201-million option exercised by the U.S. space agency that brought the total potential value of its contract with Wyle to $976 million. Reflecting NASA’s plans to retire the space shuttle fleet next year, the new option on the bioastronautics contract covers support of the shuttle until then, as well as work for the International Space Station, Constellation and human research programs.
British Airways is concerned about what it sees as delays in the U.K. government’s process for adopting European Union legislation that will bring the aviation sector into the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
Martin George (see photo) has become general manager of Chromalloy ’s San Diego operation. He was director of operations and succeeds Nat Love, who has moved to a technical leadership position on Chromalloy’s corporate team.
