A specification for alternative jet fuel produced using the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process has been approved by the fuels subcommittee of standards organization ASTM International. Once approved by ASTM and accepted by the FAA, synthetic paraffinic kerosene (SPK) derived from biomass, coal or natural gas via the FT process will be able to be mixed with oil-derived Jet-A fuel in blends up to 50%. Approval of sustainable biofuels, called bio-SPKs, is expected to follow in 2010.
For the third year in a row, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) has failed to persuade colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee to work on this year’s defense bill in public. The committee has traditionally closed its mark-up of the annual defense policy bill to the public and press, it says, to enable free discussion of classified information.
Thales Alenia Space has been contracted by Orbital Sciences Corp. to build nine pressurized cargo modules for NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program, intended to resupply the International Space Station using private services through 2015, when the Ares I/Orion shuttle follow-on is planned to be ready. The modules will be carried on board OSC’s Cygnus spacecraft.
Bell Helicopter expects certification of its Model 429 light turbine twin by the end of June. Aviation Week & Space Technology pilot Douglas Nelms visited Bell’s commercial helicopter plant at Mirabel airport, near Montreal, to fly the 429, which is aimed primarily at the emergency medical service market and features a cabin large enough to accommodate two stretchers and four technicians (see p. 42). The 429 is powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada PW207s. Yves Beaulieu photo.
France has awarded DCNS and Thales a second-phase contract to study automated deck landings using vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned aircraft. The 24-month program will test a Boeing AH-6U Unmanned Little Bird UAV on both a fixed and moving ground demonstrator, following a six-month feasibility study. Sea trials would follow in 2011 using French naval vessels in preparation for operational use aboard the new Franco-Italian Horizon and Fremm frigates.
China’s Dragon Aviation is studying whether to expand its fleet. The leasing company—which began three years ago as a joint venture involving China Aviation Supplies Holding, AerCap and Calyon Airfinance—already has 10 Airbus A320s on order but is considering its future needs, says Chairman Li Hai. The carrier, which is holding discussions with Airbus and Boeing, has focused on narrow-body airplanes and is scheduled to receive 4-5 more A320s this year.
Following three days of negotiations behind closed doors, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to give Defense Secretary Robert Gates 90% of what he and President Barack Obama requested in the Fiscal 2010 defense budget. Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and the ranking Republican, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), say that includes spending cuts and program terminations. The panel approved a $1.2-billion reduction in Missile Defense Agency funding, and terminating the Multiple Kill Vehicle program and the Kinetic Energy Interceptor.
Michael A. Taverna (Le Bourget), Frank Morring, Jr. (Washington)
European Space Agency planners are close to agreement on a new approach for the ExoMars lander that would shift a significant part of the mission to NASA under a new long-range cooperative road map for Mars exploration.
French space agency CNES and the Russian Space Agency have come to an agreement that will allow CNES to receive soil samples from the Phobos-Grunt mission. The mission, which is to return samples from the Martian moon Phobos, is due for liftoff in October.It also will characterize the physical and chemical properties of the moon in-situ, and study ionization and solar wind effects in the Martian atmosphere. The French agency is supplying several subsystems for the Phobos-Grunt gas analytic package, which was developed by the Moscow Institute for Space Research IKI.
In his letter “Watch for Distractions” (AW&ST June 15, p. 12), Paul Nash suggests sexual tension might have contributed to the Colgan Air Flight 3407 crash, and claims mixed-gender cockpits are a safety hazard that have been overlooked for the sake of political correctness. Yet none of the accumulated data points to sexual tension in the cockpit.
Paramount Airways plans to buy 10 Airbus A321s with an option for another 10. The Chennai, India-based carrier would use the jets to serve international destinations from South India. In addition, Turkish Airlines intends to order seven A330 wide-body aircraft including five -300s and two -200s that feature a higher maximum takeoff weight and a range of up to 7,200 naut. mi. The airline will operate the A330-300s on high-capacity, medium-haul routes, while plans call for the -200s to operate on the long-haul Istanbul-New York route.
Measat 3a, a Malaysian communications satellite that was damaged in a crane accident at Baikonur Cosmodrome last August, reached its geostationary transfer orbit Sunday after launch from Baikonur on a Land Launch Zenit 3SLB rocket June 21. Liftoff came at 5:50 p.m. EDT, sending the 2,366-kg. (5,216-lb.) spacecraft on the first step of its flight to a final operating position in the geostationary orbital slot at 91.5 deg. E. Long. Based on the Orbital Sciences Corp.
The threatened disappearance of Boeing-led Sea Launch has the space sector, already under pressure from booming satellite demand, scurrying for fallback solutions.
General aviation advocates are lauding a recent report from the Homeland Security Dept. Office of Inspector General (OIG) that concludes their aircraft present “only limited and mostly hypothetical threats to security.” The 31-page report also states that “the current status of GA operations does not present a serious homeland security vulnerability” and that “the steps general aviation airport owners and managers have taken to enhance security are positive and effective.” It noted that general aviation accounts for 77% of all flights in the U.S.
Norman Liu has been named president/CEO of GE Capital Aviation Services . He succeeds Henry Hubschman, who will be chairman. Liu has been executive vice president-commercial operations.
Now that its flight has begun, a full array of observatories is standing by to take pictures of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (Lcross) when it slams into the bottom of a crater on the Moon’s south pole on Oct. 9. Lcross was lofted piggyback with NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) on an Atlas V 401 from Kennedy Space Center on June 18. LRO is preparing detailed maps for an eventual manned landing site; Lcross will look for evidence of water ice and hydrogen on the lunar surface.
John Crichton, who is president/CEO of Nav Canada, has received the annual C.D. Howe Award from the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute , honoring his contributions to the country’s aviation industry over more than 30 years. Crichton was cited for helping to shape the modern foundation of air transportation in the Canadian north and his role in the privatization and modernization of Canadian’s civil air navigation system, which helped establish Nav Canada.
Marc Viggiano (see photos) has been promoted to chief operating officer from senior vice president/chief strategy officer of the Sensis Corp. , East Syracuse, N.Y. Viggiano has been succeeded by USN Vice Adm. (ret.) John G. Morgan, Jr., who was deputy chief of naval operations for information, plans and strategy.
The seven nations participating in the A400M program will have an extra month to work out a plan for renegotiating the airlifter contract, following an informal defense ministers meeting in Seville, Spain, early last week.
“It’s time to put the Osprey out of its misery,” says House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.). Following a critical report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Towns called for a halt in production of the tiltrotor aircraft. The Bell-Boeing V-22 has been in hot water before, and many of the deficiencies cited in the May GAO report are acknowledged by the Marine Corps.
Walt Havenstein has resigned as president of BAE Systems Inc. to become CEO of the Science Applications International Corp., effective Sept. 21. USMC Gen. (ret.) Anthony Zinni, a member of the BAE Systems Inc. board of directors, will be chairman and acting president and CEO.
Obituary: Sam B. Williams, chairman of engine manufacturer Williams International, which he founded in 1955, died at home in Indian Wells, Calif., on June 22. He was 88.
Douglas Barrie (London), David A. Fulghum (Washington)
Political timing and a timely evaluation will be determining factors in whether Japan manages to avoid further delay in its F-X fighter competition—with a narrowing window of opportunity over the coming months.
BAE Systems has landed a $33.6-million contract for low-rate initial production of the ALE-55, which is part of the Navy’s Integrated Defensive Electronics Countermeasures system that provides fighter and strike aircraft with electronic defenses against radar-guided missiles. The ALE-55 converts radio-frequency signals to light that is transferred to a transmitter in a towed decoy that jams pursuing missiles. This Lot 5 contract will increase total deliveries of towed devices to 473.
