L-3 Link Training & Simulation is to build the U.S. Army’s first Boeing CH-47F Chinook full-flight simulator. Under a $31.8-million contract, the operational flight trainer will enter service at the Flight School XXI training center at Ft. Rucker, Ala., in November 2011. L-3 Link has built CH-47D, OH-58D, UH-60A/L and AH-64D training devices for the school and will begin delivering simulators for the UH-60M later this year. The company also has signed an agreement with Sikorsky to explore teaming on UH-60M training for the Army and international customers.
Engineers at NASA’s Langley Research Center are using this Landing and Impact Research Facility to test the seat pallet that will protect astronauts in the planned Orion crew capsule from the shock of landing. Requirements call for Orion to be able to parachute-land anywhere on Earth after returning from space, although the nominal spot would be in the Pacific off Catalina Island, Calif. To test the pallet and its “energy-absorbing struts,” the 20,000-lb. test article is dropped 18 ft. onto a crushable honeycomb material designed to simulate different landing surfaces.
The National Security Agency’s director, Army Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander, is expected to get a fourth star when he takes over a new sub-unified command—under Strategic Command—to deal with cybersecurity issues. Alexander, who will take over the so-called cybercommand at his Ft. Meade, Md., headquarters, told Capitol Hill lawmakers last month that creating a single, cybercommand would provide the Defense Dept.
Patricia (Kiko) Harvey (see photo) has been named vice president-corporate audit for Delta Air Lines . She was vice president-internal audit for the Starbucks Coffee Co.
USAF Maj. Gen. Charles B. Green has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general and to surgeon general of the Air Force from deputy surgeon general. Maj. Gen. James P. Hunt has been appointed deputy commanding general of Baghdad-based Multi-National Corps–Iraq. He has been director of the Air Force Quadrennial Defense Review at USAF Headquarters at the Pentagon. Maj. Gen. Duane A. Jones has been named director of resource integration/deputy chief of staff for logistics, installations and mission support at USAF Headquarters.
July 6—Royal Aeronautical Society Seminar: “Conquering the Atlantic: Alcock & Brown and the R34.” Also, July 9—“Human Factors in Design for Safety Systems.” And, July 14—Air Law Summer Reception. All in London. Call +44 (207) 670-4300 or see www.raes.org.uk
Months may transpire before Boeing is able to do what it failed to accomplish in the last week of June—fly the 787 for the first time—following the revelation that the new airplane’s composite wing induced delamination and deformation on body join points during a routine preflight stress test.
Patrick Dieker has been appointed Wichita, Kan.-based sales director for Russia for the Hawker Beechcraft Corp. Other recent appointments are: Pasha Selah as Singapore-based sales director for Japan and Southeast Asia; Matthew Liu as Beijing-based sales director for China and North Asia; Chris Hancock as Johannesburg-based sales director for Sub-Sahara Africa; and Garett Jerde as director of piston sales in Europe.
The Rolls-Royce BR725 engine to power the Gulfstream G650 business jet has received its type certificate from the European Aviation Safety Agency. First flight of the G650 is planned this year. The 16,100-lb.-thrust engine features a 50-in. fan and 24 titanium blades.
Russian fighter manufacturer Sukhoi plans a decade-long production overlap of its latest Flanker model with its fifth-generation fighter program for the Russian air force, apparently further undermining MiG’s ambitions for a next-generation fighter. Sukhoi management now says production of the Su-35 (Su-27 SM2) will run in parallel with that of the fifth-generation project, known as PAK FA, for around 10 years. This may well see the Su-35 remain in production until the middle of the 2020s, with the type becoming the long-term complement to the PAK FA.
Citing an urgent need for communications capability in theater, USAF has awarded Northrop Grumman a $276-million contract for the rapid fielding of Battlefield Airborne Communications Nodes (BACN). Systems will be installed in three Bombardier Global Express business jets and two Block 20 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft for deployment through 2015. BACN automatically relays communications and bridges between different voice and data links. A prototype is operating in Afghanistan on a leased Global Express, which the Air Force plans to buy in Fiscal 2010.
Russian arms agency Rosoboronexport has signed a deal covering the next phase of MBDA France’s efforts to flight-test a dual-mode ramjet under its LEA research program. The chief aim is to fly four vehicles using a Russian test range in 2013-15. Russia’s Tactical Missiles Corp. is providing the program a booster derived from the Kh-22 (AS-4) missile. The LEA air vehicle would be launched from a Tu-22M3 and propelled to ramjet transition speed using the booster. French research agency Onera and manufacturing company Gattefin are also participating in the program.
Engineers are debating whether the capability of China’s Beidou (Compass) satellite navigation system will force changes in Europe’s Galileo satellites, which are expected to be contracted by year-end (see p. 38). Some industry sources say the high power levels of the Beidou spacecraft will require a design change; others argue that compatibility can be reached by tweaking the ground segment or through other means. A compatibility agreement similar to one for Galileo and GPS is expected soon.
Kenji Hashimoto has been appointed vice president-strategic alliances and Don Casey vice president-revenue management of American Airlines . Hashimoto was managing director for airline profitability and financial analysis. Casey was managing director for international planning and succeeds Scott Nason, who has retired.
July 16—Demonstrating the Value of Corporate Aircraft Management Forum. New York. Aug. 5-6—Required Navigation Performance Management Forum. Dallas. Aug. 12-13—Program Risk Management Forum. Washington. Sept. 22—Green Europe. Hamburg. Sept. 22-24—MRO Europe Conference & Exhibition. Hamburg. Oct. 6-7—Human Capital and Talent Acquisition/Labor Management Forum. Chicago. Oct. 13-14—Crew Fatigue Management Forum. Miami. Oct. 21-22—Supply Chain Management Forum. San Diego.
France has ordered three more Sagem Sperwers to reinforce its tactical unmanned aircraft force in Afghanistan. They will be the first supplied at the Sperwer Mk2 standard that features a lighter wing, modified exhaust and more powerful catapult for longer endurance and improved high-density altitude capability. Sagem officials say the upgrades will boost endurance at high altitude to 4.5 hr. and permit low-altitude flights of 6 hr.—an increase of 1 hr. Delivery is scheduled for early 2010.
South Korea next year will begin deploying its Red Shark anti-submarine missile, development of which is now complete after an apparent schedule slippage of three years. The rocket, also called the Korean Anti-Submarine Missile and equivalent to the Lockheed Martin RUM-139 VLA, has been in development for nine years, says the Agency for Defense Development. The vertically launched weapon delivers the Blue Shark light torpedo over a range of 20 km. (12.5 mi.).
An article on Boeing possibly opening a second 787 assembly line referred to South Carolina as a “non-union” state, instead of a “right-to-work” state (AW&ST June 22, p. 41). In fact, the International Assn. of Machinists in Aerospace has ratified a contract with Vought Aircraft in North Charleston. The landing of the space shuttle Atlantis to conclude mission STS-125 occurred on Edwards AFB’s main, concrete Runway 22L and not on the dry lakebed (AW&ST June 8, p. 30).
Regarding Paul Nash’s letter, flight crews are professionally trained to standardized procedures so crewmembers can coordinate their work from their first flight together.
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is pondering a new approach to buying targets for its flight tests after problems with the high cost of existing systems.
USN Rear Adm. (ret.) Victor C. See, Jr. (see photo) has been named a senior adviser at Integrity Applications Inc. , Chantilly, Va. He was director of the Communications Systems Acquisition and Operations Directorate of the National Reconnaissance Office. Honors and Elections
British Airways last week said nearly 7,000 staff members had opted for “voluntary pay cuts” as the carrier struggles to reduce costs. Employees could volunteer for “between one and four weeks unpaid leave or unpaid work.” Other options were moving to part-time work or taking longer periods of unpaid leave. The company believes it will save £10 million ($16.4 million).
General Electric has expanded a service agreement with Aviall Services to include distribution of spare parts for the GE CF34-3 series engine that powers the Bombardier CRJ100/200 regional jets and Challenger 601/604 business jet. A previous accord signed in 2009 covered certain spare parts but the new pact includes life-limited components and makes Aviall responsible for forecasting, ordering and delivering original equipment replacement parts unique to that engine.
