Italian state commissar Agusto Fantozzi, who runs what remains of Alitalia, hopes to receive significant expressions of interest on Apr. 30 for the proposed sale of three more key assets that remain under his control in the aftermath of the airline’s break-up. Up for sale are a 60% stake in Alitalia Maintenance Systems. The minority shareholder, Lufthansa Technik, however, has a special right to buy. Offers also are requested for Atitech, which is involved in heavy maintenance and upgrades to medium- and long-range aircraft.
Col. David Swanson, Chief Engineer USAF Space and Missile Systems Center (Los Angeles AFB, Calif.)
Regarding your article “It’s a Small World” (AW&ST Mar. 30, p. 51), your readers would be wise to question your assertion that “TacSat-2 proved that not all parts have to be space-qualified to be dependable enough to accomplish the mission.” TacSat-2 failed less than a year from launch for unknown reasons, and before the U.S. Air Force could accomplish end-of-life safing and disposal. The spacecraft is now in a slowly decaying orbit that will end in an uncontrolled reentry.
Japan’s carriers wasted no time responding to additional slots at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, a government move to respond to a softened travel market. All Nippon Airways added a daily service from Haneda to Okinawa from May 8-June 30. Japan Airlines (JAL) juggled its new slot, increasing weekly offerings to Hiroshima to eight from seven flights from May 8-31, and then switching to its Haneda-Fukuoka services, which will rise from 19 to 20 daily flights in June. Other changes are expected as carriers consider strategy for the July-October travel period.
Andrew Farrant (see photo) has been appointed vice president-marketing and corporate communications for the New York-based Sequa Corp. He was head of marketing and communications for StandardAero.
A flight training device (FTD) with virtual air traffic control commands has been designed for general aviation pilot training. Safte (Synthetic Automated Flight Training Environment) with Virtual Air Traffic (VAT) was demonstrated at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach, Fla., campus last month. Safte/VAT incorporates simulated flight plans with voice recognition technology for a real-world flight experience, allowing students to “fly” in particular situations and receive specific commands from the virtual ATC.
Your article on the F-35 heat problem did not say the use of electrohydrostatic actuators (EHA) is a contributor (AW&ST Mar. 30, p. 54). EHA generate significant heat when operating at high speed with moderate loads, and especially when holding against steady loads. This wasted energy is dumped into the fuel. If conventional, hydraulically powered servoactuators were used, the heat problem would be much less.
Qantas’s budget carrier, Jetstar Airways, will play an increasingly important role as the group pushes ahead with low-cost expansion while repeatedly cutting mainline operations.
A new management setup introduced at the U.S. State Dept.’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) appears to be having a modest positive impact on International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), long blamed for hobbling space-industry trade. John Ordway, a partner in the law firm Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe and an ITAR expert, says the new setup—backed by a presidential directive providing DDTC with more financial and intelligence support—is leading to faster processing of requests.
NASA may not issue a conceptual design contract for its planned Altair lunar lander until June—a delay of as much as two months—but agency engineers here already are using plywood and flexible foam core panels to get a realistic idea of just how compact they can make the landers, rovers and habitats that will one day be Earth’s infrastructure on the Moon, trading off crew comfort for the expense of getting hardware to the lunar surface.
Trey Hollstein (see photo) has been appointed vice president-business development for the North American Public Sector Defense Div. of the Computer Sciences Corp. , Falls Church, Va. She was director of business development for CSC’s Navy-Marine Corps account.
Arianespace has been selected to orbit a spacecraft for New Dawn, a joint venture of Intelsat and a South African investment group led by Convergence Partners. Launch of the 3-metric-ton C-/Ku-band spacecraft, under construction at Orbital Sciences Corp., is planned for the end of 2010 on board either an Ariane 5 or Soyuz booster. It was the sixth launch order of the year for Arianespace, which separately reported net earnings of €2.5 million ($3.3 million) on sales of €955.7 million for 2008.
Michael Braasch, director of the Avionics Engineering Center at the Russ College of Engineering and Technology at Ohio University and a professor of electrical engineering there, has been named a fellow of the Institute of Navigation . He was cited for contributions to the understanding and limiting of multipath error in GPS. Braasch was a pioneer in the area of software-defined radio and helped develop some of the first multipath-limiting antennas.
Lebanon is to receive 12 AeroVironment Raven small unmanned air vehicles under a U.S. military assistance program that includes a single armed Cessna Caravan to provide air support. The UAVs are expected to support efforts to deter rocket launches from southern Lebanon into Israel.
The transitional aircraft storage business is thriving, but Southern California Aviation recognizes that its peak in business portends valleys for industry at large. John White, vice president of sales and marketing, says he expects most of the 155 or so aircraft parked on the company’s concrete lot today to return to service, and he hopes that happens soon.
The aviation world is, indeed, on a “Collision Course” (AW&ST Apr. 6, p. 23) over greenhouse gas emissions. The math is straightforward: The reductions that environmentalists and regulators seek cannot be met by efficiency improvements alone if we are to have a healthy, growing, global industry.
After years of talk that space-based electrical energy generation could aid everyone from front-line troops to homemakers, a Northern California utility has become the first customer of a Southern California satellite startup that says it can do just that.
Atmospheric aerosols have a much greater impact on the warming observed in the Arctic than previously appreciated, which may give policy-makers a leg up as they try to mitigate it. Climate scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies have run computer models that suggest the small particles of material—largely produced by industrial and other processes on the surface—have a net warming effect in the Arctic (shown) that is absent in the Antarctic, where there is less industry nearby.
A leadership shift at the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office continued last week with Defense Secretary Robert Gates appointing Betty Sapp principal deputy director of the office, which oversees procurement and operation of the nation’s classified satellite fleet. Sapp has been acquisition and resource director for the undersecretary of Defense for intelligence. She will succeed Ralph Haller, who left the position about three months ago. NRO Director Scott Large will be leaving his post. No replacement has been named.
Matthew Perra has become manager of media relations for Pratt & Whitney , East Hartford, Conn. He was communications manager for the company’s Commercial Engines business.
The British Defense Ministry is being accused of negligence and a breach of care by families of 10 personnel killed as a result of an RAF C-130K being shot down over Iraq in 2005. A high court writ was issued last week that includes the allegation that the ministry did not comply with the European convention on human rights. The aircraft was not fitted with explosive suppressant foam (ESF). The ministry has since funded the installation of ESF on the RAF’s remaining C-130s.
The elections of President Barack Obama and solid Democratic majorities in Congress have set the stage for the most dramatic change in U.S. environmental policy since the 1970s. As the U.S. moves to follow Europe’s lead in tackling global warming, the shameful stonewalling of the Bush years almost certainly will be replaced by a movement to cap emissions of greenhouse gases. But the devil is in details that have yet to be decided. That has the airline industry worried, and for good reason.
Hamilton Sundstrand business unit Haskel International has introduced a portable high-pressure gas transfer and charging system. The Model 87114 (below) handles inlet pressure up to 3,500 psig. and maximum rated outlet pressure up to 4,000 psig. with any inert industrial gas, according to the company. Model 82880 accepts inlet pressure up to 4,000 psig. Adjustable automatic shutoffs on both models are preset for 3,000 psig. The 24-lb. system includes a relief valve for integrated air drive protections, and an integrated cooling jacket to minimize compression heat.
Rolls-Royce is gearing up to begin test runs of its environmentally friendly engine (EFE) research project. But attempts to turn U.K. Defense Ministry interest into financial support have been stymied, at least for this stage of the program. The EFE is aimed at a 10% reduction in carbon dioxide and a 60% reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions relative to current engines. The joint U.K. government/Rolls-Royce testbed is based on the Trent 1000 developed for the Boeing 787, but with more advanced features.
French-based Daher has created an aeronautics division to integrate its aerostructures, systems and aircraft manufacturing activities, following the acquisition of light aircraft maker Socata in January. The unit, known as Daher-Socata, is expected to help boost Daher’s revenues to more than €1 billion by 2012, up from €600 million in 2008.
