The U.S. Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Center has completed initial evaluations of a dual-mode, combined ram/scramjet hypersonic engine in AEDC’s Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit (APTU). The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency-sponsored evaluations, centered on the Falcon Combined Cycle Engine Test (FaCET) program, are the first since the completion of a series of upgrades to the APTU.
The FAA is about to enter a critical phase in its transition to satellite-based airspace management, with the debut of a system that will for the first time allow controllers to separate traffic at major airports using satellite surveillance.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) General President James Hoffa has placed Local 747 in Houston in emergency trusteeship after numerous complaints about lack of representation were received. An investigation is now underway internally to determine if officers were engaged in financial improprieties. Local 747 represents 4,000 commercial and cargo pilots. It was decertified by the Great Lakes pilot group on Apr.
Canadian simulation specialist CAE plans to build on its expertise with digital databases to enter the avionics market with its Augmented Visionics System (AVS) designed to tackle the helicopter brownout landing issue. The AVS, which combines CAE’s common database (CDB) technology with a laser radar developed by Canadian company Neptec, is part of the five-year, C$714-million ($578-million) Project Falcon research and development program announced in March by CAE.
Space shuttle and Hubble Space Telescope managers are evaluating whether it will be possible to launch the shuttle Atlantis to the telescope on May 11, one day earlier than the targeted launch date. The Air Force has reserved the Atlantic range from May 14-19, and the space agency would like to have three opportunities to launch before then. A final decision is expected on Apr. 30. Crews started loading hardware for STS-125, the final Hubble-servicing mission, on Apr. 22.
Anita Antenucci, a managing director at investment bank Houlihan Lokey, has some sobering news for investors looking for signs of life in the credit markets. “The capital markets have actually worsened in the last couple of months,” she told a standing-room-only audience at one of her bank’s seminars last week in Tysons Corner, Va. “We’ve not seen a single underwritten deal in the last handful of months.”
Efforts by the Israeli imaging satellite industry to sell its high-resolution small satellite imagery know-how in the fast-growing international remote-sensing market—and in particular to the U.S. government—could be hindered by a legal battle affecting ImageSat International, operator of Israel’s Eros imaging satellites.
Japanese space agency JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have completed the second and final pressurization test of cryogenic tanks for the LE-7A first-stage engines on the H-IIB heavy launch vehicle. Besides verifying pressure characteristics of the liquid hydrogen/oxygen tanks, the 150-sec. test provided environmental data on the core vehicle, including vibration data from the two LE-7As firing. The H-IIB is designed to lift Japan’s HTV transfer supply vehicle to the International Space Station. The basic H-IIA has a single LE-7A powering its first stage.
Italy is overhauling a large swath of its air surveillance radar infrastructure so spectrum can be made available for commercial use. All three military services are affected by the requirement to vacate parts of the S-band spectrum to make room for commercial WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) technology, which operates at around 3.5 GHz. WiMax is designed to be a more powerful form of wireless data transfer.
AgustaWestland is renaming the Future Lynx as the AW159, while the helicopter is to be known as the Lynx Wildcat for the British Armed Forces. The Army and Navy will operate versions to meet battlefield utility and shipborne roles.
Engineers at Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) are working to resolve a suspected compatibility issue with the Malaysian ATSB-built RazakSAT satellite before rescheduling its launch on a Falcon 1 from its Omelek Island facility in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Central Pacific. The original launch window for what is to be the company’s first commercial launch mission was scheduled to open on midnight Apr. 19 EDT.
Cirrus Aircraft Co., following months of evaluation, last week suspended its light sport aircraft program dubbed the SRS (for SR Sport), which is considered the competitor to Cessna’s SkyCatcher. Challenging economic conditions in the market were among the factors leading to the decision.
Last fall, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Congress “the greatest threat to the homeland lies . . . in western Pakistan.” It appears official Washington thinks he was something more than prescient. News of an insurgent takeover in a region only 70 mi. from the capital, Islamabad, has policymakers concerned about what political collapse could mean for a nation with an estimated 100 nuclear weapons.
Virgin Atlantic Airways is charging that British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia have withheld vital information in their filing for antitrust immunity. In March, the Oneworld alliance partners answered U.S. government questions about their December 2008 application, but Virgin, the most vocal opponent, says data still is missing. If regulators demand more answers, a verdict on granting antitrust immunity could easily slide into next year.
Boeing has completed the first wingset for the 747-8 freighter on its Everett, Wash., assembly line. The 135-ft. 3-in. wings use a new supercritical airfoil to advance range and payload for the freighter, which is set for its first flight in the second half of this year.
Cathay Pacific Airways, determined to reduce its rate of cash burn, will cut passenger capacity by 8%, cargo capacity by 11% and ask its workforce to take unpaid leave. The Hong Kong-based airline is negotiating to sell five aircraft, will park two more Boeing 747-400BCF freighters and wet-lease another to subsidiary Air Hong Kong. Another subsidiary, Dragonair, will cut capacity by 13%.
Regarding Pierre Sparaco’s article “Prosecutorial Overreach” (AW&ST Apr. 13, p. 45), what is unfair and where is the injustice when someone is held accountable for 16 avoidable deaths in a commercial aviation accident? Did the passengers who died sign a waiver holding the airline harmless for any eventuality that could have resulted in their deaths? Does Sparaco propose to give flight crews “get-out-of-jail-free” cards with their last check flights?
Is it possible that Airbus and Boeing planners are naively optimistic, or too short-sighted not to monitor their backlogs carefully while reviewing their customers’ ability to pay for aircraft ordered in better times? An underlying mystery is how the two big airframers could have ignored recent warnings about the order cutbacks, especially since these alarms came from respected airline and industry analysts and even the leader of the powerful International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC), Steven Udvar-Hazy.
May 12-14—EBACE. Geneva. June 15-21—Paris air show. Sept. 23-24—MRO Europe. Hamburg, Germany. Nov. 2-4—A&D Programs. Phoenix. Dec. 2-3—A&D Finance. New York. Dec. 8-10—MRO Asia. Hong Kong. May 6-7—Bird Strike Prevention Forum. Chicago. June 4—Business Aviation Security. Roslyn, Va.
The 2018 version of the Next-Generation Bomber is being derailed by a combination of international politics and defense budget pressures. Lt. Gen. Robert Elder, commander of the 8th Air Force with responsibility for nuclear deterrence and global strike, contends that it is not dead, merely the victim of “a postponement” of perhaps only as much as six months.
May 3-7—Aerospace Medical Assn.’s 80th Annual Scientific Meeting. Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles. Call +1 (703) 739-2240 ext. 106 or see www.asma.org May 4-6—SpeedNews Seventh Annual Aerospace & Defense Industry Suppliers Conference. InterContinental Century City, Los Angeles. See www.speednews.com May 4-7—12th Annual FAA/Defense Dept./NASA Aging Aircraft Conference. Kansas City (Mo.) Convention Center. Call +1 (937) 426-2808, fax +1 (937) 426-8755 or see www.agingaircraft2009.com
European airlines, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and pilot unions are trying to sort out a bitter dispute over new recommendations on pilot and cabin crew duty times that carriers claim would hinder their ability to fly long-haul routes.
Boeing 787 flight test teams will work to power-up the engines and auxiliary power unit on the first aircraft during the next few days as the frenetic pace of preparations for first flight continues.
For Aurora Flight Sciences, the path from developer to producer of unmanned aircraft is proving elusive, but it is not preventing the company from pursuing ever more advanced designs.
A Boeing 777 Freighter more expensive than an Airbus A380F? That’s what United Parcel Services President Bob Lekites says he was hearing from the Seattle-based manufacturer when it became clear Airbus could not meet its obligation to delivery 10 A380s in March 2007 and the carrier dropped its order. Though impressed with the 777F’s operating costs, sticker shock ensued. The price subsequently dropped, but UPS decided to go with a known entity. It ordered four used 747-400 passenger aircraft for reconditioning and conversion.
