Singapore Technologies Aerospace has completed its Boeing 757 conversion program for the Royal New Zealand Air Force with the delivery of a second quick-change freight-passenger aircraft. ST Aero also upgraded the avionics of both jets, which can be used for a variety of missions including VIP and medical evacuation. The two airplanes were formerly used in passenger service and later served as ministerial transports.
I’m one of those foreign students who came to the U.S. 36 years ago to attend graduate studies in aerospace engineering. I stayed after graduation and worked in the aerospace sector; 18 years ago, I opened my own small high-tech research and development company supporting NASA and the Defense and Energy Depts., among others.
Southwest Airlines says it will add service this fall to Boston’s Logan International Airport, which would become its third new city this year, and where it could be competing against airlines such as Delta, American, US Airways and low-cost carrier JetBlue. Southwest has not named routes but says service would begin with two gates and a “conservative number of flights.”
Stefaan Goossens has become vice president-simulation and Bruno Massa vice president-strategic planning and communication for LMS , Leuven, Belgium. Goossens was manager of the company’s CAE and Simulation Div., while Massa was head of international marketing and communications.
Edward M. Morris has been named executive director of strategic business development for the ITT Space Systems Div. , Rochester, N.Y. He was senior director of Washington operations for the Orbital Sciences Corp.
Kevin Poormon is the first line of defense between airplanes and bird strikes. The “weapon” of choice to fight this major aviation safety risk is a gas compressor gun. The senior research engineer and his team at the University of Dayton (Ohio) Research Institute (UDRI) use the gun to launch birds at airframe structures and materials as well as engine fan blades.
Airlines continue to place new orders for inflight entertainment equipment (IFE) despite the weak outlook for the air carrier industry. Thales recently reported it had been selected to supply TopSeries IFE suites for nine Airbus A320s being acquired by Wataniya Airways, a full-service, luxury carrier serving Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Wataniya earlier indicated that it would introduce onboard connectivity service provided by Airbus/Sita OnAir using Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband network on the A320s. The first airplane was delivered in January (AW&ST Feb. 9, p.
The Asian airline industry faces a risk of bankruptcies and an accelerated shift to the low-cost model after the global slowdown’s savage arrival in the region. Asian carriers that seemed largely sheltered from the Western economic storm for most of last year now find themselves battling a typhoon. A succession of statistics confirms that Asian air traffic is shrinking much faster than that of North America and Europe. And the contractions are becoming steadily more severe.
Airbus is developing a new generation of freighters, starting with the A330-200F, to be followed by passenger-to-freighter conversions of the A320 and A321 (see p. 48). But the aircraft maker is doing so as global air cargo tonnage is suffering steep declines. Cover design by the AW&ST Art Dept. using an Airbus concept of the A330‑220F.
Mary Ellen Keegan has become vice president-contracts for the Cincinnati-based component services facility of StandardAero . She was counsel for financial transactions for GE Engine Services in Cincinnati.
Airline industry forecaster Vaughn Cordle expects increased spending in the economy resulting from the stimulus, coupled with lower fuel costs, will allow the U.S. industry to turn a collective profit of as much as $4 billion this year despite a brutal economic downturn. But Cordle worries those profits could catch the attention of Washington when it begins to tackle the massive federal budget deficit: “The profitability of the airline industry will likely make it a convenient cash cow, ready to be milked.”
A group of 20 aviation industry stakeholders say commercial aviation in the U.S. (general aviation and airlines) contributes only about 3% of greenhouse gas emissions, and that the efficiency of aircraft in the past 40 years has “vastly improved” despite a six-fold increase in passenger and cargo traffic. The group says that the industry is committed to addressing its role in climate change as an ally with the U.S. government.
Saudi Arabian Airlines will use GE Aviation Services to service a fleet of 100 purchased or leased Airbus A320s powered by CFM56-5B engines under a 10-year contract valued at $300 million. The agreement was signed as Saudi completed purchase of 22 A320s and leased an additional 28. First deliveries are set for 2009 with deliveries continuing through late 2012.
The International Air Transport Assn. is calling for the Obama administration to boost funding for air traffic control modernization as part of economic stimulus efforts. In a speech in New York Feb. 19, IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani said he understands the focus is on “jobs and the economy,” but noted that “aviation can play a pivotal role in economic recovery . . . smart investments—not bailouts—in air transport will pay off in even more jobs and boost other industries.”
Air France Cargo formally took delivery of the first Boeing 777 Freighter on Feb. 19 following certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on Feb. 6. The initial-delivery aircraft, the third 777F off the production line, first flew on Feb. 7. The FAA certificated the 777F on Feb. 3.
Obituaries: Konrad Dannenberg, who witnessed the first space launch in 1942 as a rocket engineer in Nazi Germany and went on to help develop the Saturn V Moon rocket for NASA, died Feb. 16 in Huntsville, Ala. He was 96. One of the last surviving members of Wernher von Braun’s celebrated “Rocket Team” that came to the U.S. after World War II, Dannenberg was introduced to rocketry by Max Valier, a German pioneer in the field. Dannenberg studied diesel engineering at Hanover because he considered the fuel-injection systems applicable to rocket engines.
Andrew Woodworth has become sales manager for Australasia for Dallas-based BBA Aviation Engine Repair and Overhaul . He was turboprop and rotorcraft account manager for GE Aviation Systems in Australia.
Douglas Barrie (Bangalore, India), Neelam Mathews (Bangalore, India)
India is planning to fly the baseline variant of its Kaveri turbofan engine on a Russian Ilyushin Il-76 testbed within the next 3-4 months, even as it prepares to effectively re-launch the engine, drawing on Snecma’s M88 core to improve overall performance. The Kaveri is India’s entrée into the combat aircraft turbofan market, but the drawn-out development has yet to provide a engine for the originally intended platform, the Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas).
Lukas Braunschweiler (see photo) has been appointed CEO of Ruag Holding , Berne, Switzerland, effective June 1. He will succeed Toni J. Wicki, who will retire but remain on the board of directors. Braunschweiler has been CEO of the Dionex Corp., Sunnyvale, Calif.
The European Commission has granted antitrust approval to plans by Rolls-Royce and Mubadala to establish an engine maintenance joint venture. The two companies announced their plans last year to provide services to customers in the Middle East. Mubadala’s Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies would provide on-wing care of Rolls-Royce Trent engines as well as performing engine changes and operating an asset management service for components and accessories.
Within a span of five days, the U.S. Congress passed a $787-billion economic stimulus package, the government doubled its backing of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to $400 billion, President Barack Obama unveiled a $75-billion proposal to stave off home foreclosures and General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC asked for another $22 billion in federal bailouts. That’s a lot of money—roughly the equivalent of funding two Iraq wars. But Sandy Cutler isn’t holding his breath.
Your accolades in the Laureate nomination for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Team are well deserved (AW&ST Jan. 12, p. 53). However, I question your labeling it the “NASA/Lockheed Martin . . . Team.” Not one of the named members works for NASA and only one (Kevin McNeill) for Lockheed Martin. Jim Graf and Richard Zurek are employed by Caltech at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Alfred McEwen works for the University of Arizona.
David Pitchforth has been named managing director of Boeing U.K. Rotorcraft Support . He was director of business transformation/senior vice president for U.K. government business of the AgustaWestland Military Div.
The Indian air force plans to expand its combat fleet to 42 squadrons by 2022, from the 32 at the end of 2007, says the defense minister, adding that the locally developed Light Combat Aircraft will enter service in 2010-11.
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has become the first U.S. facility to install and test avian radar. The risk of bird strikes to aircraft was highlighted on Jan. 15 when Canada geese caused a dual-engine failure on US Airways Flight 1549. The FAA-funded research project at Sea-Tac is a collaborative effort with the University of Illinois. Sea-Tac’s experimental avian radar is installed on top of the airport office building and will be used to monitor bird movements in the vicinity of the airport.
