Moog has secured its first commitment from Airbus to develop and produce the high-lift, wing-trailing-edge actuation system for the A350XWB. Moog already has been chosen to supply the airplane’s primary flight control actuation system. Airbus is completing its arrangements with suppliers for the A350XWB and plans to “freeze” design of the twin-engine, wide-body jet in the next few weeks.
Spain is moving forward with a pair of optical and radar imaging spacecraft that will bring it into the expanding family of European nations with a surveillance satellite capability.
A Swiss startup is preparing to introduce a new rotary piston engine, further broadening the pallet of products that can run on fuels other than aviation gasoline. The company, Mistral Engines, was created in 2001 by a group of pilots and aircraft owners who were convinced there is a market for a new general-aviation engine offering greater reliability and compactness, as well as a more favorable power-to-weight ratio and multi-fuel capability, than today’s powerplants.
Airbus has picked Thales to provide the head-up display (HUD) for the A350XWB twin-widebody. Thales already is a program partner on the winning workshare for the Interactive Control and Display Systems, as well as the Air Data and Inertial Reference Unit. The HUD is designed to allow future growth for enhanced vision system, surface guidance system and synthetic vision system functionality.
Without any new snags, USAF hopes to issue a request for proposals for a new KC-135 replacement competition by next summer. This is likely if the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama supports the push for up to 179 new refueling tankers, Shackelford said at the A&D conference. A new program to develop a Core Component Jammer (CCJ), a standoff electronic jamming system likely for the B-52 bomber, could get a new breath of life in the Fiscal 2012 budget, Shackelford said.
India’s fast-growing airlines have been a darling of the aviation community for more than five years, but the international credit crisis has only compounded structural weaknesses—too much capacity—that have been building up all this year. One of the hardest hit of the newcomers with big plans has been Kingfisher Airlines, which has amassed a $400-million debt and is eager for outside investment. The carrier has been talking with British Airways, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways about taking a 25% stake.
Like hundreds of other trade groups, the International Air Transport Assn. (IATA) wants to discuss some pressing issues with the next president. Unlike the banking, housing and auto industries, “airlines are not asking for special rules or bailouts,” IATA CEO Giovanni Bisignani writes in an open letter to President-elect Barack Obama. However, IATA would like to see the U.S. liberalize market access by relaxing ownership to control rules and make it easier for foreign carriers to invest in U.S. airlines.
With less than two months of its term remaining, the Bush administration is signaling it will not back down from an ambitious—and increasingly unpopular—aviation agenda. President George W. Bush has stepped in to underline his support for the Transportation Dept. as it pushes ahead with controversial rules on airport slot auctions and passenger rights.
It was standing room only at the AVIATION WEEK/Credit Suisse Aerospace & Defense Finance Conference in New York last week, with attendance up 20% over last year’s event. Amid the most turbulent Wall Street environment since the Great Depression, some institutional investors wanted to learn more about defense stocks, which they view as a relatively safe haven. And with most A&D stocks down anywhere from 35-85% this year, others were sniffing around for buying opportunities. “People are poised,” says one well-connected attendee.
Senior Thales executives say the company remains bullish about proposals for a quick deployment of its Watchkeeper Hermes 450 unmanned aerial vehicle to support French troops in Afghanistan, despite the recent arrival in the theater of a batch of SDTI tactical UAVs, based on the Sagem Sperwer. Executives point to the Hermes 450’s extensive Afghan flight experience—more than 30,000 hr.—high survivability and features such as autocueing capability, which enables rapid detection and suppression of enemy fire.
Regarding First Officer Jim Eaton’s letter concerning my union’s (Allied Pilots Assn.) position on a planned alliance between OneWorld partners and American Airlines (AW&ST Nov. 10, p. 8), APA is concerned about the outsourcing of jobs as were the Boeing machinists.
A battle has broken out among EasyJet’s leadership over the company’s direction. EasyJet founder and major shareholder Stelios Haji-Ioannou has signaled he wants the company to expand even more cautiously than included in a revised growth plan that calls for deferral of several A320 deliveries. Haji-Ioannou has increased his stake in the airline to 26.9% from 15.6%, by receiving shares held by his sisters, and wants to parlay that into being allowed to name two non-executive directors to the airline’s board.
Electronic warfare is moving into unknown territory, with threats multiplying, budgets shrinking and rapid technology advances running afoul of entrenched acquisition rules. However, innovation appears to be catching up. EW systems are expanding to include offense capabilities such as electronic attack and computer invasion. Generic digital backbones are being created that can be adapted to many missions. And with minor variations, the same systems can be carried on aircraft, ships or ground vehicles for all the services and government agencies.
Robert P. Birmingham has been appointed president of the Arlington, Tex.-based Link Simulation and Training unit of L-3 Communications . He was senior vice president for Army programs and strategic planning in the Sensors and Simulation Group. Birmingham succeeds John C. McNellis, who has been named president of L-3’s Integrated Systems Group, Greenville, Tex. McNellis follows Robert W. Drewes, who has retired.
Aspen Avionics of Albuquerque, N.M., has added heavier twin-engine aircraft—including the Beechcraft Baron 58 series, Aerostar 600 and Twin Commander 500 series—to its FAA-Approved Model List Supplemental Type Certificate (AML-STC) for the Evolution EFD1000 glass cockpit display. Aspen was founded in 2004 to provide glass cockpit technology for general aviation. The total number of Class 1 and 2 piston-powered aircraft (weighing less than 6,000 lb.) now approved for the company’s Evolution EFD1000 Primary Flight Display stands at 650.
The European Space Agency has found a way to allow approval of funding for the Jason-3 altimetry satellite, which is €46 million ($57.5 million) short of the amount needed for construction and launch. To save the €240-million mission, led by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Eumetsat, planners suggest apportioning the extra cost among Eumetsat and the two backers of the Kopernikus (Global Monitoring for Environment Security) initiative—ESA and the European Commission.
The U.S. defense industry faces many questions as President-elect Barack Obama and his team prepare to take the reins of the Pentagon and as several international fighter competitions wrap up during the coming months.
Iran’s defense ministry says it flight-tested a Ghadr-110/Samen/Sejjil solid-propellant ballistic missile with a 1,200-mi. range Nov. 13. Defense sources say several characteristics of the missile are evident as it sits on the launch pad. The rocket has two solid-propellant stages, each about 1.35 meters (4.4 ft.) in diameter. The first stage uses steering vanes mounted in the rocket nozzle, a technique dating to German World War II-era V-2s. But the second stage uses liquid-propellant Vernier jets protected by covers midway up the launcher.
The Emirates Group expects a more robust second half of its financial year after the Dubai-based airline reported a massive plunge in profits in the first half of fiscal 2008. According to results released last week, its net profit declined to approximately $77 million, a decrease of 88% compared with the same period 2007.
Air France pilots struck late last week over the government’s plan to raise the retirement age for pilots to 65 and conform with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards. The law to allow pilots to fly past age 60 would take effect in 2010. The issue of conforming with the ICAO standard is still under discussion within the European Commission and European Aviation Safety Agency.
British Airways and Iberia are stepping up efforts to reduce costs and capital expenditures, while the airlines’ executives also try to overcome obstacles to their proposed merger plans. Right now, one of the big issues between the two carriers is what their respective equity stakes would be in a combined entity. The problem on that front is how to account for BA’s pension deficit. “It is a complex process,” says Iberia CEO Fernando Conte, who indicates the pension deficit is only one of several issues that need to be resolved.
The Army’s top procurement officer overseeing helicopter programs says he’s concerned about spending for science and technology to advance future systems. “S&T is not a good story,” said Brig. Gen. William Crosby at a conference in Huntsville, Ala. Ground work for the Joint Multi-Role and Joint Heavy Lift are butting up against “fiscal realities.” The general is also worried about funding to replace helicopters.
PARTNERSHIPS Nov. 23-25—Middle East Business Aviation (MEBA), Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Nov. 26-27—Defense Equipment Maintenance Conference, Brussels. Nov. 29-Dec. 1—Bengaluru (India) Space Expo 2008. You can now register ONLINE for Aviation Week Events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/conferences or call Lydia Janow at +1 (212) 904-3225/+1 (800) 240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada Only)
In aviation, we learn quickly from our own and others’ mistakes. If Alfred E. Kahn and many CEOs were pilots, aircrew and mechanics, there would be many smoking holes in the ground due to their inability and refusal to learn from mistakes. Of course, Kahn is wrong. Name one industry that can sell its product for what it did 30 years ago while having a tax of up to 48% on each ticket.
