The National Reconnaissance Office hopes to recover momentum next week with the launch of an upgraded eavesdropping spacecraft, delayed three years by its own problems at the same time the NRO has juggled a flood of new requirements and accusations of mismanagement of existing programs. The flight will mark the launch of the biggest, most secret and expensive military spacecraft on board the world’s largest rocket.
Mark Van Tine, who is president/CEO of Jeppesen, has been elected chairman for 2009 of the General Aviation Manufacturers Assn. (GAMA). He was vice chairman of the board of directors and chairman of the International Affairs Committee. Van Tine will be succeeded as vice chairman by Robert Wilson, who is president of Honeywell Business and General Aviation, and chairman of the GAMA Technical Policy Committee. Jim Ziegler, chief operating officer of Jet Aviation, was elected chairman of the International Affairs Committee.
Expected capital infusions for major Chinese airlines have begun. China Southern says it has received 3 billion yuan ($435 million) from its main state shareholder. China Eastern and maybe Air China are in line for state money, too.
The Dutch government is assessing contract options to provide helicopter capacity to the coast guard operating in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. The aircraft would be based at Coast Guard Air Station Hato at Curacao and at St. Maarten airport, with operations focusing on the islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao as well as St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius. The government is considering a fee-for-service arrangement covering about 1,000 flights annually for surveillance, law enforcement and search and rescue missions.
The magic of flight is an enduring symbol of freedom, and aeronautics—the science of flight—is a cornerstone of U.S. economic prosperity and global security. Americans first mastered powered flight and subsequently created technologies to go faster, farther, safer. Our sustained commitment to innovation has driven our high standard of living, significant mobility for our people, and security for our nation; it directly touches the life of every American.
Ron Colunga (see photo) has been promoted to vice president from director of business development for maintenance, repair and overhaul for Washington-based Safran USA Inc.
Aero Vodochody has submitted a purchase offer for PZL-Swidnik, the Polish helicopter company. The move is part of Aero Vodochody’s strategy to expand its business through strategic investments in the Czech Republic and other Central European states and comes after its attempted takeover of Romania’s Avioane Craiova faltered this year. The Polish government says it’s looking to unload its 88% stake in PZL-Swidnik; AgustaWestland holds 6%. Aero Vodochody plans to build a composites research and development center around the Swidnik-based company.
Bombardier is warning of cancellations and deferrals for its business and commercial aircraft backlogs as well as a softening of sales, but remains confident of “the fundamentals of the aerospace sector.” The manufacturer last week posted solid third-quarter profit growth, although a slump in commercial aircraft deliveries—due primarily to customer-requested deferrals—held aerospace revenue close to last year’s. Total deliveries for the year, however, are expected to be slightly above the 361 in 2007.
David C. Adams (see photo) and David J. Linton have been promoted to co-chief operating officers of the Curtiss-Wright Corp. , Roseland, N.J. Adams was president of the Motion Control segment and Linton president of the Flow Control division. Adams also will head the Metal Treatment segment, succeeding Edward Bloom, who will be retiring in April. Succeeding Adams will be Tom Quinly, who has been senior vice president of Curtiss-Wright Controls Inc., Charlotte, N.C.
Lagos, Nigeria-based Arik Air has taken delivery of its first of three Airbus A340-500s it has on order. The aircraft, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 500s, will seat passengers in a two-class configuration. The private carrier plans to link Nigeria with U.S. and U.K. destinations, according to Arik Chairman Arumemi-Johnson.
A fresh set of agreements with member states and a new role in support of European Union crisis management operations are breathing new life into the EU’s satellite imaging facility here, just as it is preparing to support an EU anti-piracy mission off Somalia.
Airports operator BAA wants a third runway at London Heathrow so badly that it has asked the U.K. government for an independent assessor to guarantee public confidence in noise and air quality limits if plans for an added runway are approved. A decision is expected in January. Both BAA and British Airways have been pushing to increase capacity at Heathrow, while opposition groups cite environmental and noise grounds as reasons to thwart this endeavor. BAA pledged to only increase flights if they fall within environmental limits set by the independent watchdog.
Italy stands to receive a range of new helicopters now that key parliamentary hurdles are cleared—except for one problem—legislators didn’t provide the requisite funding. The main beneficiaries from last week’s decision, if money can be found, would be AgustaWestland and Boeing, with pending orders for the AW101 and CH-47F Chinook, respectively.
The British Defense Ministry accepted into service its Raytheon Sentinel R1 airborne stand-off radar (Astor) aircraft last week. Two aircraft were deployed to Afghanistan in November. A full operational capability for the five-strong Sentinel fleet is expected to be declared in about two years.
Michael Mecham (El Segundo, Calif.), Amy Butler (Colorado Springs)
The U.S. has long used ground networks and adapted its space-based assets to track and assess the military capabilties of other nation’s spacecraft. But the tempo of this race for intelligence is speeding up. China’s unannounced demonstration of a direct-ascent anti-satellite weapon last year and growing concern about the potential posed by high-power laser beams has led the U.S. Air Force to want far more capacity to know about what assets are in space (AW&ST Apr. 14, p. 32).
Following compression in the inlet, part of the airflow enters into the main combustion chamber while some goes to the pre-burner. The hot pre-burner gases pass through another heat exchanger to raise the helium outlet temperature to a constant turbine entry temperature. The pre-burner gas then flows to the main combustion chamber to complete its combustion with the remaining air before expansion through the exhaust nozzle. From HX3 the helium is expanded through the main drive turbines to drive the air compressor, and then to HX4 where it is cooled by hydrogen.
Defense technology company Qinetiq has received an additional order worth $58.8 million from the U.S. military for system and replacement components for the Talon family of robots. The robots are deployed in large numbers in Iraq and Afghanistan to counter increased use of improvised explosive devices.
British Airways and Qantas could mark a new era in air transport history if they pull off the first-ever merger of carriers based on two different continents, though this could jeopardize the planned BA/Iberia airline pact. The two Oneworld members last week surprised the global airline industry by revealing that they are assessing just such an endeavor, which would take place “via a dual-listed company structure,” according to identical releases by the companies. They also pointed out that there is “no guarantee that any transaction will be forthcoming.”
NASA and the European Space Agency are in the early stages of developing a joint Mars-exploration strategy to pool their limited resources, and could begin mounting joint missions to the red planet as early as 2016.
XCOR Aerospace is scheduled to start rocket tests for its prototype Lynx suborbital vehicle this week, after announcing a partnership with RocketShip Tours which will sell rides to the edge of space for $95,000.
The bluish-white frost visible at the Mars Phoenix landing site in October heralded the end of the spacecraft’s mission, which finally came Nov. 29 when controllers stopped trying to use spacecraft orbiting Mars to contact the lander. Phoenix last communicated with the Mars Odyssey orbiter on Nov. 2, and after one final try to use Odyssey, mission managers gave up the hunt.
Passenger traffic remained negative in October, with freight growth “poor,” according to the Airports Council International. Global traffic stayed depressed at -3.4% as a result of an average 5% decline in worldwide domestic activity. International traffic growth was down 1.4% compared with the same month in 2007. Total worldwide freight decreased 7%, with international freight falling 8% and domestic, 5%. For the first 10 months of the year, passenger traffic remained flat at -0.6%, and total freight was down by -0.3%. The outlook for the immediate future?
Competitors lining up for Greece’s fighter procurement are geared for a delay in the program, with a request for proposals possibly slipping to the middle of 2009, or beyond.
USAF Brig. Gen. Bradley A. Heithold, who has been selected for promotion to major general, has been named commander of the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency, Lackland AFB, Tex. He has been director of plans, programs, requirements and assessments at Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) headquarters, Hurlburt Field, Fla. Heithold will be succeeded by Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Trask, who has been commander of the 23rd Air Force and Air Force Special Operations Command/director of operations at AFSOC headquarters.
