Bombardier is claiming a civil-aviation first with the flight of a test aircraft equipped entirely with all-electric braking. In February, Airbus tested electric brakes on the center landing gear of an A340-600. Bombardier’s Global 5000 technology demonstrator has been fitted with Meggitt’s EBrake electric braking system, which combines brake-by-wire control with electric brake actuation.
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne’s SJX61-2 dual-mode ramjet/scramjet completes a high-Mach run inside NASA Langley’s 8-ft. high-temperature tunnel (see p. 62). The tests were conducted to clear the fuel-cooled engine to power Boeing’s X-51A WaveRider hypersonic demonstrator when it flies next year. The scramjet sits upside-down atop a copper pedestal simulating the vehicle forebody and nozzle. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne photo by Tim Tress. In the upper right, the Chengdu J-10 fighter is expected to be displayed at Airshow China this week (see p. 66).
Spain’s Indra Sistema is to produce a Bombardier 415 waterbomber flight-training device (FTD) for the Spanish ministry of defense and has selected as a subcontractor Canada’s Mechtronix Systems, which produced the only other FTD in existence for the twin-turboprop firefighting amphibian. Spain has three 415s in service or on order, and operates 19 earlier CL-215/215Ts.
Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines have won the regulatory approvals they need to form the world’s largest airline, but they still face the daunting task of combining two vastly different operations. Their success will be measured by how smoothly and rapidly the carriers can integrate—and whether streamlining can offset substantial merger costs.
An investigation into an anomaly in the guidance and navigation system (GNS) of the Breeze KM upper stage on the Rokot launcher that is to carry aloft the European Space Agency’s Gravity Field and Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) has determined that fixing the problem, discovered on Sept. 7, will take longer than thought. ESA now says it will be necessary to make extensive hardware changes that will require two months or more of additional work by the GNS manufacturer, pushing the launch back until at least February 2009.
For Diehl and Thales, the acquisition of an Airbus plant is intended to propel them into a lead position in cabin systems and create a new cabin-integration model for the aviation industry. The two companies were selected in August to acquire the EADS Airbus factory here, which employs 1,100, and the deal has just been sealed. The facility makes cabin linings, crew rest compartments, overhead baggage bins and air ducts for all Airbus aircraft. It will be known as Diehl Air Cabin and will be owned 51% by Diehl and 49% by Thales.
Anthony Grant has been named global transition project manager for Circor Aerospace Inc. , Corona, Calif. He was aftermarket business manager for Honeywell Aerospace’s Air Transport and Regional Strategic Business Unit, Tempe, Ariz.
NASA’s decision to defer servicing the Hubble Space Telescope until May 2009 will have a domino effect on efforts to replace the space shuttle with the shuttle-derived Ares I/Orion, possibly delaying a key test when time is money for the follow-on project.
Effective Nov. 12, flight crews of the DC-9/MD-80 family of aircraft will be required to conduct a Take-Off Warning (TOW) system check before each flight, in accordance with an airworthiness directive issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency on Oct. 29. The move follows the Aug. 20 crash of a Spanair MD-82 on takeoff from Madrid’s Barajas International Airport that killed 154 people. Preliminary accident findings indicate the flaps/slats were not set for takeoff and the TOW check did not occur. The FAA has no plans to issue a concurrent directive. As of Oct.
Tory Baker (see photos) has been promoted to vice president/chief financial officer from vice president-finance/treasurer of the Nordam Group , Tulsa, Okla. Jon Bagrosky has become vice president-organizational performance. He was director of human resources strategy.
Adam Konowe has been appointed vice president-public relations and Angel Bennett director of client services for Sullivan Higdon & Sink , McLean, Va. Konowe was director for brand reputation, while Bennett was senior brand manager.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says he will be “happy” to meet with British space scientists to discuss funding concerns about the European Space Agency’s Copernicus satellite program. Scientists, industry, and interested politicians, including Labor Member of Parliament Colin Challen, are raising the issue of the impact if the U.K. does not adequately fund its participation for the next phase of the project. Brown told Parliament on Oct.
Airbus Military could avoid penalty payments for A400M delays if it agrees to a revised and binding program schedule. In the meantime, partner nations are being forced to nurse elements of existing transport fleets and consider bridging options. French Defense Minister Herve Morin is asking the air force chief and defense armament agency officials to lead talks considering whether the A400M partners will waive penalty payments. EADS, Airbus’s parent, has been pleading against payment.
The FAA is warning airports about a shortage of runway deicing fluids this winter. Manufacturer Cryotech Deicing Technology (CDT) told the FAA that its E36 deicing fluid would be “significantly limited” for the 2008-09 winter season. A strike at a Canadian mine that produces potassium, a key ingredient, is the reason. In a letter to aviation groups, the FAA notes that CDT, which previously produced 9 million gal.
China has opened an airport that it ranks as the world’s second highest, with an altitude of 4,280 meters (14,040 ft.). Opening of the airport, at Kangding in the province of Sichuan, is part of a national strategy of building airports in remote places as cheaper alternatives to roads and railways. The runway is 4,000 meters long.
Rockwell Collins has installed more than 2,500 MultiScan automatic weather radars on airline aircraft. This includes 1,118 on Boeing aircraft (919 in new production aircraft, 199 in the aftermarket), and 1,387 Airbus aircraft (1,139 in new production aircraft, 248 in the aftermarket). The radar, which automatically provides pilots with views of storms ahead free of ground clutter, is standard equipment on the 787, the 737 versions of the Boeing Business Jet and the 747-8.
A year from now, over the Pacific Ocean off California in airspace cleared of all civilian traffic, hypersonics could take a step closer to reality. In the same skies where five years earlier the X-43A Hyper-X flew for 10 sec. at Mach 9.6, powered by a supersonic-combustion ramjet, the X-51A WaveRider is planned to fly on scramjet power for 5 min., accelerating from Mach 4.7 to beyond Mach 6 and demonstrating that sustained hypersonic flight is practical.
The Pentagon’s new Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) office is making progress on several time-sensitive projects designed to supply commanders with urgently needed services from spacecraft. Goodrich will manufacture “ORS 1,” a free-flying satellite to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) to leaders in U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military activities from the Arabian Gulf to Central Asia, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Pentagon officials cite security reasons for not discussing the satellite’s mission.
Boeing has refined its 20-year forecast to include more specifics about growth in China. Not surprisingly, the nation is regarded as the industry’s fastest-growth market, accounting for 41% of all sales in the Asia-Pacific region. Boeing expects China to need 3,710 new aircraft worth $390 billion by 2027, tripling the current fleet to 4,560 total airplanes. Single-aisle transports—Boeing 737s or Airbus A320s—will account for 70%, or 2,600, of these sales. Some 780 medium-size twin-engine aircraft, such as 787s or 777s or the Airbus A350, will be needed.
Pamela A. Drew (see photos) has become vice president-business development and USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Daniel P. Leaf vice president-strategic initiatives for the Northrop Grumman Corp. ’s Mission Systems Sector, Reston, Va. Drew was vice president/general manager of Boeing Integrated Defense Security Solutions, while Leaf was deputy commander of U.S. Pacific Command at Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii, and vice commander of Air Force Space Command at Peterson AFB, Colo.
The Italian air force has had to quickly shift search-and-rescue missions to AB212s after it grounded the fleet of HH-3Fs following the Oct. 23 fatal crash in France in which eight people died. The HH-3Fs are ordinarily used for regular and combat SAR roles. The shift isn’t easy, though, due to the limited number of AB212s available and the fact some are scheduled for deployment to Afghanistan.
The U.S. Air Force plans to build the Space Threat Assessment Testbed (STAT) that will create a realistic space environment in which to perform developmental and early operational testing of space hardware for the Defense Dept., National Reconnaissance Office and other agencies. The facility will be constructed at the Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Center at Arnold AFB, Tenn., and is scheduled to become operational in 2012-13, says Col. Art Huber, AEDC commander.
The Army’s demand for aircraft parts sparked a surprising rise in the nation’s durable goods orders in September, the Commerce Dept. says. Nationwide demand rose 0.8 % during the month to $208 billion after declining 5.5% in August. Orders for defense aircraft and parts totaled $5.7 billion during the month, up 10.1% from August. All of those orders for parts came from the Army, says Adriana Stoica, a Commerce Dept. aircraft analyst. The government agency does not disclose orders by program or company.
Lockheed Martin is preparing to go supersonic with the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter after completing engine relights and noise measurement tests at Edwards AFB, Calif.
