FAA has qualified the first Level D full flight simulator built by FlightSafety International (FSI) with the new Vital X visual system featuring liquid crystal on silicon high-definition projectors. The system has been installed in a simulator configured for the Embraer ERJ 145 regional jet at FSI’s training facility in St. Louis. Vital X offers a global synthetic natural environment world database using geo-specific satellite imagery and supports hundreds of moving models and advanced graphics processors.
We knew on Sept. 12, 2001, that we have to do a better job of screening passengers and cargo on airplanes. Time has passed and we have accomplished little. A 66-year-old fat, bald man receives a thorough inspection but a container of whatever from Saudi Arabia passes right through and is put on board commercial airplanes. Most of the delay is thanks to Congress but some of it is due to the airlines and others resisting solutions. You ask, “Who’s Responsible?” Clearly, everyone is, but it is the government that must put up the plan, money and monitoring (AW&ST Sept.
Christopher R. Crum has been named a business developer and strategist for ServiceElements , Scottsdale, Ariz. He was president/CEO of the Royal Jet Group, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and had been president/chief operating officer of Stevens Aviation.
The initial version of the new ARJ21 regional jet from the Chinese company AVIC I Commercial Aircraft Company Ltd. will be the 78-90 seat ARJ21-700. Introduction of a 98-105-seat version is planned. The ARJ21 will be powered by two GE CF34-10A turbofans. The first ARJ21-700 was rolled out in December 2007; initial deliveries are planned for 2009. A total of 161 ARJ21s are forecast for production through 2017. The ARJ21 faces competition from Bombardier, Embraer, Airbus and Boeing.
No sooner had Boeing’s machinists struck Sept. 6 than some suppliers in the Seattle area began issuing layoff notices. Now, large suppliers elsewhere are beginning to report furloughs and shortened work weeks. Fuselage supplier Spirit AeroSystems went to a three-day week immediately. Vought Aviation, which makes 787 aft fuselages, reduced the size of its contract labor force but has held firm on its own workforce. Rockwell Collins has slowed production and sought voluntary furloughs in which workers receive health benefits but take vacations without pay.
International Lease Finance Corp.’s (IFLC) future ownership is in question following last week’s $85-billion bailout and acquisition of its parent, American International Group (AIG), by the U.S. government. AIG is widely expected to spin off assets such as ILFC, which has about $55 billion in aircraft and equipment assets.
Montenegro Airlines has purchased an Embraer 195 in a deal worth $39.5 million that could increase to $118.5 million if purchase rights for two additional airplanes are exercised. The twin-engine jet’s cabin will be configured to accommodate 116 passengers in single-class seating. Delivery is scheduled for 2009. Andrija Lompar, transport minster for Montenegro, says the country plans to establish itself as a “quality link” to destinations in Europe and will operate the new jet in key markets such as London.
There’s a new game in town among European low-fare airlines: Find a partner to strengthen the business. Although that’s not the sole response to current financial problems, an increasing number of low-fare carriers— particularly those in the second tier—appear resigned to the fact that they can’t make it alone.
USAF Lt. Gen. Craig R. McKinley has been nominated for promotion to general with assignment as chief of the National Guard Bureau, Arlington, Va. He has been Air National Guard director. Maj. Gen. Randal D. Fullhart has been appointed director of global reach programs in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition at the Pentagon. He has been vice commander of the Air Force Cyber Command (Provisional), Barksdale AFB, La. Brig. Gen. Gregory L.
John M. Doyle (Washington), Graham Warwick (Washington)
As relations with Islamabad grow increasingly tense, the Pentagon is scrambling to mollify its unhappy partner in the war on terror, while reassuring skeptical U.S. lawmakers that Pakistan’s assistance is still worth additional funding. To signal U.S. commitment to the newly elected Pakistani government, the Bush administration wants Congress to approve its plans to reprogram nearly $250 million in military assistance from the foreign military financing program to pay for upgrades to Pakistan’s aging fleet of 46 F-16A/Bs.
Thomas J. Cassidy, Jr., President, Aircraft Systems Group General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (San Diego, Calif.)
I was surprised to read the negative atomic-bomb article (AW&ST Sept. 1, p. 24). The article was atypical of the balance that Aviation Week normally represents.
Rockwell Collins Inc. is one of the soundest and most profitable companies in the aerospace industry, but it hasn’t avoided the impact of the credit market meltdown that claimed investment banks Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. last week and forced the U.S. government to rescue American International Group. CFO Patrick Allen says Rockwell Collins is paying higher interest rates on the commercial paper it issues to fund short-term debt and can only secure credit overnight instead of the typical 15-30 days.
The South Florida outpost in the FAA’s nationwide Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system is “alive” and should enter service in November. Now ITT is preparing to expand the infrastructure along the East Coast.
Christian Kennedy has been appointed international sales manager for Canada for Dassault Falcon . He was a sales and marketing executive for XOJET and Guardian Jet.
Sebastien Caire has been named vice president-Asia and Australasia and Suzanne Roy vice president-India for Montreal-based CAE . Caire was general manager for the company’s Madrid training center, while Roy was vice president-program management.
Japan’s self-defense force conducted its first test of the Lockheed Martin PAC-3 hit-to-kill ballistic missile interceptor last week. During the test, a PAC-3 intercepted and destroyed a theater ballistic missile target at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., the company says.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines Boeing 737NGs will fly 32 required-time-of-arrival (RTA) approaches at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, starting on Sept. 22. Navigation consultancy Avtec is assisting SAS on the project, which is part of Eurocontrol’s Cassis (Controlled Time of Arrival/ATC Integration Studies) program. The RTAs used in these trials will include both time of touchdown on the runway and, in other cases, time of arrival at 5,000-ft. altitude.
The Sukhoi Superjet 100, formerly known as the Russian Regional Jet, is a family of twin-engine regional transports powered by PowerJet SaM146 turbofan engines rated at 13,500-17,500 lb. thrust each. Currently, two models are being developed: a 95-98-seater (which will be the lead version) and a 75-78-passenger version. Development of a 110-130-passenger variant is being considered. The Superjet 100 made its first flight in May 2008. Production of 162 SuperJet 100s is forecast for 2008-17.
Jon Pohl has been named an associate principal and senior aviation project manager in the Chicago office of Perkins+Will Aviation . He was vice president/senior project manager at HOK.
NASA will spend $485 million to send an orbiter to Mars in 2013—two years late because of a procurement snafu in the Mars Scout program—to probe the atmosphere for clues to the evolution of the planet’s climate. Dubbed Maven, for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, the spacecraft is designed for an elliptical orbit 90-3,870 mi. high, with dips into the upper atmosphere at an 80-mi. altitude to sample it in its entirety. It will carry eight instruments and operate for at least one Earth year after its arrival at the planet in the fall of 2014.
Investors have turned on commercial aerospace stocks, and Goodrich, a leading supplier of landing gear, wheels and brakes, nacelles, sensors and aftermarket services, has not escaped. Its shares are down more than 25% in 2008. In a wide-ranging interview at the company’s Charlotte, N.C., headquarters, Chairman, President and CEO Marshall O. Larsen talks with AW&ST Senior Business Editor Joseph C. Anselmo about how oil prices will color the industry’s future, defends offshoring and reveals his priorities for the next U.S. President.
Despite a Proton launch failure and several partial in-orbit failures, including the near total loss of Rascom RAF-1, space insurers say the outlook for the year remains positive. Clive Smith, executive vice president of ISB, tells a Euroconsult gathering in Paris that loss claims to date totaled barely $300 million, against premiums of $550 million, and that “pricing pressure remains downward.” However, Mathieu Caillet, head of space underwriting at AXA, cautions that “what happens over the next few months will be critical” to whether prices begin creeping upward again.
The A340 is a four-engine, intercontinental, wide-body commercial transport. A prototype flew in October 1991, and deliveries began in January 1993. The A340-200 and-300 were both certificated by the JAA in December 1992 and the FAA in February 1993. They are powered by four 31,200-34,000-lb.-thrust CFM International CFM56-5C4 turbofan engines. Deliveries are also now underway of two newer models: the longer-range A340-500 and the stretched A340-600. Both are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 500s.
Emirates Airlines will use Michelin tires on its A380s for the coming decade. The largest A380 customer also uses Michelins on its A340 fleet. The tire maker says that by 2012 it will have doubled its plant capacity from 2006 levels at its Bourges, France, site.
The Spanair MD-82 that crashed Aug. 20, killing 154 people, attempted takeoff without flaps extended, preliminary findings indicate. There was no aural warning to pilots about the problem. Investigators believe the warning failure may be linked to an earlier electrical fault that forced the aircraft back during an earlier takeoff attempt.
