Alternative fuel advocates are exploring methods to distribute Jet A synthetics to airports while still pursuing issues related to production and quality of fuels produced from coal, natural gas or biomass.
Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines members carried 0.6% fewer international passengers in July than during the same month last year. However, traffic measured in terms of revenue passenger kilometers rose 0.8%. In addition, the average load factor on international service dropped by 1.3 percentage points to 78.4% as overall capacity grew by 2.5%. International air cargo also fell 5.5% compared to the same month a year earlier, but cargo load factor rose slightly to 66.6% due to a 5.9% reduction in capacity.
Airservices Australia reports that Required Navigation Performance (RNP) approach and departure procedures used by 35 Qantas 737-800s have saved on flight time, fuel burn and emissions at Brisbane and other airports. In the first 18 months of these operations, the airline has saved 6,965 min. of flying time by reducing distance flown by 30,624 naut. mi.; cut carbon dioxide emissions by 1 million kg. and fuel burn by 345,249 kg.; and reduced delays both for RNP- and non-RNP-equipped aircraft.
The first of two X-47B carrier demonstration system air vehicles is more than 50% complete and ahead of its build schedule as it proceeds toward first flight in November 2009, boasts Northrop Grumman. The flight test program for the X-47B—the first-ever unmanned tailless jet to land on board a carrier—will include catapult launch and arrested landings, autonomous carrier control area operations and precise movement of the aircraft on the ship’s flight deck. Carrier landings and subsequent sea trials are planned to begin in November 2011.
This month, civil aviation veterans and enthusiasts will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Boeing 747’s first public appearance. The rollout ceremony—much simpler than today’s Hollywood-style shows—took place on the morning of Sept. 30, 1968. Lucky guests who attended (including this writer) still remember Malcolm T. Stamper’s clear voice telling the audience: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Boeing seven-four-seven.” And the monumental doors of the Everett, Wash., factory slowly began to open, unveiling the nose of a true giant.
Tina LaForte has been appointed vice president of BAA Cleveland , which operates the Airmall at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. She was general manager of BAA Maryland Inc., operator of the Airmall at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
Testing to clear Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne’s (PWR) dual-mode ramjet/scramjet engine for flight on the Boeing X-51A WaveRider hypersonic demonstrator in September 2009 is underway in the NASA Langley Research Center’s 8-ft. high-temperature tunnel. The X-51A is a $246-million joint U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory/Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program to demonstrate a hydrocarbon-fueled scramjet in a missile-sized vehicle.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and Hong Kong Civil Aviation Dept. have signed a memorandum of understanding on aircraft maintenance, expanding an agreement approved in 2004 to reciprocate on approvals given to maintenance, repair and overhaul companies. The new agreement is expected to generate additional business for as many as 75 MRO companies in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Efforts to drastically overhaul how air freight is handled by shifting to paperless processes are starting to accelerate, but progress on implementing so called e-freight programs still have a long way to go before they are globally embraced.
The union for Spirit Airlines’ pilots filed a lawsuit against the carrier Sept. 3, accusing airline management of repeatedly violating the collective bargaining agreement by unilaterally changing its terms. The lawsuit, filed in U.S.
The French defense ministry is assessing procedures and materiel used in Afghanistan to identify what changes are needed to avoid repetition of an engagement last month in which 10 French soldiers were killed and 21 wounded.
EADS plans to invest heavily in carbon-fiber technology to prepare two of its units to manufacture large composite subassemblies. EADS’s new fully-owned subsidiary Premium Aerotec GmbH. will use around €360 million ($522 million) to build facilities in the German cities of Augsburg and Nordenham, where fuselage parts of the A350XWB are scheduled to be built.
There is little question that space systems have transformed military operrations. The establishment of GPS as a global utility, the easy and ubiquitous access to satellite communication and imagery and the expansion of broadband services to mobile platforms have fundamentally altered the role that information plays in military decision-making. Satellites are a logical extension of Gen. Omar Bradley’s prescient observation: “A piece of paper makes you an officer; a radio makes you a commander.”
Boeing and NASA are preparing to stall the X-48B research aircraft for the first time under the latest block of tests at Dryden Flight Research Center. Stall testing is a key milestone for the unconventionally shaped blended wing body (BWB) concept and its sophisticated flight control system, and follows completion of the second test phase, which focused on higher speed flight.
Fitch Ratings has assigned Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co., builder of SuperJet 100 regional jets, long-term issuer default and senior unsecured ratings of BB+ for foreign and local currency debt, with a stable outlook, and a long-term rating of AA (Russian) for national debt.
Two accidents in a three-day period—both involving airlines banned from Europe’s skies—confirm the pressing need for rigorous global aviation safety standards. The European Commission, in an effort to maintain safe airspace, instituted its “blacklist” of carriers operating below minimum standards. Kyrgyzstan’s Itek Air, involved in a fatal crash on Aug. 24, appears on that list.
The British armed forces continue to fall short of their “full time trained strength requirement,” according to the latest figures released by the government. The target is 179,160 personnel, but as of July 1 the actual figure stood at 173,370, a shortfall of 3.2%. The navy is 1,220 personnel short of its 36,140 requirement, the army is 3,500 short of its 101,790 requirement, and the air force is down 1,070 on its required strength of 41,230.
Both presidential candidates’ views on defense procurement may become clearer next month when Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) square off in the first of three nationally televised debates. Foreign policy and national security will be the primary topics at the first debate Sept. 26 at the University of Mississippi. Obama and McCain both favor changes to the national security budget, which worries industry (AW&ST June 30, p. 54). The Aerospace Industries Assn.
The U.S. Air Force has boosted its projected Global Hawk buy from 54 of the surveillance UAVs to 78 and funding for the extra aircraft is expected in the Fiscal 2010 budget request, according to a program source. The additional aircraft are needed for two reasons. Air Combat Command has recently executed a series of force structure studies, leading the service to believe it needs more of the aircraft to provide the anticipated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance coverage.
Are the parts Textron Inc. worth more than its sum? A swoon in the share price of the industrial conglomerate that owns Cessna Aircraft Co., Bell Helicopter and Textron Systems is raising speculation that an opportunistic buyer could seek to acquire the company and sell it off in pieces.
Rand H. Fisher (see photo) has become Rosslyn, Va.-based senior vice president-systems planning and engineering for The Aerospace Corp. He was senior vice president-special studies and had been vice president/senior adviser on space situational awareness at the Lockheed Martin Corp.
I enjoyed David Hughes’s article “SmartDeck Seeks a Foothold” (AW&ST Aug. 18/25, p. 83) and look forward to operating some of these new systems at some point in the future. Cockpits have come a long way in the many years I’ve been flying. Along with David, I’ll also admit to having flown around a water tower or two in Texas to try to determine just where the heck I was!
Two of Russia’s main airlines appear headed for bankruptcy, sending the clearest signal, yet, that years of unbridled growth for the country’s air transport sector are over. Several airlines belonging to the AiRUnion alliance were refused fuel at several airports due to outstanding debt. The service disruption led to several dozen flights being delayed or canceled. Fuel companies defend their action, even though it came at the peak of the summer travel season, noting that months of negotiations for payment had been fruitless.
The FAA finds itself at a crossroads as it celebrates its 50th anniversary. Seldom in its history has the agency confronted so many questions about its financial future, authority and operational effectiveness. The U.S. government will be forced to address these issues soon, and whatever it does could set the FAA’s direction for the foreseeable future.
The first combat use of a GBU-54, 500-lb. Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition—which was developed and tested in a blazing 17-month program—destroyed a “moving enemy vehicle” in Diyala Province, Iraq, on Aug. 12, say U.S. Air Force officials at Joint Base Balad. For additional accuracy and position updating of moving targets, the LJDAM uses a combination of GPS and laser guidance. The mission was conducted by F-16s of the 77th Expeditionary FS. The joint terminal attack controller with a ground unit validated the target while the F-16 pilot guided the weapon.
