The flight crew of Delta Air Lines Flight 77 has received the Air Line Pilots Assn. Superior Airmanship Award for outstanding handling of multiple bird strikes that damaged the Boeing 767-400ER on takeoff from Rome Fiumicino International Airport on July 7. The aircraft was nearly full, with 277 passengers and 149,000 lb. of fuel on board, and was accelerating down the runway when a large flock of birds flew directly into its path. When engine vibrations continued to worsen during climbout, the crew—Capt.
The German defense ministry is buying EADS TRS-3D naval radars for land-based air defense applications. The system, already being used on German navy K130 corvettes, U.S. Coast Guard national security cutters and the Finnish navy’s Squadron 2000 patrol boats, will now also be used to provide surveillance at the Todendorf air defense firing range. The system also comes with a secondary radar, the MSSR 2000I, for ship and aircraft identification. The Todendorf range is adjacent to the Baltic Sea, which drove the decision to use a naval radar to protect the land base.
Northrop Grumman also garnered a $38-million contract to upgrade an E-2C airborne early warning and control aircraft for the Egyptian air force. The Hawkeye 2000 configuration will include upgrades to the radar, mission computer, tactical mission system displays and navigation system. The aircraft will have networked connectivity, simultaneous air and surface surveillance, strike and intercept control, as well as search, rescue and interdiction capabilities.
Having acquired the Czech Republic’s Walter Engines, GE Aviation is launching the M601H-80, a turboprop derivative engine with a new-technology hot section, targeted for the utility, agriculture and retrofit aircraft segments. The M601H-80 will incorporate GE’s 3D-aero design and advanced materials into the engine’s hot-section compressor and turbine as well as a new nozzle guide vane material in the gas generator and power turbine, new materials in the combustor liner and GE’s blisk design in the axial compressor.
USAF Col. William J. Bender is one of eight colonels who have been promoted to brigadier general. He is commander of the 86th Airlift Wing/Kaiserslautern Military Community commander at Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein AB, Germany. The others are: Bryan J. Benson, vice commander of the 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center, Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott AFB, Ill.; Christopher C. Bogdan, senior military assistant to the deputy undersecretary of Defense for acquisition and technology at the Pentagon; Darryl W.
The gloomy outlook for medium-sized European airlines is getting worse. Most airlines are forced to accelerate cost-cutting measures, and fears are growing that planned cutbacks could trigger protectionist government action to shore up airlines and regions that could be hurt the most by reduced service.
A series of steps that led to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter began in 1983 when Darpa established the Advanced Short Takeoff and Vertical landing (Astovl) program to study a supersonic replacement for the AV-8 Harrier. In 1993, Darpa began the Common Affordable Lightweight Fighter program to develop concepts for a highly common Astovl and conventional takeoff and landing fighter. In 1994, the Astovl and Joint Advanced Strike Technologies programs were merged to create the JSF. Boeing and Lockheed flew their respective X-32 and X-35 demonstrators in 2001.
Christopher J. Smith has been appointed London-based managing director of Seabury ’s Corporate Advisory Group. He was managing director of SH&E Ltd. Jeffrey L. MacKinney, former president of World Air Holdings Inc., has become executive director of the New York-based Seabury Airline Planning Group.
USAF Brig. Gens. David J. Scott and Lawrence A. Stutzriem have been nominated for promotion to major general. Scott is deputy commander of Combined Air Operations Center 7, Component Command-Air Izmir of NATO Allied Command Operations, Larissa, Greece. Stutzriem is director of the Air Force Strategic Studies Group (checkmate) at USAF Headquarters at the Pentagon.
For five years, aerospace and defense organizations have watched the looming gray tsunami—the exodus of baby boomers from the workforce. It’s still looming. Just 2% of the industry’s 637,000 employees retired in 2007, according to the 2008 AVIATION WEEK Workforce Study. However, 13%—more than 82,000 employees—qualify for retirement by age and/or corporate retirement benefit definitions.
A parade of projects past and present illustrates the broad array of aviation and space technology the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has investigated during its first 50 years. Designed by Art Director Lisa Caputo, the cover shows how Darpa has helped shape aerospace since it was established in 1958 as a U.S. response to the Soviet Sputnik launch. Inside, in an 18-page special report beginning on p. 54, we look at how Darpa works—and what it is working on now.
Andrew Nelson (see photo) has become chief operating officer of XCOR Aerospace , Mojave, Calif. He was an aerospace consultant for Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers and Booz Allen Hamilton.
Piper Aircraft flew a proof-of-concept version of its single-engine PiperJet for the first time late last month from its home base in Vero Beach, Fla. During the next several months, the aircraft will fly 250-300 hr. to verify cruise speed and altitude performance along with low-speed handling characteristics, says Robert Kromer, vice president for sales and marketing.
Gingrich is correct! My Dad would roll over in his grave if he knew how boring the space program has become, and how impotent U.S. ingenuity has become. We’re basking in past successes. We need gastric bypass surgery so we can reenergize the “we’re gonna win” spirit of the space race days.
2008 TPC Council of Airline Advisers Michael J. Dyment Managing Director and CEO Nexa Capital Partners George W. Hamlin Managing Director ACA Associates Raymond E. Neidl Director, U.S. Research Calyon Securities Christian Torrego Senior Manager PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory France
This year’s rankings of publicly traded airlines identify those companies that are best positioned to weather the current run-up in fuel prices. Scores represent the composite of five performance categories, placing significant emphasis on financial fitness. The five categories (and their contributions to total score) include:
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Frank Morring, Jr. (Washington)
Scientists and engineers think an outline for an international mission to bring back soil and rock samples from Mars to continue the quest for life there could be ready in about a year, allowing work to begin on the 15-year, multibillion-dollar undertaking. A report by a group of experts from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan and Australia, presented late last month, concludes that such a mission would be scientifically justified and technically feasible, based on know-how available now or in the near term.
Jade Cargo International, China’s first international airline joint venture, is facing a financial crisis and its future is threatened by divergent shareholder interests. According to industry sources, minority shareholder Lufthansa Cargo was forced to transfer additional cash to the Shenzhen-based carrier to ensure that operational costs are covered this month and keep Jade in the air. It is understood that majority owner Shenzhen Airlines distanced itself from this move, offering no monetary support.
Lockheed Martin will begin cutting its 2,445-strong workforce on NASA’s space shuttle external tank project this fall as the shuttle fleet moves toward a planned retirement in 2010. Employees at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where the tanks are built, as well as at company facilities at Kennedy Space Center and Huntsville, Ala., will be affected.
David Nixon’s letter on Alan Stern’s Viewpoint “Making NASA Relevant Again” provided an incomplete description of NASA’s mission (AW&ST July 7, p. 10; June 23, p. 78). The Space Act of 1958 mandates that U.S. aeronautical and space activities contribute materially to one or more of the following objectives: •Expansion of human knowledge of the Earth and of phenomena in the atmosphere and space. •Improvement of the usefulness, performance, speed, safety and efficiency of aeronautical and space vehicles.
Pratt & Whitney’s PW1000G geared turbofan demonstrator was expected to arrive in Toulouse, France, on Aug. 9 to begin preparations for flight tests in late September on board an Airbus A340-600 development aircraft. The engine was sent to Airbus after amassing 43 hr. of flight test time on 12 sorties on P&W’s Plattsburgh, N.Y.-based Boeing 747SP flying testbed. This was around 8 hr. and five flights more than originally planned, mostly because of stormy weather over the Northeast U.S. in July which forced a number of tests to be cut short.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says 24 Su-30 Sukhoi multi-role fighters have been delivered, complete with trained pilots and ground crews as well as air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles as part of a $3-billion deal with Russia. He warned the newly reactivated U.S. 4th Fleet, which so far has no major ships, to stay out of Venezuelan waters. The sale also involved tanks and assault rifles. Chavez says he hopes to buy even more advanced Su-35s. The U.S. has refused to provide spare parts for Venezuela’s small F-16 fleet.
The British Office of Fair Trading is pursuing criminal prosecution of four former and current British Airways officials over accusations of price-fixing with Virgin Atlantic Airways representatives. They are accused of colluding to set fuel surcharges for long-haul flights between July 2004 and April 2006. Under fire are BA’s head of sales, Andrew Crawley; former commercial director Martin George; former chief of communications Iain Burn, who now works for Etihad; and Alan Burnett, who was BA’s sales chief for the U.K. and Ireland.
Aerospace and defense company Cobham posted a strong set of interim results last week, with the underlying profit before tax up 24% over last year at £107 million. Order intake grew by 42%, ending the first half at £818 million. The U.K.-headquartered company has been acquisitive, particularly in the U.S., and CEO Allan Cook said it would continue to look for opportunities.
A rush of new and expanded CFM56 overhaul shops in China planned for the next several years is likely to leave the country with more capacity than even its burgeoning engine population needs. Executives involved in the expansion are looking more closely at getting work from abroad, opening a new phase in China’s move into the international aerospace market. Experience suggests that they could be quite competitive.
