Laurent Collet-Billon will replace Francoise Lureau as chief executive of DGA, the French armaments agency. Collet-Billon was deputy director in charge of weapons systems at DGA from 2001-06 before becoming a special adviser for defense and security at Alcatel-Lucent. A graduate of France’s National School of Aeronautics and Space, he will be responsible for streamlining the DGA in the wake of a thorough overhaul of the ministry of defense unveiled last month (AW&ST July 28, p. 32). Lureau is retiring after leading DGA for more than four years.
Rockwell Collins has now won a total of six work packages on the Airbus A350, giving the company the potential to reap $2.5 billion in sales and making its position on the program the largest it has ever won on an Airbus aircraft. Rockwell’s two additional A350 tasks are to provide information management and navigation capabilities on the new aircraft. This gives the company three-fourths as much content on the A350 as it has on the Boeing 787 where it is the dominant supplier of cockpit avionics. Work will be conducted at Rockwell’s U.S. facilities and in Toulouse.
Dish Network Corp. says its venerable EchoStar 2 has experienced a major failure and appears to be a total loss. The spacecraft, launched in September 1996 and with a book value of $6.4 million, was operating from 148 deg. W. Long. primarily as a backup satellite. Services were transferred to the primary satellite at that location, EchoStar 1, launched in 1995. The incident was disclosed in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission just as Dish was orbiting a new direct-to-home broadcast satellite, ExhoStar XI, earmarked for the 100-deg.
The Transportation Trades Dept., AFL-CIO (TTD), is objecting to a change proposed by the National Mediation Board (NMB) to its Representation Manual, saying the change appears to be tied to the Delta/Northwest merger, and is anti-labor. The TTD, which represents 32 unions, says the change is pro-Delta because it would make it harder for workers to retain their union representation in a merger. The NMB notice sent to unions and airlines on July 15 asks for comments by Aug. 15.
The insolvency administrator for Germany’s Thielert Aircraft Engines says 24 companies have signed confidentiality agreements as they consider making investments or purchase offers for the piston engine manufacturer. A mix of financial investors and industrial buyers are among the potential purchasers. The company declared insolvency in April, but resumed production in June. Thielert manufactures the Centurion series of diesel engines ranging from 135-350 hp., designed specifically for new and older general aviation airplanes.
Operational launch-vehicle missions could be used as testbeds for future technologies, as was done in the 1960s, says United Launch Alliance (ULA) president and chief executive Michael Gass. The Boeing/Lockheed Martin joint-venture’s Atlas V and Delta IV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELVs) can carry very large technology experiments, but the capability is not being used, he says.
I read with interest the articles and responses on dismantling NASA. I graduated from college with a degree in aeronautical engineering in 1972—slightly past the great accomplishments of Apollo. I wanted to become a part of that great agency when I graduated. Now I am glad I didn’t.
One of my favorite characters, Newt Gingrich, has once again provoked critical thought about the status quo. Although the accompanying photo has him sporting spectacles, I think he has retained the myopic prescription that I sometimes believe must be standard issue for all members of Congress. While he presents interesting points, he shortchanges NASA’s accomplishments and contributions to technology development and the betterment of the human condition over the recent few decades for what amounts to a relatively paltry investment from the public coffers.
Honeywell Aerospace has completed sale of its consumables solutions business to B/E Aerospace for $1.05 billion. The subsidiary is a major distributor of aerospace fasteners and hardware and offers logistical services to OEMs, airlines and MRO facilities. Rob Gillette, Honeywell Aerospace president and CEO, says the sale will help the company focus on developing advanced technologies to improve the safety and security of air travel.
Raytheon has cleared a major hurdle in fielding its 500-lb. GPS/laser-guided Paveway IV bomb with the Royal Air Force. The weapons maker completed capability trials that clear Paveway IVs use on Harrier GR9s. The trials took place at the Naval Air Warfare Center China Lake, Calif., with 14 releases of operationally representative weapons conducted. The weapon, which suffered early accuracy and fuzing problems, will also be integrated with Tornado GR4s, the Typhoon and, eventually, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
A Russian military spacecraft featuring such characteristics as a new imaging reconnaissance satellite, is undergoing checkout in a Sun-synchronous polar orbit, after launch from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northeast Russia. The 15-ton Cosmos 2441 spacecraft was launched from Pad 4 of Plesetsk Launch Complex 34 on board a Soyuz 2B booster at 10:31 p.m. Moscow time July 26. The satellite was placed into a 770 X 210 km. (478 X 155 mi.) orbit inclined 98.3 deg.
In “Trouble Ahead” (AW&ST July 21, p. 47), the second-quarter profit/loss statements of Delta, American and Continental airlines do in fact show a systemic problem—airlines lie to their customers. A ticket cost is cited, then multiple extra charges are added on. As aggravating as security checks might be, the lying is worse. The only thing that can be fixed quickly is to stop misrepresenting the true cost of flying to the public.
India is about to kick off flight trials of its first, indigenously developed beyond-visual range air-to-air missile, called Astra. The 160-kg. weapon features a single-boost motor and radar seeker. The weapon is intended to be similarly sized to the Raytheon AIM-120 Amraam, although Astra is a bit heavier; its range is to be around 70 km. The Defense Research Development Organization (DRDO) plans to start test shots at the Balasore Integrated Test Range this month.
The anticipated cost overrun for the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) secure satellite communications program is not due to new technical or testing issues, says Gary Payton, deputy undersecretary of the Air Force for space. The need to restart the production line to build a fourth satellite is the culprit, and the overrun is expected to breach the 25% Nunn-McCurdy limit, triggering a mandatory review of alternatives. A final cost isn’t yet set.
U.S. Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) is planning to accelerate upgrade work for the Haystack Ultra-wideband Satellite Imaging Radar, giving the Pentagon the ability to characterize microsatellites earlier than previously planned. Work on the X-band imaging radar in Massachusetts would be complete in Fiscal 2012, with the addition of $10 million requested in the Fiscal 2008 omnibus reprogramming signed July 11. The extra money would allow for an accelerated critical design review and systems integration work.
Michael A. Chotkowski has become logistics program manager for Pratt & Whitney Military Engines , East Hartford, Conn. He was business development manager for Hamilton Sundstrand Engine & Control Systems, Windsor, Conn.
The average MRO value of each shop visit by a commercial jet engine is increasing, with airlines spending more on materials, says Holger Sindemann, chief executive of MTU Maintenance Zhuhai in China. This trend, which is occurring globally across the MTU group, is the result of increasing “on wing” service life of the latest CFM56 and V2500 turbofans. When the engines reach overhaul limits, more new parts are needed than if they had been overhauled earlier.
The apparent failure of an oxygen cylinder, a possibly unique event in commercial aviation history, is the focus of the investigation into the rupture of the fuselage of a Qantas 747-400 at 29,000 ft. on July 24. The body of the cylinder, normally fixed to the aircraft just where the 2-meter (7-ft.) hole was blown in the fuselage ahead of the right wing root, was missing after the aircraft landed, while part of the cylinder and a valve were found in the cabin, having shot up from the level of the cargo hold and burst through the floor.
Canada-based Com Dev International, which manufactures space hardware subsystems, has opened an engineering and production facility in El Segundo, Calif. The 46,000-sq.-ft. building will support the design, manufacture and testing of hardware; the new location is projected to generate up to 200 jobs. Company officials say the area was chosen because of its concentration of skilled aerospace engineers and technicians. In addition to Canada and the U.S., the company also has facilities in the U.K.
The Air Force is preparing for the Atlas V launch in December of the first U.S. robotic military spaceplane mission into orbit. The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle flight will mark a fundamental technology milestone for the Air Force. It will carry on winged hypersonic space vehicle technology as the space shuttle is canceled. This work is designed to propel the Air Force mission more rapidly—to where the blue sky turns to black—using a reusable hypersonic craft serviced on the ground just like an airplane.
The French-U.S. Jason 2 Ocean Surface Topography Mission has generated its first maps of ocean altimetry between 66 deg. N. and S. Lat. France’s space agency CNES produced the maps using data collected by the new spacecraft in the 10 days beginning July 4. Launched June 20 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on a Delta II vehicle, Jason 2 is orbiting in formation with its Jason 1 predecessor at 1,336 km. (830 mi.) with just 55 sec. separating them.
A strike by air traffic controllers in French-speaking West Africa July 26-28 raised safety concerns with the International Federation of Airline Pilots Assn. (Ifalpa) after workers called for 48 hr. of “radio silence” in control towers. Ifalpa warned flight crews to exercise “extreme caution.” After 48 hr., a 6-8% pay hike and a boost in retirement age from 55 to 60 was agreed to, and controllers went back to work. Flights were disrupted or canceled there during the action.
GE Aviation’s success in selling engines to Chinese airlines has fostered a growing training program that will attract 500 flight-line mechanics and propulsion engineers this year to GE facilities, including its Customer Technical Education Center near Cincinnati.
Timothy Canavan has been named vice president-maintenance and aircraft appearance for United Services . He was head of Delta Air Lines’ worldwide cabin appearance and ground support equipment operations.
