Stephen A. Evans, Director (ret.), Adv. Technology, Rocketdyne (Foothill Ranch, Calif.)
In Dale Jensen’s letter “What NASA Should Be Doing” (AW&ST July 14, p. 10), he displays a basic misunderstanding of rocket engine design when he refers to the “inefficient RS-68.” The RS-68 is a modern, highly efficient booster (first-stage) engine having the same sea level specific impulse as the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME). Booster engines have low-expansion ratio nozzles to prevent overexpansion of the exhaust gas that produces the engine thrust.
Air Canada has completed arduous noise qualification tests with an Airbus A319 at John Wayne Airport Orange County in California, as the first step toward becoming the U.S. airport’s first international operator. The trials, ending on July 22, included five departures with the aircraft ballasted with newspapers to simulate full passenger loads. The airline is believed to be interested in establishing flights to and from Vancouver and at least one other Canadian city. If approved, flights could begin by year-end.
Aug. 11-14—Fatigue Concepts Course: “Fatigue, Fracture Mechanics and Damage Tolerance of Aging and Modern Aircraft Structures.” Huntsville Sparkman Center, Redstone Arsenal, Ala. Call +1 (916) 933-5000 or see www.fatcon.com/sched.html Aug. 14-17—Australasian Society of Aerospace Medicine’s 2008 Frontiers of Aerospace Medicine Conference. Crowne Plaza, Darwin, Australia. Call +61 (3) 9899-1686 or see www.asam.org.au
Emerging players in the aerostructures business see a window of opportunity to become major partners on single-aisle replacement programs that Airbus and Boeing are expected to field in a decade. The number of companies looking to vie for workshares on the new Airbus and Boeing programs is likely to be much greater than in the past. This trend will be driven by new entrants, as well as by Airbus’s intention to sell some of its German and French operations, thereby reshaping the aerostructures supply base.
Objections from the Chinese industry ministry are delaying the proposal to re-merge Avic 1 and Avic 2. If the ministry can be satisfied, the merged company, China Aviation Industry Corp., will be formed in late August.
Taiwan has no plans to shop around for fighter aircraft and other weaponry if a pending $11-billion arms deal with the U.S. continues to lag, says the head of Taiwan’s legislature. “With the exception of 1992, when we purchased Mirage 2000 fighters from France,” Taiwan has always purchased defensive weapons from the U.S., says Wang Jin-pyng, speaker of the Legislative Yuan. That option isn’t being considered this time. A 1979 law commits the U.S.
New avionics products were plentiful at EAA’s AirVenture 2008 in Oshkosh, Wis. Honeywell began taking orders for its new Bendix/King Apex Edge avionics series for general aviation aircraft. The first two units will be a primary flight display and a multifunction display, borrowing features from Honeywell’s Primus Apex integrated flight deck—such as graphical flight planning and cursor control.
A Hawker 800 crashed after an apparent aborted landing at Owatonna, Minn., Degner Regional Airport on July 31, killing six passengers and two pilots. The aircraft operator was identified as East Coast Jet. The aircraft was en route from Atlantic City, N.J. Witnesses said after touching down and rolling out on the airport’s single, 5,500-ft.-long runway, the jet took off again but then dropped a wing, rolled and dropped the other, which struck the runway; at that point the airplane began to cartwheel and disintegrate.
When the space shuttle Atlantis lifts off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A on the final mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope, the shuttle Endeavour will be standing by on Pad 39B for a mission no one believes will be needed. But if Atlantis suffers the same sort of damage to its thermal protection system that doomed the shuttle Columbia in 2003, Endeavour and its four-man crew will be able to mount a rescue mission within a week of the Atlantis launch to bring the Hubble crew home safely.
EADS has selected PTC to harmonize software for its Phenix product lifecycle management PLM system. Phenix (PLM Harmonization for Enhanced Innovation and Excellence) was launched in 2007 to provide a uniform digital design, production and support data base throughout the company and its supply chain, and to avoid incidents such as the wiring harness snafu that derailed early Airbus A380 production.
Swati Rangachari has been named New Delhi-based director of corporate communications for Boeing in India. She was a manager of communication programs for Texas Instruments India.
Despite the ever-rising cost of fuel and the crisis it has caused in commercial aviation, re-regulation is definitely not the answer, says Michael Levine, a former executive at Continental and Northwest. In a pointed response to a speech given by former American CEO Robert Crandall last month, Levine, now a New York University law professor, says the industry must change to adapt to high oil prices, and trying to “preserve the industry as it was in 2005, let alone in 1978,” is not the answer.
Boeing expects to begin final ground tests on the initial 767-200SF Special Freighter in Everett, Wash., on Aug. 1 following its ferry flight from Alenia Aeronavali’s conversion site in Venice. Initial tests will focus on flight deck noise and the environmental control system prior to the start of long-delayed certification tests. The 767-200SF flew in June before ferrying to Seattle for Boeing-led amended type certificate tests. The original plan called for flight tests in mid-2007.
Finmeccanica improved its financial performances in the first half over the same period last year, with revenue up by 6% to €6.4 billion ($9.9 billion) and net profit increasing 68% to €297 million. The bottom line was bolstered by the sale of some assets. The company also boosted its order book 8% to €39 billion. The company continues to bring down its debt, which now stands at €2.6 billion. As with other European aerospace companies, the civil aeronautics business suffered due to the weak dollar.
Is strategic planning for Paris’s airports unrealistic and ill-fated? The politically incorrect question must be asked in the wake of a report released by Cour des Comptes (CDC), the French oversight agency, similar to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
The action by the FAA to reduce the risk of fuel-tank explosions is welcome but inexcusably late (AW&ST July 21, p. 47). The history of airliner fuel tank explosions is extensive—16 since 1959—seven resulting in fatalities. After the crash of Pan Am 214 in 1963, the deputy director of the Civil Aeronautics Board’s Bureau of Safety, which investigated the accident, urged the FAA to require fuel-tank inerting systems on airliners. It was not done.
David Rokos (see photo) has been appointed vice president/treasurer for Rockwell Collins , Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was controller of the Surface Solutions unit of the Government Systems Div.
In a rare collaboration with a commercial satellite services provider, the Pentagon plans to fly a prototype sensor that could transform how the U.S. Air Force handles its ballistic missile warning mission.
Eclipse Aviation’s removal of founder and CEO Vern Raburn may be the first in a series of major changes that the manufacturer of very light jets will undergo in the coming months as it seeks to stem a hemorrhaging of cash.
British Airways wants to merge with Iberia, Austrian is looking for a strategic partner, and Ryanair is ready to pounce and take advantage of any anticipated airline bankruptcies. It’s the reshuffling of deck chairs that the serious airline revenue and cost crisis has triggered in Europe. The financial incentive is clear. Ryanair has seen a 85% decline in profit, Austrian estimates a full-year loss of €70-90 million ($109-140 million), and British Airways was expected to announce a sharp drop in profitability on Aug. 1 as well.
NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) is set to enter a final round of testing, fueling and spin-balancing at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., the midpoint on its terrestrial journey to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands for an Oct. 5 launch into high elliptical orbit to map the edge of the Solar System. The 38 X 23-in. octagonal spacecraft shipped to Vandenberg July 25 from Orbital Sciences Corp.
Lawrence R. Moreau has been appointed to the board of directors of the Hi-Shear Technology Corp. , Torrance, Calif. He was founder of Moreau and Co. and the Moreau Capital Corp.
I am puzzled that you have printed, and indeed highlighted, a comment by reader Philippe Cauchi (AW&ST June 9, p. 10). Obviously, he is still governed by the cliches of the ’70s’ and ’80s when it comes to bashing Airbus over subsidies, other financial initiatives and political pressures. These issues have been dealt with throughout the years in detail in these pages and elsewhere. Most people know that both Airbus and Boeing have shown technical leadership on their products, despite some troubles with the most recent efforts.
Multirole weapons—a single platform designed to target the most sophisticated air and ground threats—are the “obvious next step” for the U.S. Air Force’s air-launched munitions portfolio, according to the service’s top procurement official.
