Rolls-Royce has completed the preliminary design review on the Advanced Versatile Engine Technology (Advent) demonstrator for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. The variable-cycle engine is designed to combine high thrust and low bypass ratio for takeoff with fuel efficiency and high bypass ratio for long range and endurance. Rolls’ LibertyWorks research unit has begun rig testing of the variable-flow fan, with core testing planned for 2011 and full engine ground testing for 2012. General Electric is also working on an Advent demonstrator.
I offer no opinion regarding the basic tenet of Daniel Dugan’s letter (AW&ST Apr. 28, p. 8). However, his casual comment regarding the “unsuccessful” XH-59A program is wrong and does a disservice to the personnel who worked on the program. The Advancing Blade Concept (ABC) was entirely successful but lacked the necessary corporate support to prosper in the politically charged environment of the early 1980s.
Greg Irmen (see photo) has been appointed vice president/general manager of Rockwell Collins Business and Regional Systems, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He succeeds Denny Helgeson, who will be retiring this fall. Irmen has been senior director of Boeing programs.
Boeing is poised to start flights of its newly developed, 757-based Agile Integration Laboratory (AIL) for the Lockheed Martin F-22 stealth fighter. In addition to making the wing and aft fuselage for the Raptor, Boeing leads avionics integration and will utilize the modified 757 to test scheduled upgrades to the F-22’s weapon systems.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates asserts that it was all about nuclear weapons handling, but his firing of the Air Force secretary and chief of staff comes after a string of Sec Def-level grievances. Whatever the reasons, the abrupt sackings caught many off guard. “This can’t be good news for any of us,” says a Lockheed Martin official with insight into the F-22 program. In their resignation announcements, Secretary Michael Wynne and Gen. T. Michael Moseley both cited “recent events” that convinced them to move on.
Pressure for greater access to U.S. airspace for unmanned aircraft keeps growing. The weight is bearing down on the FAA, and increasingly is being applied by other government agencies wanting airspace access for training, environment monitoring, law enforcement and disaster response.
The Phoenix lander sits near the North Pole of Mars directly on top of exposed water ice that it was prepared to dig for weeks to find. The mission goal is to unravel the mysteries of what may be preserved inside the ice and surrounding soil.
Piasecki Aircraft has turned to Congress for help to push its X-49A SpeedHawk high-speed compound helicopter even faster. The company wants to take over ownership of the aircraft from the government so it can demonstrate its speed potential. Funded by the Army, the X-49 is a Navy Sikorsky SH-60 helo modified with Piasecki’s vectored-thrust ducted propeller. The Pennsylvania-based company believes the X-49 can fly faster than any conventional bird, but it is stuck at 177 kt. because Navy safety rules require it to stay within the existing SH-60 flight envelope.
Scott Winship (see photo) has been appointed vice president/program manager for the Northrop Grumman Corp. Integrated Systems Sector’s San Diego-based U.S. Navy Unmanned Combat Air System (N-UCAS). He was RQ-8A Fire Scout program manager.
The United Arab Emirates says preliminary discussions have been held with France on the potential purchase of Dassault Rafale multirole fighters to replace its fleet of 63 French-supplied Mirage 2000-9s in 2013. The talks have been confirmed by the office of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, which says deliveries could begin in 2102. Dassault has yet to secure an export customer for the Rafale, which lost out to the Lockheed Martin F-16 in Morocco’s competition last year. The Rafale is competing in Greece, India and Switzerland.
The Phoenix Mars north polar lander is to complete the baking of its first surface soil sample at up to 1,800F this week in an initial search for organic clues to Martian life. This first sample is to be processed following its planned delivery by robotic arm to the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) instrument June 6 on the 12th day (Sol 12) of the mission.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s new international registered traveler program will offer reciprocal benefits to travelers enrolled in Privium, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport’s program. CBP’s Global Entry program begins a six-month trial at New York JFK, Houston Intercontinental and Washington Dulles airports this week. Under the deal, registered travelers flying between Schiphol and the three U.S. airports can use kiosks for passport and border control functions under the International Expedited Traveler Program.
Rolls-Royce and GKN Aerospace are forming a joint venture covering the design, development and manufacture of lightweight, low-cost fan blades for next-generation commercial aircraft engines. The work will build on engine programs such as the European Union-funded Vital and the U.K.’s Environmentally Friendly Engine (EFE) and associated composite lightweight blade research. Initial funding for the joint venture is around $22 million, with Rolls-Royce holding 51% and GKN the remainder.
Exasperated by exorbitant fuel prices, most U.S. airlines are expected to scale down capacity by fall and seek capital markets’ support to prepare for expected hardships this year and next.
Boeing has successfully fired a solid-state laser at 25 kw. for several seconds by linking multiple “thin-disk” lasers into a single system. The firings, conducted at Boeing’s West Hills, Calif., site, are considered a significant step toward meeting the goal of developing a non-chemical, solid-state laser capable of 100 kw. for use in weapons systems such as the advanced tactical laser (see p. 58).
In the latest and biggest effort to organize flight crew, JetBlue Airways pilots will hold an information event June 19 at a hotel near New York JFK International Airport. The JetBlue Pilots Assn. Organizing Committee, in a letter to flight crewmembers, says JetBlue is in the same position Southwest Airlines was in 30 years ago, and the direction Southwest chose “had historical implications for them, their company and the entire industry.” The committee is collecting interest cards from JetBlue pilots, which is the first step of the process in forming a union.
MBDA CEO Antoine Bouvier says partners in the transatlantic Medium Extended Air Defense System (Meads) are reviewing technical difficulties in the system’s development and preparing to address them so the program, funded by the U.S., Germany and Italy, remains within the announced schedule and budget envelopes. Bouvier says Meads requirements are “challenging” but declines to detail difficulties.
The FAA is proposing an airworthiness directive requiring inspections of the tail rotor vertical stabilizer aft spar assembly of Sikorsky S-76A/B/C helicopters. The checks are aimed at detecting an unbalanced or out-of-track tail rotor, which could lead to increased vibrations, a fatigue crack, loss of a portion of the vertical stabilizer and subsequent loss of control of the aircraft. The move is prompted by 26 reports of fatigue cracks in the assembly web and outer caps, according to the FAA, which is seeking comments by Aug. 4.
Scaled Composites has named Douglas Shane as its new president, taking over responsibility for day-to-day operations from founder Burt Rutan, who becomes chief technology officer and chairman emeritus. Shane was vice president for business development, director of flight operations and a test pilot for Scaled, which he joined in 1982 as a founding member. Rutan is recovering from heart problems, and will focus on developing Scaled’s team to ensure its continued creativity.
John Schneider has been named director of finance for Aero Precision Industries , Livermore, Calif. He was senior financial executive for Barbosa Cabinets. Dave Salzer has been named head of the Supply Chain Dept., Steve Gober manager of Honeywell-related operations, Leslie Bjornnes head of Taiwan and Pacific Rim customer segments, and Pavel Slavin and Nate Ellis as Middle East sales managers.
More work needs to be done to improve the internal and external reservations systems that will allow airlines to add revenues by unbundling fares, and to truly meet a 100% International Air Transport Assn. e-ticketing deadline that has come and gone. Airlines worldwide bade farewell to paper tickets on June 1, forcing customers to rely more heavily on automation. And in a completely separate initiative, more airlines have decided in recent weeks to start charging for a second checked bag—or in some cases the first bag.
Lockheed Martin/VT Group joint venture Ascent has signed a 25-year contract to provide military flying training for the U.K. under a public-private partnership expected to be worth almost $12 billion over its life. The initial contract, worth £635 million ($1.24 billion), covers Ascent’s role as training system provider for the U.K. Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) program.
The three-ton W2M satellite jointly built for Eutelsat by EADS Astrium and Antrix, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), is about to enter its final test before leaving ISRO for an end-of-year Ariane launch. Ghislain de la Sayette, regional export director for EADS Astrium, says the second order is due for liftoff in mid-2009. It is Hylass, a Ka-/Ku-band satellite for the U.K.’s Avanti that will provide broadband Internet and high-definition television coverage across Europe.
The first test firing of the Aster 30 missile for the U.K.’s Type 45 destroyer-based missile defense system achieved a successful target intercept. The test of the so-called Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS(S)) took place at the French missile test range near the Ile du Levant. The Aster 30 intercepted a Mirach target flying at an altitude of 10 km. (6.25 mi.). Intercept occurred at a range of 35 km. Another PAAMS(S) test shot is planned this year, with the final one due next year.
A fast-response committee created by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates to catalog the Pentagon’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities—as a prelude to advocating new ISR technologies—is riveting the attention of those involved with unmanned aircraft and sensors, areas expected to reap the primary operational and financial benefits.
