A British ambition to buy additional Chinook helicopters dedicated to the Special Forces role appears to have been thwarted by the need for savings, although increased availability of the U.K.’s present Chinook fleet is helping to close any gap.
The News Break “Woes Dog UAV Operations” points out an issue well worth serious consideration (AW&ST May 12, p. 18). Author Isaac Asimov coined the “Rules of Robotics” decades ago, describing why robots should be required to have basic fail-safe modes protecting human life hard-wired into their existence. What we now face are a number of UAVs (robots that fly) that are launched into our world lacking those fail-safe principles.
The FAA reports its adaptive compression software that scans airport slots and assigns ones that are unused when a flight is canceled, delayed or rerouted saved U.S. airlines 1.1 million delay minutes and $27 million in its first year of operation in 2007.
The biggest surprise about EADS NV’s decision not to challenge Finmeccanica SpA.’s deal to buy DRS Technologies Inc. may be that the company seriously considered the move at all. Officials in EADS’s North American operation had pushed hard to counter their Italian competitor’s $5.2-billion bid for DRS (AW&ST May 19, p. 38). But Chief Executive Louis Gallois said last week that EADS will take a pass.
Intelsat controllers are raising the new Galaxy 18 telecom spacecraft toward its geosynchronous orbital slot following a flawless launch from the Sea Launch Odyssey floating platform early May 21. Liftoff of the Zenit-3SL launch vehicle came at 5:43 a.m. EDT from a position on the equator at 154 deg. W. Long., and the rocket’s Block DM-SL upper stage placed the spacecraft in its geosynchronous transfer orbit an hour later.
Even as European airlines fret over their eventual inclusion in an emissions trading scheme, ETS is already a reality for other parts of the aerospace industry. One example is Bombardier’s Belfast production site, which has to balance its carbon dioxide output with the cap-and-trade plan covering industrial activities that Europe has been using since 2005. A second phase of the ETS has just begun, and early in the next decade, more stringent CO2 limits loom when a third phase is introduced.
Loral Space & Communications recorded a net loss of $71 million in the first quarter of the year, on revenues of $386 million. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were $99 million. Results included a first-time contribution from Telesat of Canada, in which Loral acquired a 64% stake on Oct. 31, 2007. Backlog of the Space Systems/Loral satellite manufacturing arm rose to $1.2 billion from $1 billion at the end of December.
Eurocopter and AgustaWestland say their new “haute couture” helicopter offerings are sparking strong interest from VIP customers. AgustaWestland signed up a Russian customer for an AW119 with a Versace-designed interior unveiled in early 2007. The company has received a half-dozen orders for the interior, which is also available on the AW109 Power, Grand and AW139, and delivered two. And last week, Eurocopter secured a launch order for its EC135 “l’Helicoptere par Hermes” from Middle East Falcon Aviation Services (FAS), to be delivered this year.
Air France-KLM and British Airways all project a profitable year despite high fuel costs. There’s just one problem: reality has already overtaken the $120-per-barrel price that was the point of reference that underpinned those forecasts. Crude last week reached $135.
SpaceDev Inc. will get another $3.6 million or so from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to continue work on its High Delta-V Satellite program. The Pentagon agency exercised an option to continue work on the project for another six months.
Hawker Beechcraft is trying to invigorate its light jet activities with the launch of the twinjet Premier II. Although the aircraft maker says it’s not taking the Premier IA off the market, per se, the Premier II appears to be where the emphasis will lie going forward. The manufacturer says more than 70 commitments for the aircraft are in hand. First flight is due next April, with FAA certification planned for the second quarter of 2010 and by EASA in late 2010. Deliveries in the U.S. should start in mid-2010.
Italy’s Alenia Aeronautica and Aero Vodochody of the Czech Republic are among three bidders for Romanian aircraft manufacturer Avioane Craiova. Along with the third bidder, local firm INAV, they have each submitted offers for an 81% stake in the company, which produces the IAR-99 Soim jet trainer.
Yet another Indonesian airline is starting up, with Lorena Air planning its first operational flight on June 6. Lorena has obtained an air operator’s certificate and now only needs to take delivery of its pair of 737-300s, which are undergoing maintenance by Malaysian Airline System.
Our industry continues to encounter missed program cost estimates, schedule slippages and performance shortfalls. The Government Accountability Office’s Sixth Annual Assessment of Selected Weapon Programs details an embarrassing Defense Dept. situation. GAO reviewed 95 programs, representing $1.6 trillion, and found: 40% of Research, Development, Test and Evaluation programs missed their initial estimates; 26% cost increase in acquisition programs; programs delayed an average of 26 months; and some performance shortfalls.
It looks like the FAA is listening to critics who have been saying there isn’t a senior leader at the agency whose sole job it is to bring the NextGen ATC system into a reality. NextGen calls for transformation of the ATC system so it can handle three times more traffic by 2025—a tall order. But things changed last week with the appointment of Vicki Cox to a new position—senior vice president of NextGen. The arrival of a senior leader to oversee the program, previously assigned to an office with little clout, is seen as a positive move by industry observers.
The FAA and European Aviation Safety Agency have granted Technical Standard Orders to Barco’s 15-in. primary flight display. Last September, the company received a similar set of TSOs for the 10.4-in. version, indicating that it met airworthiness standards. Both sizes are used in Honeywell’s Primus Apex suite, according to Barco. Honeywell markets the 10.4-in. display as the KDU-1080 and the 15-in. version as the KDU-1500. For example, the Primus Apex cockpit in Grob Aerospace’s spn light jet includes two 15-in. displays (one for each pilot) and two 10.4-in.
While immediate priorities for Russia’s helicopter sector call for upgrading the Mil Mi-8/Mi-17 family and bringing the Mi-38 medium-lift to market, designers are also pursuing high-speed rotorcraft concepts. Kamov and Mil began to flesh out their respective ideas for high-speed rotary flight during the HeliRussia 2008 exhibition held in Moscow earlier this month. Alongside the ambitious concept models, considerable emphasis was placed on pushing ahead with industry consolidation.
With upwards of 25% of airline flights in the U.S. delayed on a typical day and untold additional flights canceled, would anyone argue that this system, which allows massive over-scheduling, does not need reform? The airline industry maintains that the fault lies with the government for not keeping up with growth to provide a national airspace system of sufficient capacity. And there is some truth to that.
Mike Gardiner has been appointed president of the Engine Control and Electrical Power Systems unit of the Goodrich Corp. , Charlotte, N.C. He was president of the Power Systems unit. Gardiner succeeds Marc Duvall, who is now vice president/general manager of the Aerostructures unit.
EasyJet is trying to force a judicial review of the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority’s pricing decisions at London Gatwick Airport, submitting an application to the High Court May 22. The court likely will decide by the end of July whether it believes the CAA has a case to answer. EasyJet contends the CAA “acted unlawfully” when it ignored the government’s Competition Commission recommendation regarding the regulatory settlement the CAA should determine for airport operator BAA. EasyJet is incensed by an “obscene increase” in the passenger fees at Gatwick for 2008-13.
Wong Tsoo, Boeing ’s first engineer and who is known as the father of its Model C training seaplane in the early 1900s, and was an early aviation and aerospace pioneer, has been honored by the company and its Museum of Flight in Seattle. As part of the ceremony, National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, where Tsoo taught from 1955-65, presented Boeing with a bound copy of Tsoo’s recently rediscovered lecture notes.
The House Homeland Security Committee wants the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to get serious about developing biometric identification policy for airport personnel. The panel has cleared, and sent to the full House, the Biometric Enhancement and Airport Risk Reduction Act, which would require the TSA to conduct a study on the best way for airports to transition to interoperable biometric identification for airport workers with unescorted access to secure or sterile areas.
The first prototype of Sukhoi’s Superjet 100 could be moved to the Gromov flight research institute near Moscow as early as next month, following its maiden flight on May 19. The Superjet is the first Russian commercial aircraft to be designed and developed since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and a great deal is riding on its success. The program will form a core element of any resurgence within the country’s ailing commercial sector.
The Civil aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is implementing Airways New Zealand’s “Flight Yield” system to extract flight data and produce invoices to send to airlines for ATC services provided. Airways is New Zealand’s air navigation service provider, and its Airways International affiliate sold the system to the CAAC to cover all of China’s ANS charges and airport fees, according to Bruce Heesterman, general manager of Airways International.
ORBITER: Discovery (OV-103) will be making its 35th flight. It most recently returned from orbit on Nov. 7, 2007. LAUNCH DATE: Targeted for May 31 from Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A for a 14-day mission, returning to KSC on June 14.
