NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center is seeking information from industry in the run-up to the competition for the next Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition (RSA) follow-on program, known as Rapid III. NASA expects to release a draft request for proposals (RFP) for Rapid III in October, with a final RFP in January and contracts awarded next June. Under the RSA process, vendors submit spacecraft bus designs that can be modified to carry various NASA instrument payloads. Once a spacecraft is placed in the RSA “catalog,” it’s eligible for procurement.
The all too predictable spat over Heathrow’s third runway took a further twist last week with British Airways boss Willie Walsh and BAA chief Colin Matthews taking issue with Conservative leader David Cameron’s suggestion that the economic case for a third runway was “flawed.”
Robert Crandall wants to change or regulate everything about the airline industry except the obscene pay and bonuses of the clowns running the circus. Funny how some things never change with these self-imagined “leaders.”
Spirit AeroSystems’ engineering and technical workers have rejected a decertification effort launched against the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (Speea), voting by a 55% margin to keep the union that has represented them since 2000. The June 24 election at Spirit’s Wichita, Kan., home base was conducted by the National Labor Relations Board and ended with 1,968 employees voting in Speea’s favor, 895 against.
Northwest is suspending service on the Minneapolis/St. Paul-Paris route it launched with so much fanfare Apr. 8 and is canceling two other international routes, citing high fuel costs and decreased demand. The last flights for its Detroit-Dusseldorf and Hartford-Amsterdam services will be Oct. 2. Northwest says Minneapolis/St. Paul-Paris service will resume Mar. 28.
Marc Overton (see photos) has been named vice president-business aviation sales and Steve Pack senior vice president-OEM manufacturing for Tulsa, Okla.-based Nordam . Overton was director of marketing and sales, while Pack was general manager of the Nacelle and Thrust Reverser Systems Div. John Coates has been appointed vice president/general manager of the Repair Div. He was general manager of Chromalloy Southwest.
In the presidential debate over the future of the U.S. space program, it may all come down to Florida. The state that brought you hanging chads and Democratic half-delegates could also wind up shaping what Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain say about how the U.S. will spend its space exploration dollars after George W. Bush leaves the White House.
The second new U.S. highly elliptical orbit (HEO) early missile warning sensor has completed early checkout over the Northern Hemisphere, the U.S. Air Force says. The Space Based Infrared System (Sbirs) payload collected this image of an undisclosed launch sometime after its deployment in late February, when the Air Force boosted the payload from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on a classified National Reconnaissance Office satellite that serves as its host.
Midwest Airlines will park 12 MD-80s by autumn, citing high operational costs and fuel consumption. Nine of the jets are in daily operation, two are for charter work and one is a spare. Management is assessing the impact on scheduled operations and has held discussions with employees regarding a restructuring program. Midwest also operates 25 Boeing 717s.
Bob Benjamin of the Western Airparts Corp. has been appointed treasurer of the Washington-based National Assn. of Aircraft and Communication Suppliers . Other officers are Vice Presidents Brian Cole (United Aeronautical Corp.) and Steve Wilk (Dixie Air Parts Supply); Membership Chairman Ed Wilk (Dixie Air Parts Supply); and Executive Director John Fausti.
Italy’s Air One will focus on U.S. and Far East destinations in its plan to add 16 international points by 2012. The carrier has established a code-sharing relationship with United Airlines and has asked the Transportation Dept. to approve a similar agreement with US Airways. Air One recently placed an order for 12 Airbus A330-200s and 12 A350-800WBs with options for another 20 long-range transports. Last year the airline posted a net profit of $10.6 million and recorded a 20.8% increase in traffic to 7.5 million passengers.
SES shareholders have OK’d the cancellation of 34 million shares acquired under a pair of stock buyback initiatives started in 2005, and approved a further buyback for up to 10% of issued share capital. The company has already bought back 32% of its shares.
Plans for crash, fire and rescue operations involving composite-structure, new large aircraft (AW&ST June 23, p. 64) should consider the hazards of airborne composite fibers and dust along with the smoke and noxious gases from the bonding epoxy matrix that may have burned. A recent report, Australian Transport Safety Board AR-2007-02, noted that fiber dust can pose an inhalation risk similar to asbestos. Released fibers are sharp and can cause skin and eye irritation.
Frank Morring, Jr. (Johnson Space Center and Washington)
NASA has determined that it has a workable plan to return humans to the Moon by 2020, and is moving into early design work on its Moon rocket and lunar lander. Work on the spacesuits that astronauts would wear on the lunar surface is under contract, and begins this week. Senior NASA managers are expected to approve the “Phase A” design startup this year for the Ares V heavy lift launch vehicle and the Altair lunar lander.
Lockheed Martin has developed a multi-mission surveillance radar based on a design initially requested by the U.S. Marine Corps that is now winning international customers and entering full-scale production.
Robert Crandall, in his Viewpoint (AW&ST June 16, p. 62), hits the nail on the head but with not enough force to drive the point home. Airline deregulation works when airlines do not cut corners on maintenance to increase the bottom line. Like some students who inevitably will cheat on an exam, some airlines will cheat on maintenance for the sake of the profit-and-loss statement (their profit and the passenger’s loss).
Three airlines have become the first aviation industry representatives on a Boeing-backed organization that’s tapping some of the oil industry’s refining expertise as it pursues second-generation, algae-based alternative fuels for commercial aircraft. Air New Zealand, Continental Airlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways are joining the Algal Biomass Organization (ABO) that Boeing and research organizations founded in May to identify and accelerate development of the alternative fuels.
British Airways is selling its 10.5% stake in Air Mauritius for £3.2 million ($6.3 million) after 35 years because the carrier is mature and no longer requires foreign investment and support. The transaction includes selling BA’s 3.84% share in the carrier to the government of Mauritius, and sale of its 13.24% share in Air Mauritius Holding Co. to existing shareholders. Air Mauritius is bracing for a difficult year.
An unmanned aircraft designed to evaluate the feasibility of continuous solar-powered flight on Mars has completed a 27-hr. flight near Nierderwil, Switzerland. The Sky-Sailor UAV, which has a wingspan of 10.5 ft., flew through the night powered by a battery that was recharged during the day using solar energy, thereby demonstrating the ability for continuous flight, according to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich that built the UAV. Design was begun under a European Space Agency study for a Mars flyer.
Partnerships between the military and industry are growing in number and broadening in scope, bringing the services and defense contractors more closely together than any previous relationship.
Five Key Questions In an interview with Aviation Week & Space Technology Congressional Editor John M. Doyle, policy analyst and former Senate staffer Jerry Cox says aerospace and defense industry leaders should seek answers to these five questions from the candidates before Election Day. Listen to the podcast at AviationWeek.com/extra By Their Advisers You Shall Know Them
Nicola Phillips has become flight operations standards and training manager for Empire Airlines , Hayden, Idaho. She was check airman/assistant chief pilot for Skyway Airlines of Milwaukee.
Richard Miller has been named president/CEO of Information Systems Laboratories of San Diego. He was executive vice president/chief operating officer and succeeds Michael Dowe, who has retired.
USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Howard F. Leaf (Brandywine, Md.)
The U.S. Air Force made the wrong decision in its air-refueling tanker award. Major flaws in the conduct of the competition significantly affected its outcome.
Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama, starting in January 2007, spent more than a year fighting for their political parties’ nomination for President of the United States. For all their rhetoric about everything from taxes to trade during those many months, however, they had very little to say about aviation, aerospace and national security—the unpopular war in Iraq notwithstanding.
