Aircraft operators using Thielert engines are unhappy with the lack of responsiveness the company has shown as it tries to find a financial white knight to rescue it from its ongoing insolvency process. “Based on what we’ve seen so far, the only way Thielert engine owners will get relief is to band together and exert pressure as a group,” argues Todd House, president of YourJet, who directs the newly formed Thielert Engine Owners Group. In particular, the users are furious over Thielert’s decision to void their warranties, but then offer them to buyers of new engines.
Eldar Hauge has been named managing director of Northrop Grumman’s Park Air Systems operations in Norway. He was vice president-national security and public safety for Ericsson.
An industry team of Saab Avitronics and Chemring has secured the first two customers for their Camps-100 civil aircraft missile protection system, with initial deliveries due this year. The first user will be an Embraer EMB-120 twin turboprop from Naturelink, a South African-based operator that flies for the United Nations and other nongovernmental organizations.
Repairs to the damaged flame trench on Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center shouldn’t delay the planned Oct. 8 launch of the space shuttle Atlantis on the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. However, it remains an open question as to what impact the condition of the twin Apollo-era KSC launch pads will have on the Ares launchers under development to replace the shuttle.
Hindustan Aeronautics has flown the second of eight limited series-production Tejas Light Combat Aircraft and the first to be powered by the General Electric F404-IN20 engine. Compared with the F404-N2J3 powering previous LCAs, the -IN20 has full-authority digital engine control, and increased thrust and life. The air force has ordered an initial 20 LCAs, and may order 20 more. The Tejas is planned to enter service in 2010.
NASA selected a team led by Oceaneering International Inc. (OII) to build its next-generation spacesuits because it felt the team’s systems-engineering and management plans are more likely to get the job done than those proposed by veteran suitmakers Hamilton Sundstrand and ILC Dover. According to a copy of the source-selection statement for the contract obtained by Aviation Week & Space Technology, cost was not a discriminator in the choice of OII over the ILC Dover/Hamilton Sundstrand joint venture, Exploration Systems & Technology (EST).
Malaysia’s Maritime Enforcement Agency has placed a firm order for two Bombardier 415MP multipurpose amphibians modified for maritime surveillance. The waterbomber will be equipped with two side-looking airborne radars, forward-looking infrared sensor, maritime surveillance radar and other specialized avionics and communications equipment.
Rolls-Royce is reporting progress with two programs that could position it to produce the next generation of U.S. high-performance military engine. The company’s LibertyWorks unit has completed preliminary design reviews for two U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) demonstrator projects—Adaptive Versatile Engine Technology (Advent) and Highly Efficient Embedded Turbine Engine (Heete)—that lay the foundations for advanced engines to power transport, surveillance and strike aircraft entering service after 2020.
The International Civil Aviation Organization launched the ICAO Carbon Calculator on its web site as an impartial tool for computation of the carbon dioxide emissions of a particular airplane flight. The calculator, available at www.icao.int, takes into account aircraft type, route-specific data, passenger load factors and cargo carried.
Team Qinetiq, comprising Olympic gold medalist James Cracknell and TV personality Ben Fogle, will attempt to win the international Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race set to begin in December. All entrants will use identical equipment, but this team will train for the race, the first to the South Pole since the Scott-Amundsen endeavor nearly a century ago, at Qinetiq’s facilities in Farnborough, England. Use of climate chambers to prepare for extreme cold is one part of the training regime.
June 29-July 2—SAE International’s 38th International Conference on Environmental Systems. Hyatt Regency, San Francisco. Also, July 16-17—International’s Open Forum Time-Triggered Technologies Symposium. Holiday Inn, Farnborough, England. Call +1 (724) 776-4841 or see www.sae.org July 1-4Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States Aviation Outlook Summit. Hotel Baltschung Kempinski, Moscow. Call +44 (207) 827-4156, fax +44 (207) 242-1508 or see www.terrapinn.com/2008
The U.S. House of Representatives passed NASA’s Fiscal 2009 authorization bill by a vote of 409-15 on June 18. The legislation authorizes $20.21 billion, which includes a baseline authorization of $19.21 billion plus $1 billon to accelerate the development of the Orion and Ares vehicles. The baseline level represents an inflationary increase of 2.8% over the 2008 authorization.
Nazario Cauceglia (see photo) has become chief technical officer at Italy-based Alenia Aeronautica . He succeeds Alessandro Franzoni, who has been appointed CEO of Alenia-Sukhoi joint venture Superjet International.
The U.K.’s third Skynet 5 new-generation military communications satellite is undergoing checkout after a June 12 launch from Kourou, French Guiana, atop an Ariane 5 ECA rocket. The 4.7-metric-ton Skynet 5C—financed, built and operated by EADS Astrium Services’ Paradigm unit—will provide highly protected UHF/SHF coverage for forward forces around the globe from its perch at 17.8 deg. W. Long. The mission also orbited Turksat 3A, a 3.1-ton Ku-band commercial communications satellite built by Thales Alenia Space.
Deutsche Lufthansa will introduce biofuels across all its companies as part of a 15-point environmental program that also sets 12-year targets on carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and noise emission reductions. The aviation group—which operates a portfolio including Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines and MRO Lufthansa Technik—will mix biofuel with kerosene and increase the percentage of biofuel to 10% by 2020.
Saudi Arabia and the U.K. are discussing the sale of 40-70 additional Eurofighter Typhoons. Significantly, they would be from Tranche 3 production. The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) already has 72 Typhoon Tranche 2s on order, with delivery due to begin in 2009.
Elizabeth Lund (see photo) has become vice president-product development for Seattle-based Boeing Commercial Airplanes . She succeeds Todd Zarfos, who is now vice president-747/767/777 engineering. Lund has been director of 777 manufacturing in Everett, Wash.
Flight Deck Resources Inc. of Irvine, Calif., has a novel electronic flight bag (EFB) system in development that will be able to serve as either a Class 1 or Class 2 system. Class 1 systems are like portable laptops that pilots can use on the ground for flight planning, but not in flight. More capable Class 2 systems can be installed in the cockpit in a holder and used in flight. “We took a ‘tablet personal computer’ and converted it into avionics grade equipment (for use in flight),” says sales director Chris Papero.
A new analysis finds that a quarter or more of the commercial aircraft backlog at Boeing Co. and Airbus could be at risk as high oil prices continue to batter airlines. The two aircraft builders have taken comfort that the hardest-hit segment of the industry—U.S. airlines—accounts for just 12% of their backlogs. But Robert Stallard, a director at Macquarie Capital, warns that orders from undercapitalized startups in Asia and Europe and carriers with overly aggressive growth plans also are at risk.
Airbus Military Aircraft will roll out the first A400M airlifter on June 26. Airbus still hopes to fly the airlifter by September, although it admits the deadline “is getting increasingly tight.” Engineers want the aircraft’s TP400 turboprop to accumulate 50 hr. on a C-130 Hercules testbed before the first flight. The engine began a 30-hr. ground test campaign earlier this month (AW&ST June 16, p. 20).
Tom Captain (see photo) has been appointed vice chairman/global and U.S. leader of Deloitte Consulting ’s Aerospace and Defense Group. He has been a principal in the firm, and succeeds Jim Schwendinger, who is retiring.
Amy Butler (Washington), Robert Wall (Paris), Michael Mecham (San Francisco)
The likelihood of a new competition for the U.S. Air Force’s $35-billion refueler deal casts doubt about the Pentagon’s ability to fairly conduct competition and is thwarting Airbus’s plans to secure a stateside manufacturing foothold. Airbus parent EADS has now halted its push to build an assembly line in the U.S. (see p. 36). In the meantime, the Pentagon’s credibility is suffering a crippling blow after a salvo of criticism from government auditors.
The second phase of 4D trajectory arrival demonstrations is starting at Stockholm’s Arlanda airport—this time under funding from Eurocontrol’s CTA ATM System Integration Studies (Cassis) project. The first phase involved showing how SAS 737s could data link 4D trajectories (the three spatial dimensions, plus time) from the flight deck to air traffic controllers who could then sequence arrivals (AW&ST Apr. 28, p. 52). Each aircraft was given a required time of arrival (RTA) over the threshold and, on average, was able to meet this time within ±7 sec.
Bombardier Aerospace and LuxairGroup have signed a five-year agreement for the Canadian manufacturer’s Smart Services component repair and exchange program. The contract covers nearly 250 components for Luxembourg Airlines’ fleet of Q400s, which will be serviced at Bombardier’s parts distribution center in Frankfurt.
