Boeing has fired the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) technology demonstrator for the first time on board its C-130H testbed. The ground firing on May 13 at Kirtland AFB, N.M., marked the beginning of tests leading up to inflight firings at “mission-representative ground targets” later this year to evaluate the high-energy chemical laser’s military utility. U.S. Special Operations Command is handing over management of the ATL to the U.S.
The discovery of hydroxyl on Venus has scientists scurrying to detect whether there is also an abundance of ozone on the Morning Star. The discovery, the first on another planet, was made in a thin layer of the Venusian atmosphere 100 km. (62 mi.) above the planet by the visible and infrared imaging spectrometer on the European Space Agency’s Venus Express probe.
Climatologists at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., will deploy the agency’s High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) system late in June to the Arctic as part of an intensive field campaign to investigate the region’s lower atmosphere and identify how pollution contributes to climate change there. The HSRL is designed to study the size, composition, distribution and movement of aerosols and will be deployed on board NASA’s Beechcraft Super King Air 200.
Conor Marr, a graduate student in aerospace engineering at Pennsylvania State University, has won the 2008 Lichten Award, through which NASA provides an internship in partnership with the Alexandria, Va.-based American Helicopter Society International . The award supports NASA’s goal to enhance the educational experiences of U.S. engineering students in fields that align with the agency’s aeronautics program.
A pair of astronomical observations 22 years apart has revealed that a supernova in the constellation Sagittarius occurred about 140 years ago, confirming it as the most recent stellar explosion observed in the Milky Way galaxy. In 1985, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Very Large Array in New Mexico made an observation of the supernova remnant G1.9+0.3 in radio wavelengths (blue in the composite image above). Then, early last year, NASA’s orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory collected the image of X-rays from the blast (orange in the image above).
American Airlines’ plan to retire up to 85 aircraft this year could be a harbinger of an even larger wave of U.S. fleet cuts, with the carrier’s competitors likely to further slash their own capacity to cope with soaring fuel costs.
Cessna has tapped Goodrich to supply the landing gear and Argo-Tech, the fuel system for its new Columbus midsize jet. It also picked Vought to design and produce the aircraft wing and slats.
In the article “Open Warfare” (AW&ST May 12, p. 26), it is said General Electric has thrown down the gauntlet to Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbofan (GTF). I would suggest Pratt has thrown down the gauntlet to GE and Rolls-Royce. I doubt GE or Rolls has spent anywhere near the $1 billion on the “open-rotor” architecture in the past 20 years as Pratt has on the GTF.
While Airbus is still in the ramp-up phase for its new corporate jet completion business, market response is steady and solid. The aircraft maker has embarked on a conservative approach to building the Airbus Corporate Jet Center (ACJC) for fear that overextending itself early could lead to delivery delays that could sour relationships with VIP customers. But handover of the first aircraft two months ago established the company’s ability to outfit its narrow-body, large-cabin business jets in-house.
Mike Enright (see photo) and Charlie Chambers have been promoted to business managers from technical sales managers for government and commercial sales, respectively, for Barnes Aerospace , Windsor, Conn.
The British Defense Ministry is considering purchasing 200 common mission support systems for its AgustaWestland Future Lynx and WAH-64 Apache helicopters. The terminal would be used to provide the aircrew with a mission rehearsal tool, with the ability to upload and download data from the terminal to the helicopter. The mission support system—if procured—will enter service with the Apache by the end of 2010.
CAE will train pilots and mechanics of Bombardier Aerospace Learjet 40 and 40 XL, as well as Learjet 45 and 45 XL, business jets under a pact that will expand on the companies’ 20-year relationship. Plans call for installation of a new full-flight simulator for the 40/40 XRs and 45/45 XRs at CAE’s Burgess Hill Training Center in the U.K.; a Challenger 300 simulator will be installed at another CAE location in fall 2009, according to the company.
Here comes summer, the season for thunderstorms, long delays and frazzled travel nerves. The Air Transport Assn. is offering commonsense travel tips to ensure “smooth flying,” including having identification ready at the security checkpoint, preprinting boarding passes when possible and checking flight status before leaving home. Fewer passengers—211.5 million—are expected to travel June 1-Aug. 31, a slight decline compared to last year’s 214.2 million, according to the ATA and the Airports Council International’s 2008 summer forecast.
Vladimir Putin, who moved from president of Russia to prime minister on May 8, has announced his cabinet and modified the structure of government. Government officials as a group are playing an increasingly important role in Russia’s aerospace and defense industry, as private capital is squeezed out in the process of consolidation.
Ready for its trial by fire and ice, the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory Phoenix Mars lander is set to dive into the planet’s atmosphere May 25, where it must survive temperatures of a 2,600F entry then down to -100F for three months near the Martian north pole.
Swiss Aviation Training in Zurich and Seattle-based Galvin Flying Service have obtained Swiss and FAA certification, respectively, of flight training devices (FTDs) for the Diamond DA42 Twin Star light aircraft. Swiss Aviation received FNPT II certification according to JAR Standard 3 (A), and Galvin received Level 5 approval. Built by Diamond Simulation near Frankfurt/Main, Germany, the next-generation FTDs feature new software and a CAE visual system. The simulators are needed to meet the growing demand for new pilots.
Samtel Display Systems of India and Thales will be creating a joint venture to develop, produce, market and support helmet-mounted sight and display systems and other avionics gear for the Indian market. Samtel will hold 74% of the New Delhi-based venture, which will also supply Thales with components and subsystems to meet its own requirements. The companies are already jointly developing an HMSD for the Indian navy’s MiG-29K combat aircraft and providing cathode ray tubes for Thales displays.
I am appalled that there even is a secretary general of a Civil Air Navigation Services Organization, who pontificates from a perch in Geneva, postulating that politicians—not the market—should and will decide whether aviation as an industry can survive (AW&ST Apr. 28, p. 66). Aviation doesn’t need a debate about the future size and shape of the industry. People vote with their dollars, good sense and feet!
Middle East Airlines is once again falling victim to the unstable political situation in its region. The airline had to shut down operations for several days after Hezbollah fighters took on the Lebanese government. In the process, access to the Beirut airport was cut, forcing MEA to halve flights. The carrier suffered a similar fate two years ago, when Israel was battling Hezbollah and bombed the airport. MEA still managed to turn a profit that year. Years of conflict in Lebanon have effectively depressed passenger numbers to levels no higher than in the 1970s.
Eutelsat has concluded a package insurance deal for launches, plus one year of operation, that it calls one of the biggest ever signed by a fixed satellite service operator. The company said the deal, covering seven spacecraft currently under construction, offers “highly favorable terms” permitting launches using “the full range of available launch vehicles on the market.” The transaction could reduce the threat of a sharp insurance rate hike following a recent spate of launcher and satellite failures.
Curtiss-Wright Controls will provide General Processor Modules to General Dynamics C4 Systems and Rockwell Collins for use on the Integrated Computer System of the U.S. Army’s Future Combat Systems program. The initial order is for 1,000 modules and is valued at $8 million.
NASA Administrator Mike Griffin believes contractor job cuts at the Kennedy Space Center following the planned end of the shuttle program in 2010 will total 3,000-4,000, only about half of the worst-case scenario (see p. 50). The Kennedy workforce totals about 14,000. Griffin believes the cuts won’t be drastic because much more vehicle assembly and manufacturing will be done at Kennedy for the return to the Moon than during most of the shuttle and Apollo programs, when only launch operations were centered at KSC.
Ash coats the ground across Patagonia from the Andes to the Atlantic in this infrared/visible-light view collected May 5 with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (Modis) instrument on NASA’s Terra Earth-observing satellite. Chile’s Chaiten volcano surprised the experts, who thought it dormant after more than 9,000 years without an eruption. The ash plume from the volcano extends eastward across Argentina’s midsection and passes on hundreds of miles into the Atlantic from a point just south of the Valdes Peninsula.
A British Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) update last week into the Jan. 17 crash of a British Airways Boeing 777-200 at London Heathrow Airport identifies “restrictions in the fuel system between the aircraft fuel tanks and each of the engine HP (high-pressure) pumps, resulting in reduced fuel flows,” as the “suspected” cause of the crash. The aircraft was fitted with Rolls-Royce Trent engines.
