Antonio De Palmas has been named Brussels-based president of European Union and NATO relations for Boeing . He was the company’s communications director in Italy, and succeeds Joris Vos, who is retiring.
Aviation fuel experts will soon debate the merits of easing approval standards for synthetic fuels to hasten their introduction into airline operations. Airbus recently completed its first flight with synthetic fuel using a gas-to-liquid (GTL) blend, and Boeing has tested a biomass-to-liquid fuel. As a result, there’s a growing push to streamline the approval process to ensure that airlines can exploit alternative fuels. Today’s regulatory standards require lengthy procedures to OK these fuels, which can slow their service entry.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. is risking a legal battle over its market-based proposal to combat congestion in New York airspace. Its call for flight caps at the three major New York-area airports has the airline industry up in arms.
There has been an interest from some Asia-Pacific and Middle East countries in Boeing’s C-17 Globemaster III, which is designed to fulfill military and humanitarian airlift, according to Michael. J. Marshall, senior manager for international business development at Boeing’s Global Mobility Systems. He notes that the C-17 could fulfill the Indian air force requirement for a multimission aerial refueling aircraft. The Seattle-based company has already briefed the air force, and officers flew the plane at Aero India last year.
USAF Maj. Nicole Malachowski (see photo) was among four recent inductees into Women in Aviation International ’s Pioneer Hall of Fame. She is the first woman to serve as a U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds pilot and first to fly on any U.S. military flight demonstration team. Another inductee was Nancy Harkness Love, who was one of three women pilots chosen to work for the Airmarking Program in 1935. In 1942, she was named director of the Army’s civilian Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron. She led a total of 404 women ferry pilots during World War II.
Boeing is on the way to logging its second airline customer for the 747-8 Intercontinental with the signing of a letter of intent by Nigeria’s Arik Airlines for three. Boeing has 105 orders for the third-generation 747, the majority of which are for freighters. Lufthansa is the only confirmed customer for the passenger (Intercontinental) version; the airline has opted for 20. There also have been seven VIP orders.
Expedition 17 crewmembers on the International Space Station are unloading more than 2.3 tons of supplies from a new Russian Progress cargo vehicle after a safe robotic docking. Progress M64/29P docked without incident to the nadir port on the Zarya module at 5:39 p.m. EDT May 16. Total weight of the cargo inside is 4,657 lb., according to NASA, including 2,850 lb. of food, clothing, hardware and other dry cargo; 925 lb. of water; 770 lb. of propellant; and more than 100 lb. of oxygen and air.
Vought Aircraft Industries will build wings and slats for the Model 850 Cessna Citation Columbus business jet, a deal worth a potential $1 billion to the Dallas-based company. The first test article is due in 2010 and the first production shipsets in 2011. Engineering and tool design will be conducted at the Dallas site; production is slated to take place in Nashville, Tenn., and marks the first new full-wing contract for that site in 20 years.
Chinese government agencies operating in earthquake-stricken Sichuan province are using unclassified U.S. government maps derived from satellite imagery to guide recovery efforts under an unprecedented data-sharing effort coordinated by the U.S. State Dept. The Chinese government requested the data on reservoirs and other infrastructure damaged in the Magnitude 8 earthquake, according to the Pentagon. A spokeswoman for the U.S. National Geospatial-intelligence Agency (NGA) says it is the first time the U.S.
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.
