Michael A. Taverna (Berlin and Nuremberg, Germany)
Diehl and Thales hope to leverage the acquisition of an Airbus cabin equipment site into a leadership position in growing area of integrated cabin systems. The two companies are now negotiating to purchase the plant in Laupheim, Germany, which makes cabin linings, crew rest compartments, overhead baggage bins and air ducts for Airbus aircraft. Germany’s Kaefer and France’s Zodiac were also reportedly bidding for the plant, which employs 1,100. The deal would include guaranteed work packages for Airbus’s new A350XWB wide-body jet.
San Diego International Airport has signed an agreement with California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown, Jr., to cut greenhouse gas emissions as part of the addition of 10 gates. Planned measures include a 20% reduction in ground movement emissions by 2015 and replacing ground vehicles with electric or alternative-fuel versions.
New leadership will take the helm of Brussels Airlines June 11, following CEO Philippe Vander Putten’s resignation last week over “divergences of view” on the restructuring of top management, according to the carrier. The airline’s board has appointed two managing directors to succeed Vander Putten: Chief Financial Officer Michel Meyfroidt and Bernard Gustin, senior partner of consulting firm Arthur D. Little. Meyfroidt will supervise operations, finance and human resources; and Gustin will oversee strategic, commercial, network, communication and IT matters.
And, winners in the Late Career Category (over 50) are: Stephen M. Francois of NASA Kennedy Space Center, for more than 30 years of technical leadership of NASA’s unmanned launch services; David B. Harris of NASA Johnson Space Center, for leadership in propulsion systems testing and facilities management; Paul Kharmats of Tech Trans International, for program knowledge and skill as an international communicator, and dedication to promoting cooperation between the U.S. and its ISS partners; Charles R.
Now that the Pentagon has certified the Lockheed Martin Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (Jassm) to move forward, the Air Force is progressing smartly on the program. Service officials are exploring the possibility of a $20-million reprogramming to restart the extended-range (ER) version of the stealthy cruise missile. Jassm-ER was put on hold after the program ran significantly over budget last year when the missile repeatedly veered more than 100 ft. off course during flight tests.
Momentum appears to be building to start work on an alternative European human spaceflight capability in the event that talks on joining Russia’s Crew Space Transportation System are not successful. At the recent Berlin Air Show, European Space Agency Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain reiterated support for such an option, and top offiicials from Germany and Italy backed him, although some cautioned that funding such an endeavor might be impossible.
With the launch of a single-engine jet and a significant hike in price for its breakthrough very light jet, Eclipse Aviation is moving beyond the startup phase and making a push to become profitable. The single-turbofan Eclipse 400 is being introduced as the manufacturer sees a softening of domestic U.S. demand for its twin-engine Eclipse 500 because of economic conditions and fuel costs. At the same time, the company is raising the twinjet’s price by 35% to accelerate the break-even point as it struggles to ramp up production.
The airline industry’s latest financial nosedive is injecting new urgency into calls for broader liberalization of the global aviation market. Although prospects for regulatory breakthroughs are bleak, carriers believe that allowing cross-border mergers would spark the massive restructuring the industry needs to achieve long-term stability.
NASA has selected six finalists in its Small Explorer (SMEX) Program. The agency will pick two of the mission proposals in the spring of 2009 for full development, and the first could launch by 2012. The selected proposals are the Coronal Physics Explorer (CPEX), Gravity and Extreme Magnetism SMEX (GEMS), Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), Joint Astrophysics Nascent Universe Satellite (Janus), Neutral Ion Coupling Explorer (NICE) and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Each will receive $750,000 for a six-month feasibility study.
David B. Burritt has been named to the board of directors of the Lockheed Martin Corp. , Bethesda, Md. He is vice president/chief financial officer of Caterpillar Inc.
Mark Ozenick has been named leader of the aerospace and defense practice of the Thomas Group Inc., Irving, Tex. USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Thad Wolfe heads the Air Force practice and Tom Zych the Army-Navy practice.
Political appointees in NASA’s public affairs shop manipulated coverage of climate-change science that the agency funded, apparently to keep it within bounds of Bush administration positions. So says the space agency’s inspector general after a year-long probe requested by a group of 14 senators.
USN Capt. (ret.) Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the Moon, has received the 2008 National Space Trophy from the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement (RNASA) Foundation . Also recognized was astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, who was presented with the 2008 Space Communicator Award. The foundation also presented its Stellar Awards in three age categories. Winners in the Early Career Category are: USAF First Lt. Anna E.
Rolls-Royce has completed the preliminary design review on the Advanced Versatile Engine Technology (Advent) demonstrator for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. The variable-cycle engine is designed to combine high thrust and low bypass ratio for takeoff with fuel efficiency and high bypass ratio for long range and endurance. Rolls’ LibertyWorks research unit has begun rig testing of the variable-flow fan, with core testing planned for 2011 and full engine ground testing for 2012. General Electric is also working on an Advent demonstrator.
I offer no opinion regarding the basic tenet of Daniel Dugan’s letter (AW&ST Apr. 28, p. 8). However, his casual comment regarding the “unsuccessful” XH-59A program is wrong and does a disservice to the personnel who worked on the program. The Advancing Blade Concept (ABC) was entirely successful but lacked the necessary corporate support to prosper in the politically charged environment of the early 1980s.
Greg Irmen (see photo) has been appointed vice president/general manager of Rockwell Collins Business and Regional Systems, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He succeeds Denny Helgeson, who will be retiring this fall. Irmen has been senior director of Boeing programs.
Boeing is poised to start flights of its newly developed, 757-based Agile Integration Laboratory (AIL) for the Lockheed Martin F-22 stealth fighter. In addition to making the wing and aft fuselage for the Raptor, Boeing leads avionics integration and will utilize the modified 757 to test scheduled upgrades to the F-22’s weapon systems.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates asserts that it was all about nuclear weapons handling, but his firing of the Air Force secretary and chief of staff comes after a string of Sec Def-level grievances. Whatever the reasons, the abrupt sackings caught many off guard. “This can’t be good news for any of us,” says a Lockheed Martin official with insight into the F-22 program. In their resignation announcements, Secretary Michael Wynne and Gen. T. Michael Moseley both cited “recent events” that convinced them to move on.
Pressure for greater access to U.S. airspace for unmanned aircraft keeps growing. The weight is bearing down on the FAA, and increasingly is being applied by other government agencies wanting airspace access for training, environment monitoring, law enforcement and disaster response.
The Phoenix lander sits near the North Pole of Mars directly on top of exposed water ice that it was prepared to dig for weeks to find. The mission goal is to unravel the mysteries of what may be preserved inside the ice and surrounding soil.
Piasecki Aircraft has turned to Congress for help to push its X-49A SpeedHawk high-speed compound helicopter even faster. The company wants to take over ownership of the aircraft from the government so it can demonstrate its speed potential. Funded by the Army, the X-49 is a Navy Sikorsky SH-60 helo modified with Piasecki’s vectored-thrust ducted propeller. The Pennsylvania-based company believes the X-49 can fly faster than any conventional bird, but it is stuck at 177 kt. because Navy safety rules require it to stay within the existing SH-60 flight envelope.
Scott Winship (see photo) has been appointed vice president/program manager for the Northrop Grumman Corp. Integrated Systems Sector’s San Diego-based U.S. Navy Unmanned Combat Air System (N-UCAS). He was RQ-8A Fire Scout program manager.
The United Arab Emirates says preliminary discussions have been held with France on the potential purchase of Dassault Rafale multirole fighters to replace its fleet of 63 French-supplied Mirage 2000-9s in 2013. The talks have been confirmed by the office of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, which says deliveries could begin in 2102. Dassault has yet to secure an export customer for the Rafale, which lost out to the Lockheed Martin F-16 in Morocco’s competition last year. The Rafale is competing in Greece, India and Switzerland.
