Scientists from Denmark, the U.K., Germany and Canada are embarking on a three-week campaign to monitor sea and land ice thickness in the far north of Canada and Greenland to establish calibration data for the European Space Agency’s CryoSat-2 mission. The CryoVEx 2008 campaign—covering three sites in the Arctic Ocean north of Canada and in the Canadian and Greenland icecaps—involves fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and ground measurements. It includes an area of “cold” ice in northern Greenland chosen because of its presumed resemblance to Antarctic conditions.
As it opens negotiations with union machinists on a three-year contract, Boeing is proposing that those at its Wichita (Kan.) Integrated Defense Systems unit be paid on a different scale than the airplane workers in Portland, Ore., and Washington’s Puget Sound area surrounding Seattle, where wages are said to be about 30% higher. In Seattle, an official at the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 said the union rejected the same idea in 2005 because it is a “divide-and-conquer” approach to weakening the union’s bargaining power.
AW&ST: A lot of airlines in Europe and the U.S. seem to be coming to the realization late that emissions concerns will have a major impact on air transport operators. But there’s a perception that the European sector is ahead of the U.S. in responding. What is TAP doing to address these issues?
International Launch Services says an internal Failure Review Oversight Board (FROB) has confirmed Russian State Commission findings concerning the cause of a Proton failure in early September. The commission traced the failure to a ruptured gas exhaust duct that caused the turbopump on the rocket’s Breeze M upper stage to shut down prematurely, leaving the payload in useless orbit. The FROB still has to complete its review of the corrective measures recommended by the commission.
Pete McDonald has been named chief administrative officer of United Airlines . He was chief operating officer and has been succeeded by John Tague, who was chief revenue officer.
Boeing’s new 787 jet is full of cutting-edge technology such as an all-composite fuselage and advanced electronics. But it was the shortage of a simple and inexpensive part—a 3/16-in. titanium fastener made by Alcoa—that played a prominent role in a series of setbacks that have delayed the commercial transport’s debut by more than a year.
Iberia suffered a slightly greater than anticipated first-quarter loss of €28 milion. The airline was in the black in last year’s first quarter, but often suffers losses during that period. The airline’s aggressive cost control program helped avoid a worse outcome, but continued high fuel prices and falling yields are concerns.
Paul Kremer (see photo) has become vice president-future programs for France-based Safran Group companies Messier-Dowty and Messier-Bugatti. He has been vice president-programs for Safran’s Hispano-Suiza.
Regarding the article concerning Honeywell’s new synthetic vision system, “Real Night, Virtual Day” (AW&ST Mar. 10, p. 42), based on the beautifully detailed image shown, the system would seem to live up to the title. Particularly interesting was the paragraph referring to the test flight beginning: “The light was fading as we departed, but Runway 23 appeared as clear as day on the synthetic vision display.”
Lockheed Martin has won USAF’s next-generation $1.5-billion GPS satellite contract award over Boeing. The contract includes construction of two development satellites plus options for 10 additional spacecraft. GPS IIIA will incorporate new anti-jam features, including a high-powered spot beam system in a future block. USAF took extra time before announcing the win to conduct a legal review of the source selection process because of an increase in protests from losing contractors. Air Force officials say they are ready if Boeing protests the award.
The Justice Dept. has swept up another four major international carriers in its long-running probe into price-fixing. Air France-KLM, Martinair, SAS Cargo Group and Cathay Pacific are pleading guilty and will be fined a combined $504 million. Air France-KLM accounts for $350 million of the total, representing the second-largest criminal fine ever imposed by the department’s anti-trust division. Cathay will pay $60 million, Martinair $42 million, and SAS $52 million.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is making progress on screening all cargo on passenger flights, but still needs to do a better job of screening cargo that originates overseas, a congressional report says. Legislation enacted last year requires the TSA to screen all cargo in the belly of commercial airliners by August 2010. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says TSA and its parent Homeland Security Dept. have been slow in deploying cargo-screening technology.
Careful analysis of surface imagery collected at Jupiter’s moon Europa by the Voyager, Galileo and New Horizons probes suggests that its rotational axis has wandered by as much as 80 deg., offering researchers new evidence that a liquid-water ocean lies beneath the frozen surface. After tracing several long depressions that curve across as much as 500 km.
The U.S. Air Force is extending until December pre-development work for Boeing and Lockheed Martin teams on their designs for the Transformational Satellite (TSAT) program, according to sources familiar with the program. The Air Force had already extended the companies’ work until the summer, with the expectation of a contract announcement then. However, senior Pentagon leaders are reviewing the future architecture for secure satellite communications, opening the door to changes in TSAT or, possibly, a program termination. The Defense Dept.
Airbus wants to standardize the A380 configuration to reduce aircraft complexity, ease assembly and implement the solution to a design problem that has caused a fourth round of delivery delays. But first, the aircraft maker is trying to determine the exact delivery slots it can promise airlines. Airbus expects the average delay will be around three months, says CEO Tom Enders.
Air France’s Regional airline subsidiary is upping its commitment for Embraer regional jets. The airline is taking two more 170s, with a list price of $63 million each, with deliveries set for next year. The airline already has seven 170s on order, and also is a buyer of Embraer 190s.
A major price difference in the winning proposal by Northrop Grumman and the competing bid by Lockheed Martin/General Atomics Aeronautical Systems for the Navy’s Broad-Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) UAV program is key to the protest of the contract award. Lockheed Martin’s Predator-based design was estimated to cost more than $5 billion less than Northrop Grumman’s, based on the Global Hawk. Lockheed cited cost difference in a public statement last week, but the company has not publicly released the figure.
U.S. aerospace employment recorded an uptick in March over the previous year, reaching 651,700 workers, compared with 645,600 last year, according to the Aerospace Industries Assn. “While overall manufacturing employment has declined, our civil, defense and space sectors are strong with a record backlog of orders fueled by major export growth,” says AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey. Employment has climbed steadily since hitting a low of 587,000 in 2003 as rolling pink slips hit the industry, especially in commercial aviation, following the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Samuel Johnson said, “Nothing focuses the mind like a hanging,” and the U.S. Army is taking the hint from Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s recent dismissal of the top two Air Force leaders. The Army is rewriting its Future Combat Systems (FCS) program to field unmanned aircraft and ground robots years ahead of schedule, and for infantrymen instead of just mechanized brigades. Starting around 2011, soldiers will get the Class I UAV, unattended urban and tactical ground sensors, and small unmanned ground vehicles.
Lockheed Martin is conducting aerodynamic tests of a 1/18th-scale model tailless, supersonic aircraft in the 4-ft. wind tunnel at the U.S. Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) in Tennessee. The model features a jet-effects opening—or slot—on top of one wing and a spoiler on the other, to help determine which device best provides yaw and roll control, says Brant Maines, Lockheed Martin’s program manager for the tests.
The U.S. Army, Boeing and federal prosecutors are investigating apparently deliberate damage to two CH-47 Chinook helicopters at Boeing’s assembly plant outside Philadelphia.
While Finmeccanica was sealing its deal to acquire DRS, its European rival in the U.S.—EADS North America—is seemingly consumed by Boeing’s campaign to win back its lost efforts to build refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force. EADS North America CEO Ralph Crosby says he remains interested in purchasing the electronics house. And, he says he will continue to look for opportunities here in the U.S. He’s also considering expanding into the UAV and training and simulation arenas.
China’s January 2007 antisatellite weapon test is being used as a recruiting message by the U.S. Air Force to lure space-savvy young people to join up. The campaign, airing on major U.S. television networks, shows a satellite orbiting northward along what looks like the east coast of China. “What if your cell phone calls, your television, your GPS and even your bank transactions could be taken out with a single missile,” the announcer says, just as a rocket fired from the ground ascends rapidly and blows up the satellite.
Pratt & Whitney has completed FAA certification for the final three out of four FAA Supplemental Type Certificates (STC) that it will use to manufacture life-limited parts for CFM56-3 engines for Boeing 737-300/400/500 aircraft. Pratt won the first STC in April, covering the engine’s fan and booster. The new certificates are for its high-pressure compressor and turbine and low-pressure turbine. The combined four STCs cover 19 life-limited parts. The company already has begun producing the components under Parts Manufacturing Authority.
