Sabrina K. Steele (see photo) has become principal director of the Corporate Communications Directorate at The Aerospace Corp. , El Segundo, Calif. She was director of communications at Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems.
Intelsat posted a net loss of $191.9 million last year on revenues of $2.18 billion. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose to $1.6 billion, or 73% of revenue, compared to 65% in 2006. Fleet fill rate improved to 76%, from 70%, and backlog jumped to $8.2 billion from $7.9 billion.
Fiat justitia, ruat coelum. “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.” The nobility of this maxim, dating from imperial Rome, conceals a troubling tilt toward zealotry that is controlling events in lawsuits on behalf of victims of the Comair 5191 crash in August 2006. In this case, the heavens threaten to fall on the FAA’s Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP), because a federal judge has ordered Comair to turn over to plaintiffs various reports that the airline submitted to ASAP. This isn’t supposed to happen.
Ronald J. Livecchi (see photo) has become senior director of PCB Piezotronics’ Aerospace and Defense Div. , Depew, N.Y. He was vice president/general manager of Mokon.
Walter Visser has been appointed managing director of Emirates-CAE Flight Training, Rudy Toering general manager for Montreal-based CAE’s training centers in Canada, Steven Lee general manager of the company’s Zhuhai Flight Training Center and Martin Williamson general manager for the Kuala Lumpur training center.
The Aerospace Testing Alliance at the U.S. Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) is conducting a major upgrade of the center’s Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit facility. A new combustion air heater has been installed and tested, using butane fuel, and is considered a crucial part of the facility’s Hypersonic Air-Breathing Propulsion Test and Evaluation Capability.
Korea Aerospace Industries will supply 10 T-50 Golden Eagle advanced jet trainers for the South Korean air force’s aerobatic team. The $218-million order will allow KAI to extend production beyond the 50 ordered for training. The supersonic jets will replace 40-year-old Cessna A-37 Dragonfly light attack aircraft that the Black Eagles began using in 1994. The aerobatic A-37s were withdrawn from service after their last performance, at the Seoul air show, in October.
Clarke is credited with proposing the concept of geostationary satellite communications in an October 1945 article for Wireless World magazine. In his concept, three “space stations” in geostationary orbit could relay communications around the globe. Although he wrote that some people might consider his idea “too far-fetched to be taken very seriously,” only 19 years later the first geostationary telecom satellite, Syncom 3, was launched.
Hopes of making high bypass turbofans, and even supersonic engines, meet stricter future noise rules are being boosted by novel flow deflection studies underway in California and at NASA.
Singapore Airlines began commercial operations with the Airbus A380 on the Changi-Heathrow route Mar. 18, when SQ308 arrived with 449 passengers. The airline has taken delivery of three of the 19 A380 aircraft it has on order. The A380 is being operated daily on the Singapore-London route.
Apr. 15-16—AVIATION WEEK Interiors, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Apr. 15-17—MRO Conference and Exhibition, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Sept. 23-25—MRO Europe, Madrid. Oct. 14-16—MRO Asia, Singapore. PARTNERSHIPS Mar. 31-Apr. 6—FIDAE, Santiago, Chile. Apr. 1-3—JEC Composites, Paris. Apr. 7-10—U.S. Space Foundation, Colorado Springs. May 27-June 1—ILA Berlin air show. June 16-18—Aircraft Interiors-Middle East, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
BOC Aviation will buy two of Air Canada’s Boeing 777-300ERs and lease them back to the airline for 12 years after their delivery this month and next. It is the first contract between the two companies and expands the North American exposure of the Singapore-based lessor, whose expansion is driven by its owner, Bank of China.
Regarding your editorial “Easy on the Political Blather” (AW&ST Mar. 10, p. 58), Congress must consider the total ramifications of military purchasing decisions. Buying a refueling aircraft from a European country involves a huge transfer of wealth and technical capability. This is the issue on which members of Congress have more expertise than a civilian in the Defense Dept. And uniformed members of the military never make these decisions.
EasyJet is cautioning that high fuel prices may hurt its full-year pre-tax profits. The company says at the start of February, when it issued its interim management statement, the projected cost for fuel for the mid-year and beyond was $840 a ton. This has now risen to above $1,000. EasyJet continues to anticipate delivering first-half results in line with expectations.
Jan K. Brueckner, a professor of urban and public economics at the University of California-Irvine and a specialist in the aviation industry, has become an academic affiliate and member of the transportation group at LECG , Emeryville, Calif. He has been a consultant to United, Northwest and American airlines and the U.S. Transportation Dept.
My children often complain that life isn’t fair. And, of course, I’ll sometimes give them some of the standard “Dad” answers, such as: “Yeah, if life was fair, you’d be starving to death just like the kids in Africa.” But my most common answer is that life is usually fair, it’s just a matter of picking the right frame of reference. Over time, things even out.
The European Aviation Safety Agency has certified the Hawker Beechcraft 900XP mid-size business jet as have 10 other countries including Australia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Spain. The 900XP is the company’s latest upgrade to the Hawker 800 series and features Honeywell TFE731-50R engines that produce 4.5% more thrust under high-altitude/hot-temperature conditions than the Hawker 850XP. In addition, range increases to 2,800 naut. mi. with six passengers and high-speed cruise range is 2,307 naut. mi.—nearly 9% more than the 850XP.
General Electric’s GEnx-2B engine for the upcoming Boeing 747-8 reached 70,950 lb. thrust during ground testing on Mar. 11 at GE’s outdoor testing facility in Peebles, Ohio. The engine, which shares a common core and 80% of the line-replaceable units with the GEnx-1B engine for the 787, achieved this thrust level just 12 days after making its first run to idle thrust.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has issued preliminary guidelines for all flights by foreign aircraft associated with the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Operators of business aircraft flying into China from July 1-Sept. 30 must file an application with the CAAC at least 30 days in advance for permission to land. Special arrival routes will be issued late this month, says the National Business Aviation Assn. For more about the guidelines, go to www.nbaa.org
Thales will supply two more systems on the new Airbus A350XWB wide-body twinjet. In January, Airbus selected the French contractor to provide the cockpit display system, radio/navigation—including the inertial reference unit—and integrated modular avionics (IMA) in a deal that could be worth $3 billion over 20 years (AW&ST Jan. 28, p. 413). On Mar. 9, it was tapped to supply the electrical power conversion system and the common remote data concentrators (cRDC)—one of the two main building blocks, with the core processing input/output modules, on the IMA.
The Royal Navy 771 Naval Air Sqdn., based at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose in Cornwall, England, performed a dramatic rescue of two missing swimmers believed to be stuck in a cave in the Newquay area. That 11-hr. mission has earned the five-person team the Breitling Award for Aviation Heroism. The crew was led by Lt. Cdr. Matt Shrimpton piloting the Sea King helicopter, and included co-pilot Royal Marine Capt. Damian May, observer Lt. Tim Barker, paramedic Royal Air Force Sgt. Mark White and Winchman Petty Officer Julian (Bungi) Williams.
The British government is to provide an additional £2 million ($4.06 million) to the Defense Ministry toward the cost of ongoing combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq for 2008-09.
Skybus Airlines of Columbus, Ohio, offers an insurance policy that reimburses passengers whose flights are canceled for airline-prompted causes as well as for previously covered weather-related reasons. Under Skybus policy, if a flight is canceled by the airline or delayed more than 3 hr., passengers have the option of rebooking on the next available flight or accepting a ticket refund. The latest enhancement offers the insurance-covered passenger up to $250 for any increased costs associated with rebooking.
