In the ongoing quest for alternative, environmentally acceptable fuels, algae and other biomass materials are looking promising as feed stocks for processing and refining. However, finding the needed landmass to support this endeavor is problematic, according to a new report from the International Air Transport Assn. (IATA).
Continental Airlines is the first major U.S. carrier to begin looking for alternative fuels and the first to do so using a narrow-body airliner. A Continental official notes that the Boeing 737 is the most common aircraft in the airline’s fleet. Boeing and GE Aviation will join in the demonstration flight set for the first half of 2009 using a CFM56-7B engine.
The Italian air force, as part of its overall operational assessment of the weapon, is carrying out trials examining the capability of the IRIS-T imaging-infrared guided missile to deal with advanced flares. The air force’s experimental trials unit, known as the RSV (Reparto Sperimentale Volo), is staging the tests from its base at Pratica di Mare, near Rome. The program involves a Eurofighter Typhoon from the air force’s 4th Wing, with a Lockheed Martin F-16 ADF from the 37th Wing being flown as the target aircraft.
Your report “Company Aloft” (AW&ST Feb. 4, p. 18) on the interception of a Russian Tu-95 Bear bomber by an F-22 reminded me that the English Electric Lightning played such a role in NATO Northern Europe for nearly 30 years, a result of its extraordinary climb performance. I was project leader of a team of young engineers in the Elliott company in the late 1950s that designed an automatic interception computer to assist pilots to perform the most efficient flight from takeoff up to target closure at around 37,000 ft.
L-3 Communications has agreed to purchase Northrop Grumman Electro-Optical Systems, which produces night-vision and applied optics products, for $175 million in cash. The acquisition, which is expected to close by June 30, will be L-3’s largest since Michael Strianese became CEO in October 2006 and put more focus on organic growth.
Continued failure to meet financial expectations has driven down Air Berlin’s share value by around 20%. After falling short of expectations earlier in the financial year, there is concern 2008 will be another problem year. Air Berlin’s net result dropped to €11 million from €50.1 million as revenues grew to €2.54 billion from €1.58 billion. The plunge is blamed on the flawed integration of LTU International Airways.
A cutting-edge engine design and composite wing are two of the technical features that Mitsubishi expects to distinguish the MRJ70/90 regional jet family in a crowded field.
The Finnish army has taken delivery of the first of 20 NH90 TTH tactical transport helicopters that will replace its fleet of aging Mil Mi-8s. The helicopter was handed over at the Eurocopter plant near Marseille, France, where it was assembled. Patria, a Finnish-based company partly owned by EADS, will complete the following 19. The Finnish delivery is the first of 25 scheduled for this year as the TTH ramps up to full production. Italy, Germany, Sweden, Australia and Oman also are destined for delivery by year’s end, according to Eurocopter.
A full-duration test of the powerpack for the J-2X upgrade is now scheduled for Mar. 19, but could be delayed as the engine-testing effort at Stennis Space Center ramps up. Duct damage in a 36-sec. test Feb. 15 pushed the target for a full-up test of the turbomachinery with ingited liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen fuel back to Mar. 9 (AW&ST Mar. 3, p. 16).
The U.S. Navy has approved the second low-rate production buy of Airborne Laser Mine Detection Systems (ALMDS) for its MH-60S helicopter. Three units were approved for $25 million. The system uses laser detection to locate mines in shallow water and allied nations have also showed interest in this capability. The Navy is now conducting operational tests on two units. Orders for 25 systems are expected to complete low-rate initial production in 2010. Northrop Grumman produces the ALMDS.
Martin Jurich has become general manager of the Cessna Aircraft Co. ’s Wichita (Kan.) Citation Service Center. He held the same position at the Toledo (Ohio) Citation Service Center.
The European Commission is forcing Finmeccanica, Piaggio and Avio to repay the Italian government around €450 million ($688.5 million) that Rome provided in state loans the EC has deemed violations of subsidy rules. The companies have 60 days to repay a first installment exceeding €100 million. The other payments can stretch out until 2018. Review of the loans began in 2003, starting with six programs but growing to 17 aerospace projects that benefited from zero-interest long-term research and development loans provided by the economic development ministry.
With Vandenberg AFB launch pads for the Boeing Delta IV and Lockheed Martin Atlas V rockets now in service—the first Atlas V launch occurred Mar. 13—officials at the Space and Missiles Systems Center in Los Angeles are looking at what’s next for military launch. The elusive concept of reusable systems appears to be the only way to get cost efficiencies beyond what is offered by these newest boosters, says Lt. Gen. Michael Hamel, the center’s director. Knowing the pitfalls of past failures, Hamel says he’d like to develop a reusable first stage as a first step.
Amy Butler (Washington), Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Robert Wall (Paris)
Boeing is risking a potentially huge backlash from the U.S. Air Force after the company protested the loss of a $35-billion tanker award to a Northrop Grumman/EADS team. Also on the horizon is a more daunting future as European rivals pour into the Pentagon market, bolstered by victory in the high-stakes KC-135 replacement program.
One of NASA’s leading Democratic overseers in Congress sees the need for a hefty boost in agency spending, and wants to send a signal to the next occupant of the White House to that effect. Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), chairman of the House Science Committee, says the short-term NASA authorization bill he and his congressional counterparts hope to adopt this year (AW&ST Mar. 3, p.
Mike Rinn (see photo) has become vice president/program director for the Airborne Laser for Boeing Missile Defense Systems . He succeeds Greg Hyslop, who is now vice president/manager for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense program. Rinn was air vehicle integration and test director and ABL deputy program manager.
French prosecutors are calling for manslaughter charges to be brought against Continental Airlines and four people believed to be connected to the crash of an Air France Concorde in 2000 in which 113 people died. French legal officials have not decided whether to implement the request. A titanium strip from a Continental DC-10 caused a tire to burst on AF4059; tire debris then punctured the fuel tank.
Initial development trials of the European Meteor rocket/ramjet-powered air-to-air missile have ended following a successful guided firing at the Vidsel missile test range in Sweden. The missile, being developed by MBDA, was launched from a Saab Gripen against an MQM-107B high-subsonic target drone. The shot was the last in a series of firings to prove the missile’s basic performance. During the fly-out to the target, the missile’s data link was used to communicate with the launch aircraft.
European Commission investigators have raided the offices of Air France, Alitalia, KLM and Lufthansa to investigate claims of price-fixing on flights to Japan. The offices of Japanese airlines have not been visited.
Lockheed Martin’s production prototype F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter completed the first stage of in-flight refueling qualification on Mar. 12 near Fort Worth. A KC-135R from Edwards AFB, Calif., was deployed in support of refueling missions that are scheduled to continue for another two weeks, says Doug Pearson, vice president of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Integrated Test Force. Test pilot Jon Beesley flew the fighter to 20,000 ft.
Niko Herrmann in Zurich and Tim Hoyland and Chris Spafford, both in Dallas, have been named directors of the Oliver Wyman Aviation, Aerospace and Defense Practice .
Angela Gittens has been appointed director general of Geneva-based Airports Council International-World , effective Apr. 30. She has been vice president-airport business services for the HNTB Corp., and was director of the Miami-Dade County Aviation Dept. and general manager of Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Lufthansa Airlines will acquire another four Cessna Citation business jets to expand its private jet fleet. The carrier has ordered two CJ3s and two of the larger XLS+ Citations in addition to the four CJ1+ jets already on order for its pilot training program. Plans call for all of the airplanes to be delivered by mid-2009 and will be operated in point-to-point flights to 1,000 destinations in Europe and Russia, according to Lufthansa.
The National Aeronautic Assn. has selected an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) team of public and private sector organizations as winner of the 2007 Robert J. Collier trophy. The award will be presented at a dinner on June 12 in Arlington, Va., recognizing participants who have collaborated for nearly a decade. “ADS-B is a ground-breaking effort for next-generation airborne surveillance and cockpit avionics,” notes NAA Chairman and Collier Selection Committee Chairman Walter Boyne.
China may have big ambitions for its Beidou/Compass satellite navigation system, but for now it appears focused on forming a geostationary regional network. The International Telecommunications Union says that as of Mar. 7, its space services unit had received advance publication and coordination requests for 10 GEO Compass satellites earmarked for 110.5, 140, 160, 58.7 and 80 deg. E. Long. In contrast, the organization had received advanced publication and notification requests for just five medium-Earth-orbit spacecraft (MEO) for a proposed 30-satellite global system.
