Embraer added 22 E-jet regional aircraft to its order book from three operators. U.S. leasing company Jetscape ordered 10 Embraer 190s with 10 options and 10 purchase rights, for delivery starting in 2009. Virgin Blue firmed up options it held on four 190s, and Regional Air France did the same on one Embraer 170 and one 190. EgyptAir firmed options on six E-170s.
In a more rational world, NASA would be developing more economical and reliable ways of placing payloads into orbit. That would make possible a whole array of exploration and commercial developments that are now infeasible. Instead, NASA has been pursuing a jobs-and-votes program that will never achieve its stated goals. Changing the focus from Moon exploration to asteroids and Mars is only an attempt to extend the pursuit by making the goal more distant.
Airbus and Messier-Bugatti are conducting flight tests of an A340-600 equipped with an electrically operated braking system—a first for a commercial airline transport. Airbus officials say the immediate goal of the tests is research. Although Messier-Bugatti will supply brakes for the new A350XWB, the electric system will not be installed on that aircraft because the technology needs to mature. Boeing is developing a brake-by-wire system for the 787. The electric brake initiative is part of Airbus’s plan to create an “all-electric” airplane.
Last week’s relocated and enlarged Singapore Airshow drew consistently positive responses from exhibitors and visitors. Exhibitors routinely reported a good flow of potential customers dropping by their stands. The show’s new facilities, featuring a compact layout, easy access and a single huge hall for most displays, took away a lot of the inconvenience usually associated with such exhibitions. More than 800 companies from 42 countries participated.
Sukhoi flew the prototype Su-35 variant of the Su-27 Flanker for the first time on Feb. 19. The latest version of the Flanker is the second to use the Su-35 designation. A previous major upgrade of the basic design, the Su-27M, was also known as the Su-35. The Su-27M never entered operational service. The first new Su-35 aircraft, Bort 901, was on static display during the Moscow air show in August 2007. A further two development Su-35 airframes are being built at the Komsomolsk production site in Russia.
The powerpack for the recycled Apollo-era engine NASA hopes to send back to the Moon is moving into hot-fire testing, after an initial 36-sec. run Feb. 15 that apparently met all objectives. Engineers at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi were preparing the J-2X powerpack, installed in historic test stand A1, for a 450-sec. trial, pending final analysis of data from the initial hot fire. The 36-sec. test followed one run Jan. 31 of the pyrotechnic igniter that gets the turbomachinery spinning to pump fuel into the rocket engine’s injector.
Congressional defense committee leaders, concerned about the readiness of the U.S. military after Iraq—especially in dealing with a future potential competitor such as China or Russia—are planning ways to salvage defense spending in post-Bush Washington.
BAE Systems issued its preliminary results for 2007 last week, with the period proving positive for the company. Operating profit rose to £1.17 billion ($2.29 billion) from £1.05 billion while sales grew to £15.71 billion from £13.76 billion. The company backlog increased to £38.6 billion from £31.7 billion. Overall, BAE’s U.S.-led businesses contributed 47% of sales.
After three consecutive record years for orders, Boeing is joining Airbus in predicting that the market is likely to cool off in 2008. Airbus Chief Operating Officer John Leahy expects about 750 orders, a figure he admits may be conservative. The company had 1,341 net orders in 2007. Boeing’s chief forecaster, Vice President Randy Tinseth, was even more conservative, saying only that he expected to exceed this year’s planned deliveries, which he put at 475-480. Last year, Boeing won 1,413 net orders.
I’m just a poor dumb engineer, so would one of you brilliant economists please explain why a complicated, controversial emissions-trading scheme is better than a straight fuel tax increase? Why is a scheme that creates a monstrous bureaucracy, is vulnerable to manipulation, is costly to implement and burdens the airlines with more administrative chores, better than a simple fuel tax that can be set and easily changed by regional governments to fit that area’s needs?
The article “Alternative Paths” (AW&ST Feb. 11, p. 42) mentions such gee-whiz things as GTL (gas-to-liquid), BTL (biomass-to-liquid) and FAME (fatty acid methyl esther), all of which are supposed to make the airline industry “green,” shift its fuel demand from oil-producing countries, and maybe reduce the carbon load on the atmosphere. All of these are nice ideas, but they have not been translated into plans and programs for the real world.
Russian combat aircraft manufacturer MiG is scrambling to offer the MiG-35 to Algeria following its apparent decision to scrap the purchase of the MiG-29SMT. Algeria is believed to have informed Russia it will return the first 15 of the MiG-29SMTs it has already accepted, and that it’s unwilling to take any further delivery of the type. The Algerian air force was due to receive 28 single-seat aircraft, along with six MiG-29UB two-seat jet trainers.
Amy Butler (Washington), Michael Bruno (Washington), David A. Fulghum (Washington), John M. Doyle (Washington)
Even as the technical success of the U.S. intercept of a satellite is being digested, Congress launched its own warning against any further anti-satellite efforts. Meanwhile, Russian officials condemned the mission as a poorly disguised test of an anti-satellite capability for use against other countries for military, political and, possibly, financial gain. Evidence accumulated rapidly that a U.S. Navy missile fulfilled its mission to break up an electronically dead, “experimental” reconnaissance satellite and rupture its tank full of toxic hydrazine fuel.
Joseph J. Ensor (see photo) has been appointed vice president/general manager of the Space and ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) Systems Div. of the Northrop Grumman Corp. ’s Baltimore-based Electronic Systems Sector. He was vice president-space sensors and exploitation systems.
The latest infrared-guided version of Sagem’s AASM standoff air-to-surface weapon completed technical validation testing with an “ambitious” test drop on Feb. 5, the company said on Feb. 21. The event involved a single weapon, fitted with an imaging infrared seeker, dropped by a Dassault Aviation Mirage 2000N strike aircraft. The weapon had to hit a target located in a mock industrial zone at France’s Biscarosse test range. But the target’s GPS coordinates—transmitted to the AASM before the test—were offset about 1,000 ft. from the actual target position.
AgustaWestland has carried out air-to-air refueling trials of the AW101 helicopter from an Italian air force C-130J. The trials are understood to be in support of the Lockheed Martin-led AW101 bid for the U.S. Combat Search and Rescue-X program.
Air One will appeal a ruling by an Italian administrative tribunal rejecting the airline’s request to block talks between Air France and Alitalia. The ruling was a serious blow to Air One’s attempt to slow down the discussions, which are to be completed by Mar. 14, when Air France is expected to present its binding offer. Air One could still submit a competing bid or launch a public offer for Alitalia shares. Air France plans to submit an industrial plan to Alitalia unions on Mar. 27 but has indicated it will not proceed without government endorsement.
Europe’s helicopter industry is headed for a significant structural shift as manufacturers move abroad to reap a higher return on their euro investments.
Aerospace lecturer William F. Shea has been elected to the boards of directors of the Aerospace Museum of California Foundation and California Transportation Foundation , both in Sacramento. He was FAA associate administrator for airports and first chief of the California Aeronautics Div., director of aviation for the Port of Portland, Ore., founding director of the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Aviation Institute and Aviation Dept. chairman at the University of North Dakota.
A Boeing 40 biplane built for Pacific Air Transport in 1928 for mail and passenger service flew for the first time in almost 80 years on Feb. 13 in Seattle. It is both the oldest operational Boeing transport and the only airworthy example of a Boeing 40 in the world, says Addison Pemberton, owner and operator of Pemberton and Sons Aviation in Spokane, Wash., who, along with volunteer help, spent 18,000 man-hours rebuilding the airplane during the past eight years.
AgustaWestland’s executive vice president of sales for North and South America, Lou Bartalotta, says the U.S. commercial helicopter market is experiencing “a remarkable period” that will give AgustaWestland “a great ride for the foreseeable future.” He says business is being driven upward by offshore oil exploration, increased use of helicopters by public service agencies and corporate operators coupled with exploding demand in emerging markets such as China, India and Southeast Asia.
The U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) continues its investigation into the Jan. 17 accident involving a Boeing 777-200ER that landed 1,000 ft. short of Runway 27 Left at London Heathrow. On impact, the aircraft’s nose gear collapsed and right main landing gear separated while the left gear pushed up through the wing. According to the AAIB’s Feb. 18 Special Bulletin, investigators are replicating the damage to the engine high-pressure fuel pumps and matching it to flight data.
The Air Line Pilots Assn. wants Congress to review confidentiality protections given Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) data, in the face of a court decision that would allow release of ASAP reports. The move stems from a U.S. District Court ruling in litigation involving the Aug. 27, 2006, crash of a Comair Bombardier CRJ-100 at Lexington (Ky.) Blue Grass Airport. The judge upheld a magistrate’s findings that there was “no statutory or regulatory privilege” protecting Comair’s ASAP reports from the discovery process.
Boeing will propose that Japan help to develop an advanced version of the F-15E or F/A-18E, opening a way for the country to hone its combat aircraft skills and for the U.S. company to prolong the competitiveness of its product range. A senior Pentagon official, meanwhile, specifically endorses the F-15E Eagle as a suitable aircraft for Japan to buy while it awaits the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. One advantage is that the country could build the Eagle domestically, he says, holding out a second temptation for Japanese industry.
