Cirrus Design Corp., manufacturer of the SR20 and SR22 personal aircraft, is extending its reach to South America. Millennial Technologies, an FAA-certified repair station specializing in avionics equipment, will serve as the facility for Cirrus’s Venezuelan sales center, Aero-Acciones, based at the Caracas airport. Millennial’s Fort Lauderdale, Fla., location will serve as a satellite office.
Kudos to Barry Eccleston, president and CEO of Airbus Americas, for his Viewpoint “Aviation’s Next Group Activity: Take Charge on Improving Environment” (AW&ST Jan. 14, p. 62). Lately, all I’ve read from officials at EADS and Airbus has been about production woes, internal conflicts, restructuring and beating Boeing: how the KC-30 is better than the KC-767, how the A380 is better than the 747, how the A350XWB will be better than the 787, etc. And vice versa.
Klen P. Brooks has been promoted to vice president from director of flight operations of SkyWest Airlines . He succeeds Bradford R. Holt, who has been named president/chief operating officer of SkyWest’s Atlantic Southeast Airlines.
Michelle Martell has become director of strategic sourcing for the Circor Aerospace Products Group , Corona, Calif. She was a strategic sourcing manager for Motorola Inc.
Brussels Airport has received approval to build a terminal dedicated to low-fare airlines, with plans to start operations in April 2009. The airport’s board approved the plan late last week. The terminal will make use of an existing, but unused, passenger terminal and extend a low-cost pier. Initially, the facility will accommodate up to six aircraft, with plans to extend that to 15. “We are aiming for 4 million passengers,” says Brussels Airport CEO Wilfried van Assche.
Tammy L. Choy (see photos), Michael G. McLain and Fred Ovadia have been promoted to principal engineer at the El Segundo, Calif.-based Aerospace Corp. Choy was senior engineering specialist and remains in the Corporate Information Resources Div. McLain, who is based in the Chantilly, Va., office, was a systems director in the National Reconnaissance Office. Ovadia will be chief software engineer for the Missile Defense Space Systems organization. He was senior project leader in the Space Tracking and Surveillance System Ground Segment.
Australian airline Regional Express has cut another route because of a lack of pilots. The turboprop operator says 60% of its pilots are quitting each year to join bigger airlines. It eliminated some services in November for the same reason.
Robert Blouin has been appointed vice president-flight operations of the Hawker Beechcraft Corp. , Wichita, Kan. He was president/founding partner of Sky Group Associates Inc. of Washington and president/founder of the Greater Washington Business Aviation Assn.
Cirrus Design Corp. is taking orders for its new Cirrus SR Sport aircraft aimed at the recreational, training and sport pilot segments of the general aviation market. The two-seat monoplane will feature an all-composite airframe with electrically operated flaps, a digital avionics package and a single power lever to control the Rotax 921S engine rated at 100 hp. The fixed, tricycle landing gear uses a castoring nosewheel and the airplane will have a Cirrus Airframe Parachute System for emergency descents. Wingspan is 29.8 ft. with a length of 18.7 ft.
William Ayer, chairman/president/CEO of the Alaska Air Group Inc., has been appointed to a three-year director term on the Seattle branch of the Federal Reserve Board . He succeeds Mic Dinsmore, former CEO of the Port of Seattle.
Japan Airlines will get a capital boost of ¥150 billion ($1.4 billion) through an issue of preference shares, the Nikkei newspaper reports. The investors will include four of its major creditor banks.
Clyde S. (Chip) Jones has been named chief operating officer for NASA ’s Michaud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. He was manufacturing and assembly manager for the Ares I upper stage.
William J. Brennan has been nominated to be assistant U.S. Commerce secretary for oceans and atmosphere, which is the No. 2 position at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He is deputy assistant Commerce secretary for international affairs/acting director of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program.
Asian airlines are deftly handling the environmental debate, taking advantage of the warning signs that came out of Europe a year ago to introduce timely and substantial measures to cut pollution and keep public opinion on their side. While some European carriers were caught flat-footed by the sudden explosion of the environmental debate in that region about a year ago, and found themselves scrambling to avoid punitive government policies, the Asian airline industry hasn’t suffered an outbreak of anti-aviation hysteria.
Amir Eilon has been appointed a non-executive director of Silverjet plc . He also is a non-executive director of MK Airlines and has held the same role at EasyJet.
The mothership from NASA’s Deep Impact comet-analysis mission has started a second service life, using its largest telescope to look for new extrasolar planets around five stars where big “hot Jupiters” already have been discovered. Controllers ordered the search to begin Jan. 22 as part of the Extrasolar Planet Observations and Characterization (Epoch) study developed at the University of Maryland. Astronomers will use the telescope to look for smaller planets transiting the stars, or affecting the timing of the larger planets’ transits.
The chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles says it’s too soon to cut back production on the massive ground trucks. “I think we ought to build the MRAPS. We ought to have them in the inventory,” Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) said after speaking at Aviation Week’s Defense Technologies and Requirements conference. Taylor, who chairs the seapower and expeditionary forces subcommittee, said it’s important to offer unit commanders a variety of vehicles to meet the day’s mission.
Jeff Letwin, who is managing partner of Pittsburgh law firm Schnader Harrison Segal Lewis, has been named chairman of the Legal Committee of Airports Council International . He also is solicitor for the Allegheny County (Pa.) Airport Authority.
Mary Engola (see photo, p. 15), who is manager of customer and industry relations for Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder Colo., has been elected 2008 chair of the Coalition for Space Exploration .
Clifford Gunsallus, who is vice president-engineering for the Helicopters Div. of the Kaman Aerospace Corp., Bloomfield, Conn., has been appointed chairman of the board of the Center for Rotorcraft Innovation Inc. , a consortium of industry and academia that conducts collaborative pre-competitive research and development and technology transfer with the U.S. government.
Gen. Bruce Carlson, chief of the Air Force Materiel Command, suggests levying fines on corporations that file “inappropriate” contract award protests. Carlson says he is generating support on Capitol Hill for such a fine, and that industry has expressed interest in reform as well, now that protests are becoming almost the norm. Carlson also says his service will figure out a way to buy 380 F-22s, despite the fact that the Pentagon has capped the number of aircraft to be procured at 183. Carlson knows “it’s going to be incredibly difficult” to boost the numbers.
Karaca Kestelli has been named a vice president and Jesko Neuenburg a senior associate of the New York-based Seabury Group . Kestelli was an engagement manager at McKinsey and Co., while Neuenburg was a consultant at Bain and Co. New associates include Pascal Chouinard, formerly of Pratt & Whitney; and Tej Mehta, formerly of Thales Avionics.
Dwarfing the C-130 Hercules testbed aircraft’s other engines, the Europrop International TP400-D6 is now being prepared for a first flight in April. The engine is destined to power the Airbus Military A400M, with this aircraft now anticipated to be flown in July. Marshall Aerospace is managing the engine flight test program using the C-130. The TP400 program is running about a year behind schedule as a result of technical issues that have emerged during development. Each TP400 propeller is 18 ft. across.
