Airbus is once again revising its 20-year forecast upward and says it’s not just the market that’s growing, but the size of aircraft as well—larger aircraft are being sought. The market is estimated at $2.8 trillion over two decades, with competitors vying for 23,385 passenger airliners and 877 new freighters.
I would like to register my disgust that Cessna will be manufacturing light aircraft in China. This is a big slap in the face to U.S. workers and the majority of airplane owners, who come from the U.S. What could motivate them to move this work to a country that is not only our competitor, but is well-known for producing shoddy products and using illegal materials? I have owned three Cessna aircraft over the years, but no more. The U.S. should not allow transfer of technology to China.
Passengers faced more late flights and mishandled baggage in 2007 than the previous year, according to the U.S. Transportation Dept.’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The 20 airlines reporting on-time performance (no flight more than 15 min. late), recorded an arrival rate of 73.4% last year, down from 75.4% in 2006. Carriers recorded 7.03 mishandled baggage complaints per 1,000 passengers, up from 6.73 in 2006. With a record like that, it’s not surprising that 13,168 consumer complaints were filed about airline service, 58.2% more than in 2006.
Buying a new route to space for U.S. astronauts after the space shuttle is retired remains the primary objective of the last Bush administration funding request for NASA—but in an election year, even that goal isn’t necessarily a done deal.
Bell Helicopter Textron delivered 181 commercial aircraft in 2007—a 14% improvement compared with 2006 and a 29% increase from 2005, says Bob Fitzpatrick, senior vice president for marketing and sales. The company is now streamlining its offerings to focus production on its most popular models, such as the single-turbine-engine 407 and the new twin-engine 429. Fitzpatrick says fleet replacement and expansion worldwide are driving commercial sales upward.
Iran is closer to launching its first “Omid” satellite into orbit, following a second heavy sounding-rocket mission flown on Feb. 4 by its Shahab rocket—a substantially upgraded version of the Scud ballistic missile. The first mission—on Feb. 25, 2007—used a Shahab-3A, but the latest flight used the more advanced Shahab-3B. The rocket carrying its “Kavoshgar” payload was fired from a missile base southeast of Tehran in the Semnan Desert. The payload achieved at least 70-100 mi. altitude, entering space where it was in a vacuum and weightless for a few minutes.
Chinese aircraft maker Avic I will set up an airline to fly its regional airliners. Xingfu Airlines, meaning Happy Airlines, will have China Eastern Airlines as a 40% shareholder and buy Chinese regional aircraft. Avic I is due next month to fly the first prototype of its ARJ21 regional jet, for which it has 123 orders.
Avic II, China’s second-largest aircraft maker, will buy a 31% stake in Sikorsky’s joint venture in the company, Shanghai Sikorsky. Avic II is also the country’s rotary-wing specialist.
Space Launch Complex-3 is the second pad at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., to undergo a major refurbishment to support the United Launch Alliance’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle lineup of Delta IV and Atlas V rockets. SLC-3 is set for the Pacific Coast debut of the Atlas V in a night launch Feb. 26 of a classified mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. For a detailed look, turn to p. 50. William G. Hartenstein/AW&ST photo.
Starsem is scheduled to launch a second test satellite for the Galileo satellite-based navigation system on Apr. 26. The European Space Agency’s Giove B is intended to validate a second, more accurate atomic clock and to guarantee International Telecommunications Union frequency-use requirements in the event the first spacecraft is lost. Giove A has been in orbit two years and a third test spacecraft is in development at Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. in case there’s a problem with Giove B.
Investigators are reviewing flight data from the final flight of the HyFly hypersonic missile demonstrator to find out why the vehicle’s exotic propulsion system failed to operate, leaving it to plunge into the ocean after less than 1 min. of flight.
Pratt & Whitney is speeding up clearance tests of a follow-on F135 engine to try to minimize delays to the planned first flight of the Lockheed Martin F-35B. The scramble follows a turbine failure in the engine originally destined to power the short takeoff/vertical landing (Stovl) variant.
SES appears to have failed in a bid to acquire Space Communications of Tel Aviv, operator of the Amos telecommunications satellite network, although the future shareholding structure of the Israeli company remains unclear. The Spacecom board of directors said on Feb. 7 that it had rejected an unsolicited, non-binding tender submitted by SES on Jan. 22 as part of a strategy of seeking modest acquisitions to fill holes in its global satellite network, the world’s second largest after Intelsat/PanAmSat.
EADS’s Augsburg aerostructures unit is nearing completion of certification tests for the Boeing 787 aft pressure bulkhead. The trials, which included 165,000 fatigue cycles, began in April 2007. Although a sister company to Airbus, the EADS unit won the Boeing work several years ago, and it will be looking for more of that type of business, especially if the planned spinoff of the facility to OHB Technology goes forward. EADS has delivered 21 series-production aft pressure bulkheads to Vought Aircraft Industries for use on the 787’s aft fuselage section.
It’s been a hurry-up-and-wait situation for United Launch Alliance’s refurbishment of the nearly half-century old Space Launch Complex-3 here, but a strengthened new pad is now ready to debut Atlas Vs on the Pacific Coast. The first mission liftoff, scheduled on Feb. 26, is for the National Reconnaissance Office using an Atlas V in a 411 configuration—a 4-meter (13.1-ft.)-dia. payload fairing, one Aerojet solid rocket booster (SRB) motor and a single Pratt & Whitney RL10 Centaur upper stage.
USMC Brig. Gen. Randolph D. Alles has been nominated for promotion to major general. He is assistant wing commander of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at San Diego.
A key radar development for the British Royal Air Force’s Tornado fleet is threatened as a result of the Defense Ministry’s deliberations on procurement cuts and delays. Top level U.K. Defense officials will meet later this month to try to hammer out defense equipment and support plans for the next three years. One program that the officials may delay or even drop is the Reforger project, intended to upgrade the RAF’s Tornado GR4A fleet with an active electronically scanned array radar (AESA).
I must protest your naming Qian Xuesen Person of the Year (AW&ST Jan. 7, p. 56). Qian is more the “Trofim Lysenko” of China’s space efforts than their father. China only began to make progress in missile and space development after the death of Mao and end of the Cold War, and by finally ending its commitment to the “political” science of Qian. His achievement has only been to outlive those who knew his true nature and disastrous effect on Chinese space and missile efforts and science in general.
Robert Wall (Filton, England), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
Airbus and its industrial partners are working on a strategy that could see alternative fuels introduced into operational service next year, with the target of having 30% of all aircraft powered by biofuel in 2030. However, along the way, several regulatory, scientific and logistical hurdles will have to be overcome. The long-term goal is to reduce the air transport industry’s carbon dioxide emissions.
Feb. 20-21—Shephard’s Defense IT ’08 Conference, London. Also, Mar. 17-19—Shephard’s Search and Rescue Conference and Exhibition 2008. Bournemouth (England) International Center. Call +44 (162) 860-6979, fax +44 (162) 866-9789 or see www.shephard.co.uk/events
Dutch aerospace industries and research labs are making notable inroads into both engine programs for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Stork Aerospace is poised to win up to $300 million in business as a supplier of a key titanium-made synchronizing ring component on Pratt & Whitney’s F135 engine. The first unit produced by the company, destined for F-135 flight test engine No. 9 to fly in April 2009, was delivered Jan. 29. Seven more are under contract.
The European Space Agency’s Columbus laboratory—the crown jewel of Europe’s space program—is set to undergo experiment power-up this week following its launch Feb. 7 on Atlantis. After five years of setbacks, installation of the laboratory onto the International Space Station is set for Feb. 10. Columbus experienced two years of postponements related to Russian Service Module problems, then was grounded another three years by the Columbia accident in February 2003.
Robert Serabin (see photo) has been named general manager of the Freundlich Supply Co. of New York. He was an executive of the Bowman Distribution Div. of the Barnes Group.
