An increase in aircraft hull losses last year means the airline insurance industry likely ended 2007 in the red, according to a new report by Aon. Losses for 2007 are estimated at around $1.7 billion with hull and liability premiums at $1.51 billion. By comparison, the 2006 price tag associated with losses amounted to $1.29 billion. Aon, the underwriter and insurance brokerage company, says “the airline industry and its insurance market is still sound” despite last year’s issues. Some losses may yet be reclassified to reduce the 2007 total.
SkyWest Airlines will replace Skyway Airlines as the Midwest Connect feeder service for Midwest Airlines in a transition starting in March. Jobs of approximately 380 Skyway pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and dispatchers will be eliminated, but Skyway will retain 750 employees as it continues to provide ramp, dining and customer services for parent Midwest and Midwest Connect.
Congressional Democrats are shifting their attention from the war in Iraq to the sagging U.S. economy. Last year Democrats failed to make any headway with President Bush—or their Republican colleagues—in throttling back Iraq troop levels. But this election year, Democrats in the House of Representatives will be “focusing on the economy,” says Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.). The war isn’t even mentioned as Pelosi and the House Democratic leadership lay out plans for developing an economic stimulus package.
South African aerospace manufacturer Denel is in discussions with Embraer over becoming a risk-sharing partner in the latter’s proposed C-390 tactical airlifter. Denel wants to build on experience gained in participation in the Airbus A400M airlifter, and to secure additional work for its aerostructures business. Denel is also keen to broaden its involvement in the AgustaWestland A109 Light Utility Helicopter.
In this artist’s depiction, a U.S. Marine on a rooftop uses a personal communications device to control the surveillance and electronic attack capabilities of tactical UAVs. There also is an EA-6B Prowler standing by with additional electronic and tactical network attack capabilities. Prowlers equipped with Northrop Grumman’s new ICAP-III EW/EA system are entering service with both the Navy and Marine Corps. Antennas are often the gateway into enemy networks and communications. Cover design by BAE Systems artist Dave JanTausch.
The airline industry is financially fragile and seems unable to achieve superior profitability despite impressive traffic growth rates, technological progress and huge economies of scale.
Planetary scientists are beginning to delve into imagery of never-before-seen terrain on Mercury, collected Jan. 14 by NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging (Messenger) orbiter. The probe flew within about 125 mi. of the surface of Mercury, collecting some 600 images of about half of the surface that was not explored by Mariner 10 on its three flybys, the last of which came on Mar. 16, 1975.
The dissertation in “The Tanker Debate: Why Size Matters” (AW&ST Nov. 19, 2007, p. 58) by USAF Gen. (ret.) Charles Horner really falls short. First of all, F-35 and helicopter procurements have no basis for comparison to the tanker decision. The former are tactical war products with lots of potential backup at crunch time and are based on American technology that takes second place to no one. Light helicopters can all fall into the Pacific Ocean and have no impact on the success of a major wartime engagement.
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) is developing a solid-fuel launch vehicle for International Space Station resupply and scientific space missions based on hardware it already has in production in one form or another. A shortened version of the booster that lifts NASA’s space shuttle off the pad forms the rocket’s first stage. The second stage is a stock Castor 120 motor already used on the Athena and Taurus commercial launchers, and the third stage is a 30-in.-dia. Castor 30 that ATK has been developing based in part on its Castor 4 target.
The Hubble Space Telescope generated these images of a rare double Einstein ring, produced when a massive galaxy in the foreground forms a gravity lens that bends light from two more distant galaxies around itself. For it to work, the galaxies must be perfectly aligned. In this case, the foreground galaxy is about 3 billion light-years from Earth, and the two rings are actually multiple images of galaxies 6 billion and about 11 billion light-years distant.
The Lockheed Martin C-5 reengining program is now considered not certified to continue, although Air Force officials are continuing to weigh their options for conducting the Reliability Enhancement and Reengining Program on all or some of the fleet. The “not certified” status is a technicality. The Pentagon’s official decision as to whether to certify the program, move forward the modification, or to terminate or truncate it was due to Congress Jan. 14.
In the article by Pierre Sparaco on Airbus’s 40 years (AW&ST Jan. 7, p. 52), he refers to a number of successful aircraft made in Europe in the years after World War II.
Frank Morring, Jr., wrote of the gas generator of the J2-X (AW&ST Dec. 10, 2007, p. 62). I wish the J2-X had a gas generator. The J2-X uses main chamber-bled gas to drive the turbines, the most risky way possible. Wernher von Braun never flew a J2-X. The Russians, who are the best in staged combustion, never used main chamber-bled gas. Why? In the J2-X, there is nothing between 5,000F chamber gas and a turbine that will melt at 2,500F. We have lost two shuttles because hot gas reached metal that then melted.
In reference to Karl Kettler’s comments concerning runway length in his letter “Not All Pilots Are Angels” (AW&ST Dec. 17, 2007, p. 10), I agree there are situations (DC-10, crash at O’Hare, for example) where it’s better to sacrifice the aircraft to save lives. It is usually better to hit something with the aircraft slowing, and the engines at idle, than accelerating with engines at full power. There is no benefit to getting a crippled aircraft into the air just because you can.
NASA is looking for a few good lunar-lander ideas. A formal “broad area announcement” issued Jan. 11 seeks concepts from industry and the science community on the agency’s planned “Altair” lunar surface access module, which will carry as many as four astronauts to the Moon’s surface sometime after 2020.
Brian Reid (see photo) has been appointed vice president-engineering for St. Louis-based Midcoast Aviation . He was vice president-engineering, certification and interior design for the Associated Air Center.
Some of the most influential leaders of the space community are quietly working to offer the next U.S. president an alternative to President Bush’s “vision for space exploration”—one that would delete a lunar base and move instead toward manned missions to asteroids along with a renewed emphasis on Earth environmental spacecraft.
Eclipse Aviation on Jan. 17 received FAA certification for the first of three Level D simulators for its Eclipse 500 very light jet. This will allow student pilots to earn a type rating in the Opinicus-manufactured simulator without in-aircraft training, according to the company. Eclipse expects to have three certificated Level D simulators in operation by April.
A computer algorithm that can pluck a single network of communications—used by an ad hoc group of militant bombers—from the electronic soup that encompasses Baghdad is nearing operational testing. Iraq’s capital is notorious for its miasma of conflicting, interfering electronic emissions that sometimes cuts the useful range of data links by up to 90%—including those that provide critical intelligence from unmanned surveillance and attack aircraft.
NASA has completed basic flight proving tests of its Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (Sophia). The Boeing 747SP has been modified to include an aft cavity housing a 2.5-meter (8.2-ft.) IR telescope. The initial flight tests were conducted with the telescope’s protective pressure doors closed. This spring, the telescope’s primary mirror will be removed to give it a thin working coat of reflective aluminum. Its re-installation will also include placement of the final versions of the telescope cavity door and aperture control hardware and software.
Gerard A. (Duke) Dufresne (see photo) has been appointed vice president for the Western U.S. and Charles Wands (see photo) vice president/chief financial officer for the El Segundo, Calif.-based Northrop Grumman Corp. Integrated Systems Sector. Dufresne will succeed Gary W. Ervin, who will become corporate vice president/sector president. Dufresne has been sector vice president for the Eastern U.S. and will be succeeded by Thomas E. Vice (see photo), who has been vice president for Airborne Early Warning and Battle Management Command and Control-Navy Programs.
Airbus is bracing for a steep reduction in orders in 2008 to around 500-700 aircraft, although indications are it will start the year strongly. The European aircraft maker is coming off a banner year in which it took in 1,458 gross orders with a list price value of $181.1 billion, compared with Boeing’s 1,423 gross orders. The order intake drove the Airbus backlog to 3,421 aircraft at year-end, or roughly six years of production.
