Aeroflot has put its Tu-134 fleet out to pasture. The carrier has ceased operations with the long-serving aircraft type, but will sell 14 of them to continue service to subsidiaries Aeroflot-Don, Aeroflot-North and Aeroflot-Plus. Aeroflot has operated Tu-134s for more than 40 years. It became the most numerous aircraft type in the airline’s history. The first of the models, still designated the Tu-12B, was put in service in 1963. The Tu-134 designation followed two years later. But stronger noise regulations largely forced the Tu-134 onto only domestic routes.
The Italian air force is stuck in limbo, unsure when it can restore its AMX fighter/bombers to operational status. A judge from Sardinia has grounded the AMX fleet, effectively shutting down the 51st fighter/bomber wing at Istrana in Treviso in Northern Italy and the 32nd at Amendola in Foggia in Southern Italy, as well as testing being conducted at Pratica di Mare (Rome) by the experimental wing. Military officials are livid about what they see as an out-of-control judiciary.
Lockheed Martin captured $556 million in contracts to provide the U.S. Army with Patriot Advanced Capability-3 air defense missions. The company is to produce 148 missiles, 17 launcher modification kits, spares and equipment and deliver them by 2010.
MBDA has opened a new research, development and headquarters facility in Plessis-Robinson, near Paris, that will replace three former Paris-area plants. Construction of the 70,000-sq.-meter five-building complex, which will house 3,000 employees, is part of an ongoing rationalization plan involving facilities in France, Italy and the U.K.
I read your article, “Grounded” (AW&ST Dec. 17, 2007, p. 24), which described the process that led to the recent grounding of the space shuttle fleet, with mounting dismay and finally a sense of outrage.
Eurocontrol has issued a safety notice to aircraft operators and air navigation service providers after an incident involving an error in the use of Controller Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC). It allows controllers to send ATC clearances to pilots via data link rather than relying exclusively on voice radio communications. But recently a pilot logged onto the CPDLC system in flight using the incorrect aircraft identification, and that turned out to be the identification of an aircraft already using the flight data processing system that had not logged on yet.
David McMillan has become director general of Brussels-based Eurocontrol . He was director general of civil aviation for the U.K. and has been first vice president of the European Civil Aviation Conference and spokesman for Europe on aviation and environment at the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Researchers are about to begin in-depth studies of a heat shield sample taken from the edge of the Stardust sample-return capsule as part of continuing work to determine if the same ablative material should be used to protect the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. The material, made from phenolic impregnated carbon ablator (PICA), is the leading choice for the Orion spacecraft, and its evaluation forms a critical early task for CEV planners along with development and test of a launch-abort system.
In a deal worth about $300 million, Rolls-Royce Trent 700s will be outfitted on Thai Airways’ eight new Airbus A330-300s, deliveries of which are to start in 2009. The powerplants are covered under a 10-year TotalCare long-term services agreement.
Astronaut Sunita Williams’ stellar performance during a six-month stint on the International Space Station included four extremely difficult spacewalks and a world record for time spent by a woman in extravehicular activity. An Indo-American, she drew rave reviews on a post-flight goodwill tour of her father’s homeland, helping forge closer ties to a U.S. space partner.
Regarding the letter from Robert G. Ryan (AW&ST Nov. 12, 2007, p. 12), the firefighting tanker industry has fielded far more than the DC-6 in recent years. Among these aircraft have been the S-2T, P-3, C-130, PB4Y-2, P2V-5/7, DC-4, M-18T, AT-802, B206, UH-1, CH-54 and DC-10. The recent fires in California were driven by winds far in excess of safety limits for any aircraft, and were a force that no one could hope to control with any amount of retardant or number of ground troops.
Computer Sciences Corp. has won a contract to provide facility support services at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The company estimates the value of the contract—which has a two-year base period, two one-year options and six one-year performance-based award terms—to be $544 million if all options are exercised.
Airbus is still weighing a number of important design choices for the A350 that will change its look and performance. But it’s becoming increasingly clear that in recent months the aircraft has grown beyond the influences that first shaped the configuration. Among the items still on the agenda is determining the exact winglet configuration. Several designs, some involving 2-meter-high winglets with different shapes, remain under review.
Two-seat fighters, with room to carry a weapon systems officer to handle new information operations, network attack and electronic warfare missions, are gaining popularity in Pentagon. But researchers in high-tech firms are betting on computers with fast processing and advanced algorithms to drive the military back to single-seat designs. “No man is going to be able to engage in network warfare [from the cockpit],” says a top cyber warfare specialist.
International traffic is “stronger than ever,” according to the Airports Council International, which reports that November international traffic increased 9% compared with the same month in 2006. Africa, which saw a “major surge” of travelers to North Africa, led traffic growth with a 21.5% increase.
Navy Capt. Randy Mahr and the staff of the Northrop Grumman E-2D program developed the Advanced Hawkeye, a new aircraft carrying a next-generation radar that can detect fighter-size targets at very long range and very small targets at ranges long enough to attack them successfully. The E-2D will extend the fleet’s radar coverage to well beyond the horizon. The electronically scanned array component has a 60-90-deg. field of view that can look in front of the mechanical scan or behind it, thereby allowing a longer look at areas where small targets are thought to be.
Patricia Cooper (see photo) has become president of the Washington-based Satellite Industry Assn. She succeeds David Cavossa, who resigned as executive director. Cooper was senior satellite competition adviser the Federal Communication Commission’s International Bureau.
Capt. Karen Lee, UPS director of flight operations, and Bob Hilb, UPS advanced flight systems manager, have worked for more than a decade pioneering the use of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) at their company. Paul Fontaine of the FAA’s Safe Flight 21 program has assisted in these leading-edge ADS-B efforts. At the end of last year, UPS received FAA approval to begin advanced ADS-B operations at Louisville, Ky., using novel avionics software provided by Aviation Communication and Surveillance Systems (an L-3 Communications and Thales company).
The NTSB is intensifying efforts to promote a public awareness campaign about the dangers of carrying lithium batteries on airliners (AW&ST Dec. 10, 2007, p. 47). Safety board recommendations issued Jan. 7 ask both the FAA and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to establish a process that would provide “wider, highly visible and continuous” guidance to travelers and flight crews on the safe carriage of rechargeable lithium batteries, or electronic devices containing these batteries.
The U.S. Army-led requirement for the future Joint Heavy Lift helicopter’s internal carriages has increased to 29 from 20 tons, a Boeing official says. The Army is in the early phases of exploring requirements for a vertical-lift transport that will shuttle vehicles around battlefields. The change was necessary to accommodate growth in Future Combat System vehicles.
Air Canada, which hopes to complete its major fleet renewal this year, is reporting a record 78.8% load factor for December for combined mainline and regional affiliate Jazz, six percentage points higher than the same month last year. The mainline flew 2.3% more revenue passenger miles (RPM), with a 1.6% capacity increase. Jazz flew 3.8% more RPM based on a 2.5% increase. The full-year consolidated load factor of 80.6% is also a record, for the fourth year in a row, according to Air Canada.
Cruise-missile defense has long been a stepchild in the Pentagon’s air-and-missile defense community, with some officials feeling the Defense Dept. is not organized properly to deal with the growing threat of a cruise-missile attack abroad or, especially, on U.S. territory. Now that may be changing. “They are beginning to talk seriously” about a new approach to the cruise-missile defense problem, says Dave Kier, Lockheed Martin vice president for missile defense.
The first two Marine One helicopters have formally entered flight test at NAS Patuxent River, Md. The two VH-71 test vehicles will undergo structural and propulsion experiments. They will also be used for early pilot training.
David Hughes (Washington ), Michael Mecham (San Francisco)
Boeing says it will be able to prove compliance with special conditions set by the FAA for the 787’s computer networks when the 250-300-seat jet’s flight-test program begins this spring. The goal is to assure that the aircraft’s network design is secure from intrusion by hackers. The review is among 10 special conditions the FAA published Jan. 2 in the Federal Register to cover the 787’s advances in design, materials and systems beyond already written certification rules.
