U.S. and Japanese engineers at the U.S. Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) have concluded altitude testing of the XF7-10 engine that powers Japan’s XP-1 four-engine maritime patrol aircraft, which flew for the first time in September 2007. Jeff Dodd, AEDC’s project manager for the tests, says additional altitude checks of the engine are scheduled for mid-September following a rebuild of the test powerplant by Japan’s Technical Research and Development Institute.
John Slater has become managing director for Latin America for Continental Airlines . He was managing director of distribution planning and electronic commerce and succeeds Pete Garcia, who has retired. Slater was manager of development, design and support for continental.com
Boeing’s most recent image of the 787 final assembly line shows three airplanes in progress—the ZA001 first test aircraft in front with the static- and fatigue-test articles following (below). On closer examination, the shot also depicts the trouble Boeing is having in getting its first airplanes out the door. Note the amount of support structure for assembly workers that surrounds each airplane. It’s not supposed to be there.
I read Karl Kettler’s letter bashing the crew of the Continental Airlines DC-10 that had an uncontained engine failure at Newark (N.J.) International Airport. The runway is 11,000 ft. long. Kettler says the engine was blown with 9,000 ft. of runway remaining. If he had done any research, he would have found out that the engine blew at V1, the most dangerous point of the takeoff roll. According to Kettler, a fully loaded DC-10 reaches the takeoff safety speed (V1 ) in 2,000 ft. That is impossible.
Saudi Arabia has agreed to buy Airbus’s A330 derivative to meet its requirement for refueling aircraft. The deal, for three multirole tanker transports equipped with both refueling booms and under-wing pods, follows an order from Australia and selection by the United Arab Emirates, which remains to be finalized.
In his Viewpoint, former National Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman Robert Francis bases a lot of his argument on cost-benefit analysis by the FAA (AW&ST Nov. 5, 2007, p. 70).
Unguided rockets have been a staple of U.S. military helicopter ordnance since the Vietnam War, but now BAE Systems is developing a laser-guidance conversion for 2.75-in.-dia. rockets that will turn them into precision weapons.
The credit crunch will push airlines into leasing more aircraft, rather than buying them, says Asian lessor BOC Aviation, which has strengthened its own financial firepower in anticipation of garnering more business. Financing aircraft with loans was fairly cheap a year ago, but is becoming increasingly difficult and costly as banks struggle to maintain cash reserves amid the credit market dysfunction caused by the U.S. sub-prime mortgage collapse.
WorldSpace Satellite Radio has secured $40 million in additional financing from Yenure Pte. Ltd. The funds, in the form of 5-year 8% subordinated convertible notes, are intended to help support launch of a European digital audio radio service and attempts to establish it in other selective markets, notably India and China. Yenure is controlled by WorldSpace Chairman/CEO Noah Samara. However, $10 million of the proceeds will go toward prepaying secured note holders.
The U.K. is poised to grow its General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Predator UAV fleet with the Pentagon’s recent approval for a $1.1-billion purchase of 10 more of the aircraft and five ground stations. Associated sensors and satellite links are included.
Karl Kettler’s most recent letter (AW&ST Dec. 17, 2007, p. 10) is breathtaking in its lack of understanding of the decision-making processes and procedures of airline operations. The most egregious example concerns his comments on the 2001 Continental Airlines DC-10 mishap and the Air France Concorde accident. His superior judgment is that those captains should have rejected their takeoffs, since they each had “more than 9,000 ft. of runway remaining.”
Iran announced Dec. 26 that Russia will supply it with S-300 air defense missiles, and Russia’s technology export agency promptly denied any such sale, or even deliberations to sell. The missile, designated SA-10 and SA-20 by NATO depending on the variant, is considered the most potent of currently fielded, high-altitude surface-to-air missiles. Ranges of some spinoff designs extend 250 mi. or more. Sale of the expensive missile has been rumored for years.
Neel Shah has been named vice president-cargo of Delta Air Lines , effective Jan. 14. He has been vice president-sales and marketing for United Airlines Cargo. Shah will succceed Ben Darnell, who will be leaving the airline.
A review of Australian combat aircraft requirements will consider the possibility of scrapping the country’s 2007 order for 24 Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets. Cancellation costs at this early stage of the contract would amount to only A$300 million ($264 million), less than 5% of the A$6.6 billion budgeted for the purchase and operation of the aircraft until 2020.
Amy Butler (Washington), Michael Bruno (Washington)
China’s stunning demonstration of a direct-ascent antisatellite (Asat) weapon in January 2007 has forced the U.S. government to come to terms with this capability as a realistic threat—not simply a notion of doomsday planning—and begin to organize itself accordingly.
Boeing and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) have signed a 10-year memorandum of understanding that calls for Boeing to develop work packages that can be transferred to HAL. The initial value is $10-20 million annually. Boeing is promoting a number of service and manufacturing options to meet India’s strict offset requirements as it tries to secure military contracts that include winning India’s Multi-Role Combat Aircraft competition.
Scientists at Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) have developed a copper structure with pores of nanometer and micron size that could play a key role in reducing the size and cost of certain military munitions. Plans call for the highly uniform copper structures to be incorporated into integrated circuits and chemically converted to millimeter-diameter explosives, creating micro-electromechanical (MEMS) fuzes for munitions that can be mass-produced like computer chips.
Capt. Clarence (Clancy) Prevost has received the 2007 Presidential Citation from the Washington-based Air Line Pilots Assn. for his efforts to alert the FBI to Zacharias Moussaoui’s attempts to learn to fly an airliner. Moussaoui later was identified as the would-be 20th hijacker in the 9/11 plot. Moussaoui was assigned as a flight student to Prevost, who had retired from Northwest Airlines and was working as a Boeing 747-400 simulator instructor at the Pan Am International Flight Academy in Eagan, Minn.
Shortly after the first flights and start of radar testing on Northrop Grumman’s new E-2D Advanced Hawkeye to detect small and stealthy objects, the company has won a $50.4-million contract for advanced acquisition of long-lead materials and support for low-rate production of three Lot 1 E-2Ds.
Air France faces several weeks of difficult negotiations with Alitalia as it tries to devise a politically palatable way to assume control of the struggling Italian airline. But those near-term hurdles pale in comparison to pending challenges if the acquisition goes ahead.
Beijing Capital Airport’s Terminal 3, China’s largest, is expected to open in March, giving it plenty of shake-out time before visitors begin arriving for the 2008 Olympic Games. The 1-million-sq.-meter (10,764,000-sq.-ft.) terminal will be home to flag carrier Air China. The project includes a 3,800-meter (12,464-ft.) runway, large enough to accommodate Airbus A380s.
The 76th Aircraft Maintenance Group at Tinker AFB is shifting from an old-style, slow maintenance depot into an efficient organization keen on meeting customer demands. The many buzz words associated with contemporary maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) have taken on practical meaning with the changes.
Avic I rolled out the prototype ARJ21-700 regional jetliner on Dec. 21 in anticipation of a planned first flight in March. New regional carrier Kunpeng Airlines has ordered 100 of the aircraft, bringing total orders to 171, all but two of which will go to Chinese airlines and leasing companies.
The U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) unveiled a self-described “major” settlement of a race discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against Lockheed Martin Corp. for $2.5 million and other relief on behalf of an African-American electrician who said he was subjected to a racially hostile work environment at several job sites.
