Elbit Systems says South Korea is planning to buy Skylark unmanned aircraft. The program is starting with the purchase of a single system for tests, with follow-on procurement expected.
The American Society of Aviation Artists would also like to thank its sustaining sponsors: AVIATION WEEK, the Boeing Co., Pratt & Whitney and the Lockheed Martin Corp. Honorable Mentions
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has issued a final report on the crash of an Air France A340, which ran off the runway at Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson International Airport in 2005, and it is calling for tighter rules for approach and landing during convective weather.
Montage shows some of the more than 300 images that the three judges in the annual Aviation Week & Space Technology photo contest reviewed. Cover design by Scott Marshall of the AW&ST Art Dept.
BAE Systems is to sell part of its U.S. electronic warfare business to Cobham, as the latter seeks to extend its U.S. footprint. BAE Systems will receive $240 million for its Landsdale, Pa.-based “Surveillance and Attack” business. The unit has 400 employees.
NASA will continue to work with Ad Astra Rocket Co. as the Webster, Tex.-based firm develops an advanced plasma engine for future in-space propulsion. Michael Coats, director of Johnson Space Center, and veteran astronaut Franklin Chang Diaz, the Ad Astra chairman and CEO, signed a Space Act Agreement Dec. 10 setting out a “framework for collaboration” as the company matures its “Vasimr” engine technology.
The Russian government has suspended through next year a 20% import tax it imposes on Western-built aircraft with a capacity of more than 300 seats. It marks the second time the government has given airlines relief from taxes designed to protect domestic manufacturers from foreign competition. Even with the financial obstacle in place, Russian operators imported more than 90 passenger jets this year to replace high-fuel-burn Soviet-era aircraft.
Chicago-based navAero Inc. has received the seventh supplemental type certificate for its Class 2 Electronic Flight Bag (EFB)—this time for installation on Airbus A300 and A310 aircraft. A global operator of these aircraft types will begin using the system in the first quarter of 2008. The Navaero t-BagC22 EFB also has been selected by Continental Airlines for its fleet of 58 Boeing 757-200/300s and 26 767-200/400s. Continental decided to retrofit its 757s and 767s partly owing to the FAA’s safety push to reduce runway incursions.
Solving the F-15’s problems is turning into a lengthy process that is triggering concerns about a slip in pilots’ proficiency because they cannot fly. Plans are afoot to launch a crash effort once the flight ban is lifted. Inspections of the fleet of A-D models continue following the breakup of an F-15 (the nose broke off behind the cockpit) in a 3g maneuver. Cracks in the upper longerons of eight F-15s have been found.
George Nader has been named Montreal-based director of sales and marketing of Execaire . He was an executive with with Air Canada Technical Services and Pratt & Whitney Canada. Kenneth F. Dandy has been appointed Vancouver-based manager, Harald Maron Toronto-based manager of aircraft management and charter sales, and John O’Brien Winnipeg-based manager of maintenance and avionics repairs.
Air India’s planned accession to Star Alliance membership marks an import milestone for the airline and the alliance’s respective growth strategies. Long courted by Star, which bemoaned the absence of a member in the Indian growth market, Air India is likely to be on board in early 2009. The carrier has been working for three years with Lufthansa, which is sponsoring Air India’s membership, and no insurmountable barriers are foreseen. Air China and Shanghai Airlines joined last week giving Star good coverage in another hot growth area.
NASA will wind up 2007 with the entire vehicle under contract to provide the next U.S. route to space for humans under contract, after tapping Boeing to build the Instrument Unit Avionics (IUA) for the Ares I crew launch vehicle. Worth as much as $779.5 million through 2016, the IUA award means there are now contractors for the entire Ares I/Orion crew exploration vehicle, which is headed toward preliminary design review by the end of next year.
John Roddy has been named Tempe, Ariz.-based executive vice president ground operations and product development for Iridium Satellite . He was president of Telcordia Global Services of New Jersey.
Boeing has started production of the P-8A Poseidon fuselage. The 737-derivative aircraft will replace the long-serving U.S. Navy P-3 Orion. In early 2008, the first fuselage will begin aircraft assembly. Five aircraft will be built for the program’s development and demonstration phase. The first test aircraft will be delivered to the Navy in 2009.
Messier-Dowty has been named the main landing gear supplier for the Airbus A350XWB, with first items to be delivered to Airbus in early 2011. Airbus has set a four-wheel main landing gear requirement for the -800 and -900s, but the larger and heavier A350-1000 will have six to reduce wheel loading. The landing gear also will sport a four-wheel bogie and dual side stay, which reduces loading on the aircraft’s composite wing. Safran unit Messier-Dowty notes that the gear will use advanced materials, specifically titanium, to decrease weight and limit corrosion.
CIT Aerospace has signed contracts with Ryanair to acquire and lease up to 15 Boeing 737-800s. The jets, similar to those operated by carriers such as EgyptAir, will be equipped with CFM-56-7B24 engines and winglets. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2008 and end in 2009. In addition, the company has another 10 737s on order for delivery in 2010-11. CIT owns or finances a fleet of more than 300 aircraft including 41 next-generation 737s.
Volvo Aero is buying Sweden’s Applied Composites as part of the engine maker’s expanding strategy to focus on technologies to create lighter powerplants. The 70-employee company, with a projected 2007 turnover of 110 million Swedish kronor ($17 million), is supposed to help Volvo Aero transition from metal parts to composites. Volvo Aero says that in the next 18 months it plans to spend $8 million on composite research and development. Volvo Aero will also establish a business unit focused on developing and building composite engine parts.
Prodded by Congress, the U.S. Homeland Security Dept. is going to test laser jammer technology next year as a defense system against terrorist missile attacks on commercial airline flights. The department has awarded BAE Systems and team member American Airlines a $29-million contract to test the infrared countermeasures system known as JetEye on scheduled American transcontinental flights.
Roel Berendsen (see photo) has become Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based vice president of ESR Technology ’s Aviation Div. in the Middle East. He has been head of the U.K.-based ESR’s Aviation Business Development Unit.
Civil Air Patrol Col. Mary Feik of the Annapolis (Md.) Composite Sqdn. has received the National Aeronautic Assn. ’s 2006 Frank Brewer Trophy as well as the Switzerland-based Federation Aeronautique International ’s 2006 Tissandier Diploma. The trophy recognizes contributions to aerospace education. Feik was cited for more than 65 years of work in aerospace education as a teacher, mentor, pilot and engineer. The diploma honors service to aviation. Feik was recognized for her work as an engineer, test poilot and innovator in aircraft repair.
Extensive evidence of wind, clouds, lightning and other climatic processes sent back by Europe’s Venus Express probe is sparking new interest in the nearest planet to Earth.
