Italy has launched the second of four CosmoSkyMed X-band radar satellites intended to bolster Europe’s all-weather reconnaissance and surveillance satellite capability. The spacecraft was launched on a Boeing Delta II rocket from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on Dec. 9, in a mission arranged by United Launch Alliance. The 1-meter (3.3-ft.) resolution system was declared operational in early October, when Italian space agency ASI released its first images (AW&ST Oct. 15, p. 21).
Aircraft makers and airlines expect to expand their “green” efforts in the coming year to counter some of the criticism from government and environmental activists. For Europe, in particular, an important step will come in the second half of 2008 when the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (Acare) will issue a mid-term review of progress made since a far-reaching research agenda was spelled out in 2001.
NASA astronauts on the International Space Station will have two malfunctions to inspect when they venture outside Dec. 18 in a spacewalk that can’t wait until the space shuttle is flying again.
The Chilean air force has ordered 12 Bell 412 twin-engine helicopters to be flown on search-and-rescue and troop-transport missions. The service already operates 20 Bell helicopters.
I loved your article on Epner Technology (AW&ST Nov. 19, p. 54). This company is typical of the many small firms that comprise an underpinning of the aerospace community. Epner is successful because it is highly focused. Large companies can’t afford this amount of specialization, this willingness to say “yes” to one-off requests, because the jobs are too small to be profitable for the giants. Thank goodness for the small companies that have technical sophistication and a willingness to take on special projects.
The delay of a key element of Britain’s future defense industrial road map will stretch into the second quarter of next year, to allow time for the Defense Ministry to resolve funding issues in its latest equipment planning round. The ministry is struggling with the cost of its long-term equipment plan, with major programs being reexamined for potential savings. A £1-billion ($2.04-billion) annual shortfall looms in the ministry’s long-term equipment plan. The U.K.’s annual procurement and support budget is currently £12-13 billion per year.
Deborah Leddon has been appointed senior reliability, maintainability and safety analyst for Circor Aerospace , Corona, Calif. She was head of fuel system engineering reliability and maintainability for the V-22 for Bell Helicopter Textron in Fort Worth.
Shirley Bridges, Delta Air Lines senior vice president/chief information officer, has been named 2007 Georgia CIO of the Year by the Georgia CIO Leadership Assn. The award honors Bridges’ management of enterprise-wide information systems, which power operational control throughout the airline and provide up-to-the-minute flight information for customers through a web site, information display screens, and messages to personal devices.
Robert Afzal (see photos) has been appointed vice president-research and development and Cheryl DeBoise chief financial officer of the Aculight Corp. , Bothell, Wash. Afzal was director of technology development. DeBoise was head of finance and information technology for the Plymouth Housing Group.
Vincent Vitto, who is retired president/CEO of The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, has been named to the board of trustees of The Aerospace Corp. , El Segundo, Calif. Peter B. Teets has been named to succeed USAF Gen. (ret.) Howell M. Estes, 3rd, as vice chairman.
It’s been a good month for the F-22. Air Combat Command declared full, world-wide operational capability for the 40 F-22s of Langley AFB’s integrated 1st Fighter Wing and ANG 92nd Fighter Wing. The two units have 80 trained pilots. Meanwhile, 50 lawmakers have written to Defense Secretary Robert Gates to press for continued production of the F-22 beyond the 183 approved.
Pentagon advocates and operators of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly frustrated with civilian agencies as attempts to gain access to U.S. airspace languish. The Defense Dept. has 5,300 UAVs in inventory and many thousands of flight hours’ experience in the U.S., Iraq and Afghanistan, but the search for ways to move them quickly from home base to emergency locations is stalled. U.S. operators, including those who provide fire-fighting services, say there’s no problem with the aircraft, ground stations and air traffic control.
Technicians at Goddard Space Flight Center will start assembling NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) next month, with only a few days of schedule slack to meet the spacecraft’s targeted launch date on Oct. 28, 2008.
France is finally moving ahead to renovate aging army Cougar and Puma helicopters in an effort to maintain a credible transport capability until new-generation NH90s are fielded in the first half of the next decade.
Lufthansa and JetBlue have agreed to what both say is a purely financial transaction in which the German airline will own 19% of the U.S. carrier by purchasing 42 million newly issued shares of common stock. Although the deal does not include any further cooperation, such as code-sharing, JetBlue CEO Dave Barger says he is open to all opportunities. When it was announced, he also told investors the deal does not affect a new commercial relationship he’s been pursuing with Aer Lingus.
This week Japan Airlines will begin code-sharing on flights operated by China Eastern Airlines between Tokyo’s Narita airport and Nanjing in China. The Chinese airline will inaugurate twice-weekly service with departures on Thursday and Sunday. JAL and China Eastern have been code-sharing partners since 2002. The agreement will expand JAL’s service to 13 cities in China with a total of 296 flights each week, including code-shares.
Fredy Glarner has become head of manufacturing and Markus Bucher head of aircraft assembly of Switzerland-based Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. Glarner belonged to the project management team for the PC-21, while Bucher was an executive in the customer support portion of Pilatus’s government aviation business.
Continued talks between EADS and potential buyers of several key Airbus production facilities are expected to run well into next year, and final contracts very probably won’t be signed until the summer, several industry officials suggest.
Thank you to Capt. Steve Roach who defends Concorde Captain Marty’s memory (AW&ST Nov. 12, p. 10). After the Concorde accident, you published a series of excellent articles explaining in detail the physics of flying that type of delta-wing aircraft. And you demonstrated that Marty did everything in his power to save the day.
Details about China’s new stealthy, air-launched cruise missile are coming out of the indictment of a former Northrop Grumman official. Noshir Gowadia is accused of working with a Chinese agent to supply stealth missile technology in 2003-05. In particular, the case involves the transfer of data about advanced propulsion and low observability. There is no indication that the information may involve the DH-10 missile.
One of Boeing Co.’s biggest fans on Wall Street is having second thoughts. Morgan Stanley research analyst Heidi Wood last week lowered her rating on the company’s stock to “equal-weight”—the equivalent of neutral—following a year-end briefing on the 787 aircraft’s development status (see p. 40). Pat Shanahan, the new 787 program manager, maintains that a recovery plan is on track to deliver the first aircraft by the end of 2008. But Wood thinks the hurdles ahead are too risky to advise her clients to keep buying Boeing stock.
Continental Airlines and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have begun a pilot program to test technology allowing travelers to receive their boarding passes electronically on cell phones or personal digital assistants. The passes will be scanned by TSA agents at the airport checkpoint for validation and each pass will display a two-dimensional bar code along with passenger and flight information.
Korea Aerospace Industries will build outer wing panels for 240 U.S. Air Force A-10 attack aircraft as a subcontractor under Boeing’s wing replacement program for the aircraft.
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Boeing is investigating the cause of the Dec. 10 crash of the A160T Hummingbird unmanned rotorcraft in Victorville, Calif. Test vehicle A008 was one of an unspecified number destined for trials with the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, and was the first turbine-powered version of the A160 to be lost. The accident occurred during the buildup to two imminent final performance tests required for completion of milestones set by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
