Europe’s aerospace and defense industry is in relatively good shape. But in the space realm, serious funding support has to emerge in the coming months to sustain that sector. Order intake will also have to pick up if last year’s results are to be repeated.
Len Polizzotto (see photo) has become senior executive for strategic business development and marketing for the Draper Laboratory, Cambridge, Mass. He was corporate vice president-business development and marketing for SRI International.
GE Aviation will conclude study work on "how and if we integrate" parts of its business by early 2008, following its recent acquisition of Smiths Aerospace, says John Ferrie, president for systems at GE Aviation. "There are one or two bits that might be better off within as part of the systems business," he adds.
Germany has acquired 42 more NH90 tactical transport helicopters, and Belgium eight, raising the total number of orders to 503. The German purchase, which includes 30 for the army and 12 for the air force, complements a previous order for 80 rotorcraft placed in 2000. The German army has received four NH90s to date. The Belgian buy, to be split by the army and navy, includes two options.
Facing a future with stronger U.S. airline competition, Copa Airlines CEO Pedro Heilbron realized 10 years ago that the Panama-based carrier "wasn't good enough" being average. But after partnering with Continental Airlines, building a network of nonstop flights, and expanding its operations across the Americas, Heilbron now heads an airline that has boosted revenue by $850 million since 1997 and maintained a 90% or better on-time performance for the past five years.
Rolls-Royce posted $15.1 billion in engine orders last week, largely on the strength of a flurry of Airbus A350XWB purchases. So far, Rolls has the only engine offering on the A350XWB. But Rolls also booked a large number of Trent 500 orders. Qatar Airways' orders alone brought $5.6 billion in turbofan sales.
Paul Lightsey, a mission system engineering staff consultant for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at the Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo., has won the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal. The medal is NASA's highest award to a non-agency employee. Two other Ball employees have won the NASA Exceptional Service Medal: Randy Coffey, CloudSat program manager; and Steve Long, the CloudSat mission operations lead. All were cited for accomplishments on critical space exploration and scientific discovery missions.
James D. Royston has been promoted to president from executive vice president of Houston-based Spacehab Inc. Michael Bowker has become chief operating officer, Roscoe M. Moore, 3rd, executive vice president/chief strategic and technical officer, and Brian H. Harris vice president-business development. Bowker was president/CEO of Astrium North America and had been vice president-business development of Spacehab. Moore has been a member of the board of directors and is a lawyer and astronautical engineer.
Thomas L. MacKenzie (see photo) has been appointed Arlington, Va.-based vice president-naval programs for the Northrop Grumman Corp. He was corporate director of navy programs.
Laura A. McKee has been appointed managing director of airport affairs, effective July 5, for the Washington-based Air Transport Assn. She has been director of risk management for Centerplate Inc. and was regional director of airport affairs for US Airways.
European Taurus Systems GmbH. and U.S.-based Textron Systems have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly pursue a standoff missile capable of defeating hard and deeply buried targets.
Delta Air Lines, focused as promised on building international services, will be installing Blended Winglets on 63 aircraft in its fleet: Boeing 737-NGs (38), 757-200s (10) and 767-300ERs (15). The winglet technology is expected to yield some benefits for Delta: Reduced fuel burn will lead to "substantial savings," at least a 3.5% improvement in fuel consumption and a minimum 5% improvement in range capability, according to Chief Operating Officer Jim Whitehurst. The winglets would give the carrier's 757-200s an added 200-naut.-mi.
Under a memorandum of understanding, India has selected Montreal-based CAE to develop the National Flying Training Institute and act as managing partner of the Indian government's Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi flight training academy. The schools, aiming to address the country's pilot shortage, are expected to license more than 600 a year. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel says India estimates it will have to add 5,000 to its current base of 2,500 active pilots, and the initiatives with CAE "will go a long way" in helping to remedy the shortage.
The U.S. Air Force's future bomber program will be the first of many to reflect a shift in procurement strategy toward increased upfront development spending to curb cost overruns. Funding will be high early in the program to address risk and maintain an ambitious schedule at the sacrifice of some new technologies in the initial design.
Worried that Al Qaeda might try to smuggle weapons or terrorists into the U.S. on an international general aviation flight, the Homeland Security Dept. is exploring ways to screen the contents of large GA aircraft. The department's Transportation Security Administration is considering new security rules for GA and the reliever airports it uses.
BAE Systems' Nashua, N.H., division received two U.S. Army contracts totaling $54 million to provide a multi-band laser technology upgrade for the Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasures/Common Missile Warning System program (see photo). The laser will replace an existing IR jam laser and flash lamp subsystem to protect helicopters by defeating IR-seeking missiles. Four multi-band lasers will support Atircm operational test and evaluation and 12 laser units will support testing and initial fielding of Atircm/CMWS.
The biennial gathering of aerospace professionals at Le Bourget last week may well have been a watershed event. Instead of the usual buzz surrounding aircraft orders and new airplane designs, most of the banter at hospitality chalets and press briefings focused on the challenge of how manufacturers can effectively address environmental challenges. As United Technologies President Louis Chenevert observed, "This air show [was] a catalyst" on the issue of the industry dealing with greening. His was not an isolated view.
Regarding the Boeing 787 assembly process (AW&ST May 28, p. 72), isn't it comforting to know that one day we will all get a chance to ride on an electrically transparent, plastic airplane that was assembled in three days?
AirAsia, always on the lookout for add-on revenues, will introduce OnAir's communications service through which passengers will be able to use mobile phones for voice calls, SMSs and e-mails. The system will be introduced on 150 AirAsia A320s and on the A330 long-haul services to be flown under the company's brand by affiliate Fly Asia Express.
The Thai government has directed Thai Airways International to lease, not buy, eight Airbus A330-300s the carrier had intended to order. The aircraft were to come at an attractive price that Airbus was offering as compensation for late A380 deliveries--compensation that will now have to take another form. President Apinan Sumanaseni says the matter went to the cabinet, which approved only an operating lease. "There will be no more negotiation," he adds, without identifying the lessor.
Efforts to further reduce aircraft accidents could fizzle unless safety information is shared more broadly, aviation safety experts warned at this month’s European Union-FAA safety conference here. But fears of litigation and other hurdles stand in the way.
The Embraer 170 will be able to operate at the high-yield market of London City Airport, now that the aircraft has received steep-approach certification from the Brazilian National Civil Aviation Agency and the European Aviation Safety Agency. The Embraer 190 is expected to receive steep-approach certification in December 2008, according to the manufacturer.
Jens Flottau's article "Keeping the Barrell Rolling" refers to Boeing as "burning" barrel sections in autoclaves (AW&ST June 4, p. 40). I have to wince. Heat and pressure are being applied to the fiber reinforcement phase and the resin phase of the composite to cure it. There is no burning or oxidation in the autoclave.
German aerospace center DLR has released initial images from TerraSAR-X, a new radar imaging spacecraft orbited on June 15 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on board a Dnepr rocket. The launch had been set for late last year, but was delayed by problems with tantalum capacitors on the onboard computer and a Dnepr failure in July 2006. The Dnepr returned to flight in April, with a multi-satellite payload including the EgyptSat-1 remote-sensing/scientific spacecraft.
