Air France this week will receive the first of three Boeing 747BCF (Boeing Converted Freighters) it has ordered. The aircraft replace aging 747-200Fs. Taikoo Aircraft Engineering in Xiamen, China, undertook the conversion, the first using a 747 Combi. All three of the converted freighters are to be delivered to Air France before year-end.
Fourteen agencies interested in working together on space exploration have drafted an agreement setting down initial steps for mutual collaboration. The Global Exploration Strategy (GES), which was signed last week at a three-day workshop in Italy, is intended to see how NASA's Vision for Space Exploration, Europe's Aurora program, and similar initiatives in Russia, China, India, Japan and elsewhere, can be melded into a cohesive global effort. The workshop was the third in a series dating back to 2005 (AW&ST Apr. 16, p. 31).
Add the House Homeland Security Committee to government organizations examining how an Atlanta man infected with a dangerous form of tuberculosis was able to board transatlantic flights in both the U.S. and Europe, even though authorities were looking for him.
Space Systems/Loral has won a contract to study how a new operational land imager for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) could be accommodated on SS/L's 1300 bus, which was initially designed for communications and weather applications. The four-month study will prepare the way for a request for proposals for LDCM satellite procurement, which is expected in December.
Northwest Airlines emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 31 as employees rang the starting bell at the New York Stock Exchange and finance specialists completed a $750-million equity sale that put more cash in the carrier's bank accounts--$3.2 billion--than ever before.
BAA has received planning approval for the further redevelopment of London Heathrow Airport, with the go-ahead for Heathrow East to replace Terminals 1 and 2. The approval is still pending legal agreement, but the first stage of Heathrow East could be in operation by 2012. The airport's Terminal 5 is due to open at the end of March 2008. Last week also saw the start of the public inquiry into BAA's proposed increase in flights at London Stansted Airport.
French investigators last week delved deeper into claims that EADS executives sold shares in the company while knowing about the pending announcement of major A380 delays. The review has been going on since last year, but gained additional attention in recent days with lengthy interrogation of EADS Co-Chairman Arnauld Lagardere.
U.S. reconnaissance spacecraft have spotted a training center in Iran that duplicates the layout of the governor's compound in Karbala, Iraq, that was attacked in January by a specialized unit that killed American and Iraqi solders. The U.S. believes the discovery indicates Iran was heavily involved in the attack, which relied on a fake motorcade to gain entrance to the compound. The duplicate layout in Iran allowed attackers to practice procedures to use at the Iraqi compound, the Defense Dept. believes.
A tool to simulate a more efficient, greener air transportation system integrating all pertinent factors, on the ground as well as in the air, is being introduced by Thales. Known as Airlab, the simulator is conceived as a civil version of battlefield laboratories developed to study how new military technologies and concepts work in an interoperable network-centric environment. It is based on Thales’s own Battlespace Transformation Center in Elancourt, near Paris, and its new System Oriented UAV Laboratory in Bordeaux.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT CO. HAS DELIVERED THE 7,500TH SINGLE-ENGINE, piston-powered airplane produced at the company's facility near Independence, Kan. The airplane is one of 11 Skyhawks built for the flight school at Northwestern Michigan College, and is equipped with a Garmin G1000 fully integrated avionics package.
Singapore Changi Airport's Terminal 3 is to open for business on Jan. 9, 2008, said Minister for Transport Raymond Lim during an inspection of the new terminal's interior. Until then, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) will work with airlines, airport agencies and other business partners in setting up operations and testing critical systems including baggage handling and check-in. CAAS will also conduct trial flights to evaluate the efficiency of departures, arrivals and transfer processes.
This computer-enhanced picture, produced by Boeing artist Chuck Schroeder, illustrates the company's new X-45N design trapping on an aircraft carrier. The UCAV would carry an autonomous command and control system just tested in a Super Hornet testbed and an advanced communications link that would allow it to land in the dark, bad weather and Sea State 5. Boeing just completed an unannounced series of aircraft carrier approaches and waveoffs with the USS Harry S. Truman, using an F/A-18F modified as a surrogate unmanned combat aircraft (see p. 44).
Once again, it's worth revisiting the seemingly never-ending EADS-Airbus saga. This unprecedented sitcom, full of impressive aircraft and larger-than-life characters, brings new developments every week. The new season picks up where last season's show left off--with big money, golden parachutes, self-assured politicians and unsubstantiated claims and counter-claims all vying for attention.
Money talks in AirTran Airways' strong case for merging with Midwest Airlines, but Wisconsin state law could have the last word on whether the attempted takeover is successful this month.
China's government-owned foreign exchange investment corporation, now being formed, plans to invest $3 billion in the Blackstone Group, a private equity firm that is becoming increasingly active in the aerospace sector. Blackstone formerly owned New Skies Satellites, now part of SES, and is reportedly seeking to buy Intelsat from its private equity owners. It has also performed transactions with GE and Northrop Grumman.
Yah Satellite Communications, an affiliate of Abu Dhabi government-owned Mubadala Development, says it has selected EADS Astrium and Thales Alenia Space to supply a $1.4-billion dual-use satcom network to serve the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Southeast Asia. Neither manufacturer would comment on the deal, but based on past collaborations Astrium could supply the two spacecraft and Thales the payload and ground segment.
Budget pressures are forcing Pakistan to curtail plans for a fleet of airborne early warning aircraft. The government last year announced it would buy Saab 2000 turboprops fitted with the Erieye early warning radar. Now, Saab is reporting that the order has been reduced by 1.35 billion Swedish kroner ($195 million), or more than 10% of the total purchase price. Pakistan has been reluctant to release details about the scope of the original deal, which was believed to be for seven aircraft, and remains closemouthed regarding this new development.
The trend toward strategic partnerships between Asian airlines is gathering strength, with All Nippon Airways and Asiana announcing deeper cooperation as the Japanese carrier looks to making its next deal with Shanghai Airlines. ANA is also considering the establishment of a no-frills offshoot, a defensive step to answer foreign budget airlines expected to present a rising challenge to Japan's high-cost aviation sector.
The U.K. and Libya are discussing the sale of the MBDA Rapier/Jernas point-defense surface-to-air missile system to Tripoli. Details of the discussions emerged last week during a visit by Prime Minister Tony Blair to Libya.
France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands have signed an agreement to prepare the way for a European Air Transport Command (EATC), which is intended to plan and deploy tactical and strategic airlift capacity for the European Union, and ensure the standardization, safety and interoperability of airlift fleets. The agreement aims to have an initial EATC operating capability--one of the EU's primary capability shortfalls--by 2009.
Rick Armstrong (see photo) has been appointed vice president-FlightSafety Simulation for New York-based FlightSafety International. He was vice president-sales and marketing for the Nordam Group, Tulsa, Okla.
Standard & Poor's has placed its long-term B-plus credit rating on Japan Airlines on watch for a possible downgrading, following media reports that the carrier is asking its major creditor banks for a debt-for-equity swap. Under the agency's credit ratings criteria, such a swap amounts to a default on debts. S&P and Aviation Week & Space Technology are both divisions of The McGraw-Hill Companies.
Indian carriers have asked the ministry of civil aviation to seek a change in the country's International Civil Aviation registration code, VT, that is displayed prominently on aircraft tails. Some carriers claim the code is a relic from pre-independence days, and interpretations of its meaning include "Viceroy's Territory" or "Victoria's Territory." Air India Chairman and Managing Director Vasudevan Thulasidas says he addressed the concern with the government.
The letter from Dale Gibby expressing concern about engraved markings on diesel engines that experience extreme compression and tension stress constantly on all rotating parts is on target (AW&ST May 21, p. 6). Diesel detonation is instant and shocking to all metals pounding at a much harder rate than their gasoline cousins, therefore diesel marking is not a good thing.
