Thales is redesigning its new Reco-NG airborne electro-optical reconnaissance system so that it can be integrated on smaller types of fighter aircraft such as Lockheed Martin's F-16. This would provide F-16 users with the option to acquire a multirole imagery intelligence capability, according to Thales. The system would include full day/night, long- and short-range reconnaissance plus real-time imagery downlink performance, combined with ground stations fully equipped for rapid imagery interpretation and intelligence exploitation.
Lee Atkinson, a specialist in radio-frequency communications systems in the Dulles, Va.-based Advanced Programs Group, is one of five Orbital Sciences Corp. employees to be named in its first group of Technical Fellows.
The Shanghai Public Security Bureau has ordered two Eurocopter EC135s and one EC155. Additionally, Eurocopter says production of NH90s in Australia is now underway, with the opening of the final assembly facility in Brisbane, where MRH90s will be built.
The National Transportation Safety Board is urging the FAA to specify that aircraft collision avoidance systems provide enhanced aural/visual warnings requiring pilot acknowledgment in the event of inflight system malfunction. The recommendation would apply to all aircraft required to have a TCAS, and for existing and future system designs. The safety board's May 2 proposal comes during the ongoing investigation of the Sept. 29, 2006, midair collision over the Brazilian jungle of a Gol Airlines Boeing 737-800 and an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet operated by ExcelAire.
Lockheed Martin has received a $324.5-million contract to provide the Air Force Research Laboratory with modular designs for automatic ground collision avoidance systems, automatic air collision avoidance systems and an integrated package of the two.
Russia's second largest airline, S7, has ordered 10 Boeing 737-800s and optioned another 10. Deliveries for the aircraft, which are to be used in the charter business, are to take place in 2010-11. The airline, which carried 4.9 million passengers last year, operates a fleet of Tupolev Tu-154s and Ilyushin Il-86s, Airbus A310s and A320s, and Boeing 737-400/500s. This is the first order for 737NGs from Russia.
The British Royal Air Force is reexamining its airlift capacity in a move that could yet see it attempt to acquire additional Boeing C-17 strategic transport aircraft. However, the option of more secondhand L-1011 Tristars has been discounted. A further three C-17s remain on the air force's wish list, suggests one British industry source. Funding will be a key issue in any acquisition. The RAF now operates four C-17s, with a fifth on order.
MEANWHILE, THE FAA IS CONSIDERING whether some Class 2 EFBs might be certified to display "own-ship" position of an aircraft on a runway or taxiway. This is only allowed now with the more expensive Class 3 hardware. Ken Crowhurst, managing director of Chicago-based navAero Inc., says most Class 2 EFBs on the market can show airport moving map and own-ship position; and if they are certified to do so, this would boost demand for the systems.
Airlines are seeking technology solutions from third-party providers to tackle rising credit card fees and to create new fare categories in an effort to generate revenues and cut costs. These two problems are now being tackled together. First, some card fees are not being paid by travel agencies, as in the past, because airlines are selling directly to the customer. And second, airlines are looking to non-traditional forms of marketing--via new technology--to differentiate fares and services.
Virgin Atlantic's selection of 15 Boeing 787-9s includes an unusual buyer's preference-a partnership with General Electric and Boeing to advance airline founder Richard Branson's environmental interests by testing biofuels for commercial jet applications. Details of the demonstration are still being worked out, but it will be a small one involving a single CF6-80C2B engine on one of Virgin Atlantic's 747-400s fueled by biofuel for about an hour on a non-revenue flight.
Hellenic Aerospace Industry will perform structural and electronic upgrades of USAF F-16s based in Europe. Performing the Common Configuration Implementation Program (CCIP) upgrade will cost $43 million, although operations could drive the value over $50 million.
With hindsight, it appears Rockwell International erred in donating the North American Aviation Trisonic Wind Tunnel (TWT) to UCLA with no concern for its future. Perhaps another university would have better appreciated the technical value of this outstanding aerodynamic facility and been less concerned with site value.
Singapore Technologies Aerospace Engineering has opened a single-bay hangar and broken ground on a second at its Seletar facility. The $10-million hangar will be used for heavy maintenance and modifications for general aviation, helicopters and narrowbodies as large as Boeing 757s. The second, featuring two bays, will cost $17.3 million and is set to open in 2008.
Robert E. Martens has been named senior vice president of US Airways/president of US Airways Express. He was president/CEO of American Eagle Airlines, chairman/CEO of Business Express Airlines and president/chief operating officer of Polar Air Cargo.
Thales says it has completed flight tests of an active electronically scanned array radar antenna on a Mirage 2000 testbed, preparing the way for integration trials on the new-generation Rafale fighter in the second quarter of this year. Following final development and production engineering, the AESA radar is scheduled to enter series production in late 2010 as part of a package of enhancements, dubbed Post-F3, agreed to late last year.
NATS, the air navigation service provider, switched over to a new £50-million ($100-million) ATC tower at London Heathrow Airport on Apr. 21. The move, two years in the planning, included training controllers in a 360-deg. simulator valued at £1.5 million (AW&ST Aug. 7, 2006, p. 56). The 87-meter (285-ft.) tall tower is twice the size of its 1950s vintage predecessor. The airport is one of the busiest in the world and handles about 90 arrivals and departures per hour.
Time for your nap. Sleep pod (see photo) "stations" may become more commonplace at airport spas and first-class lounges around the world. Fatigue is a safety issue for air traffic controllers, as well as flight and ground crews, and passengers succumb to jet-lag after long flights and exhaustion from long delays. "Everyone in air travel has a reason to be tired," says Arshad Chowdhoury. In 2004, he launched MetroNaps, a New York-based "daytime sleeping salon" offering a quiet pod at $14 per 20-min. snooze.
GKN Aerospace will develop blended winglets for the 767-300ER and 737-300/500 under multi-year agreements with Aviation Partners Boeing, which builds the winglets for the 737NG and BBJ series.
NASA's Constellation program will pay Orbital Sciences Corp. $35-57 million for as many as four test boosters based on Air Force Peacekeeper ICBM solid-rocket motors for tests of the Orion CEV launch abort system. The competed award came through the Air Force's Sounding Rockets Program. The Space Development and Test Wing at Kirtland AFB, N.M., will conduct the launch abort tests at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The Orion vehicle will include a top-mounted escape rocket designed to pull the full capsule and its crew to safety if there's a problem.
Capt. Larry Newman, Chairman, Air Traffic Services Group (Air Line Pilots Assn., Herndon, Va.)
As you have reported, substantial interest exists in government and industry to develop the means to allow minimally restricted access to the National Airspace System (NAS) for unmanned aerial systems (UAS). The Air Line Pilots Asn. does not believe sufficient study, and more importantly, sufficient safety analysis, has been conducted to justify "file and fly" access to the NAS.
Kevin E. Cox has been appointed vice president-state and community affairs at American Airlines. He was senior executive vice president/chief operating officer of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Cox succeeds John Carpenter, who has retired.
Germany's MTU Aero Engines has seen a first-quarter revenue growth of 12% compared with the same period last year. Revenue for the period was €640.6 million ($873 million). Operating earnings were up 32% to €90.6 million, but a one-time charge caused after-tax earnings to be up only €300,000 on a year-on-year basis. The order book was largely flat. Free cash flow was down 34% due to the one-time charge, but did make up almost half of the full-year projection the engine maker has given in its 2007 earnings guidance.
Outspoken and assertive, Giovanni Bisignani became the director general and CEO of the International Air Transport Assn. in June 2002, and now has major initiatives under his belt that have shaped the industry. Aviation Week & Space Technology Contributing Editor Neelam Mathews caught up with him following his address to the Asia-Pacific Aviation Media Assn. in Singapore to discuss issues plaguing the industry.
