Boeing has joined a $54-million research program called Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation, which was established by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and Australia's Defense Science and Technology Organization (DSTO). Boeing will work with DSTO and the University of Queensland on three critical flight tests and contribute to the design of a free-flying WaveRider-type hypersonic vehicle. Plans call for 10 test flights over five years at the Woomera test range in South Australia.
Unless the private space launch industry beats governments to the punch and self-polices itself in its early days with regard to environmental impact, participant Richard Branson and his Virgin Atlantic Airways won't be accomplishing much with having their aircraft towed to runways.
Pakistan will be the beneficiary of a $5.9-million contract add-on to Raytheon for the conversion of 310 AIM-9M Sidewinder air-to-air missiles to AIM-9M-8/9 missiles for export, and procurement of 10 captive air training missiles and 20 guidance control sections under the U.S. foreign military sales program.
Joe Rivera has been appointed director of Bombardier Aircraft Services' Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Service Center. He was director of aircraft services for Gulfstream Aerospace.
For the second year, Boeing has set a company order record, selling a net 1,044 jets in 2006 on the back of especially strong appeal for its 737 Next Generation single-aisle family.
The Virgin Atlantic proposal to tow aircraft to the runway is superficially attractive, but how will the tugs get back to the ramp from the runway? There will usually be a queue of aircraft behind the departing Virgin 747, many if not all with wingspans greater than the width of the taxiway, and the location of their engines will prevent the tugs from ducking under the outboard wings. A quick look at the taxi charts shows that not all airports have alternative routes between ramp and holding point, so how the tugs are to return is not obvious.
David A. Fulghum and Michael J. Fabey (Washington)
As the F-22 begins its operational life, interest has turned to assessing just how well suited the stealthy Raptor is to its role as the premier air-to-air fighter, while taking a peek at some of the surprises for pilots and maintenance crews as they explore what the aircraft can do. As part of the research for this series of articles on the F-22, Michael Fabey flew in the back seat of an F-15D while the Eagle and Raptor pilots demonstrated their aircraft's capabilities in the air-to-air ranges at Tyndall AFB, Fla.
Astronomers working with the infrared Spitzer Space Telescope believe they have found evidence of the first visible structure in the Universe, clumps of patchy infrared light that can be observed when the light of closer stars and galaxies is masked. "We have shut down the lights of the universe to see the outlines of its first fireworks," says Alexander Kashlinsky of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the lead author of two reports on the findings to be published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.
AirTran Airways advises it will report a fourth-quarter 2006 loss. Officials say revenue trends were poorer than anticipated, down 6.5-7.5% in revenue per available seat miles, compared with the prediction of flat revenue to a slight decline. The airline is offering deeply discounted fares in a sale launched this month.
The first of two 737-700ERs for launch customer All Nippon Airways has rolled out from Boeing's Renton, Wash., factory. ANA is expected to configure the aircraft with all business-class seats.
The pair of holiday snowstorms that pounded Denver International Airport (DIA) and stranded thousands of passengers also provided a real-life laboratory on how to function--or not function--during a weather crisis. Just as the second storm was about to hit Dec. 28, airline and airport personnel spent 4 hr. going over lessons learned from the first, a blizzard-like blast that caused snowdrifts of up to 12 ft.
China's first privately owned airline, Okay Airways, has introduced its first dedicated freighter, a Boeing 737-300F, with two more to come. Its fleet, which will also include three 737-300 passenger aircraft, is to radiate from its home base in the northeastern city Tianjin to the booming economic zones around Shanghai in eastern China and Hong Kong and Guangzhou in the south.
Ryanair and EasyJet are challenging a French government decree that aims to force the carriers to apply French labor rules to employees operating in France. But the low-fare carriers have gone to France's highest administrative review body in an attempt to have the decree overturned. Ryanair is also bringing a challenge to the European Commission, arguing the French decree violates European rules on the free movement of labor in the European Union.
The global homeland security market has grown nearly 29% to $55 billion in the last two years, but the still-evolving sector isn't a guaranteed alternative for defense contractors worried about shrinking military budgets, a recent market study warns. Civitas Group, a Washington-based strategic advisory and investment services firm, notes that, unlike the traditional defense sector, "success in the homeland security market depends on an ability to sell to varying customers of varying size."
China is expanding the targets of its military modernization program, putting heavy emphasis on advanced technology. The move coincides with a decision by Beijing finally to acknowledge formally the existence of the indigenously developed J-10 fighter (or Jian-10). The government confirmed late last month that the J-10 is now in operational services with the air force.
Two hugely different iterations of U.S. Air Force stealth fighters flew together recently for photos as the F-22 starts its operational career and the F-117 nears the end of its life as a combat aircraft. The F-117 is not a fighter, while the F-22 is beginning to demonstrate the air-to-air combat skills the design promised. Exercises in Alaska during 2006 proved that the F-22 could be deployed thousands of miles, maintained in the open and flown on a daily basis with high sortie (102 successful launches out of 105) and utilization (21.8) rates (see p. 46).
CESSNA AIRCRAFT CO.'S MODEL 172 SKYHAWK continues to be a popular choice for flight training schools in Europe that are increasing, replacing or upgrading their fleets. The company has received orders for more than 20 Skyhawks from four schools. The Romanian Aviation Academy bought four and Aeroclub Milano in Italy will receive two airplanes equipped with the Garmin G1000 integrated avionics package.
Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport is the first in Asia to try a biometric trusted-traveler program using iris-scanning technology. Aimed at speeding frequent fliers through Indonesian immigration processing lines, the Saphire program compares scans of participants' eyes with the biometric information contained on a smart card. Open to both Indonesians and outsiders, Saphire requires members to pre-register with authorities, have both irises scanned and pay a $200 U.S. annual fee.
Investors looking to try their luck at turning around Alitalia have until the end of the month to express an intent to take a controlling stake in the troubled airline.
Television-station helicopters in Denver captured spectacular footage of the fireball of a Soyuz 2.1b rocket breaking up as it reentered the atmosphere over the Western U.S. before dawn on Jan. 4. The vehicle, which launched France's Corot planet-seeking space telescope on Dec. 27, 2006 (AW&ST Jan. 1, p. 35), disintegrated as it moved across the sky from north to south and eventually burned out over New Mexico. The 1st Space Control Sqdn.
Those who oppose repealing the Age 60 Rule for commercial pilots just don't get it. Changing the law is not about safety. It is not about economics (although economics is what has kept Age 60 alive, and it will probably be economics that eventually kills it). Overturning this obsolete age limit, which has no medical or other scientific basis, is purely about age discrimination.
The Hainan Airlines group of southern China is branching out into the shipping business, with a plan to buy 37% of Tianjin Marine Shipping Co. Ltd. for 200 million yuan ($26 million). It's common for Chinese companies to diversify into areas with little or no connection to their core businesses.
