The fifth production Dassault Falcon 7X business jet is undergoing completion at the company's facility in Little Rock, Ark. It is the first airplane to be completed to customer specifications and is scheduled to be delivered in the second quarter of 2007, according to the company's U.S.-based subsidiary, Falcon Jet Corp. The Falcon 7X is slated for European and FAA certification early this year.
Large end-of-year contracts from the Pentagon were flowing in a torrent. Boeing has its $2-billion contract for 10 Block 18 C-17s. Lockheed Martin got a $379.9-million add-on for Patriot PAC-3 surface-to-air missile production in Fiscal 2007, a $379.5-million advanced procurement contract for Lot 8-9 F-22s, a $204.8-million deal for F-22 logistics support, $45.5-million as an add-on for F-22 program support in 2007 and a $619-million pact for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile fire unit fielding.
Alan and Dale Klapmeier, brothers, founders and leaders of Cirrus Design Corp., for designing, developing and bringing to market the four-seat SR20 and SR22 that have set a new standard for technology and performance in a small, general aviation airplane. The Duluth, Minn.-based airframe manufacturer's sales and production rates have soared to the point where Cirrus is challenging industry icon Cessna Aircraft Co. for dominance of the single-engine, piston-powered segment.
Japan's Engineering Test Satellite VIII (ETS-VIII) is on its way to a nominal mission after deploying a pair of complicated antenna reflectors, each the size of a tennis court. Mission managers placed the spacecraft into its normal attitude-control mode on Dec. 27, marking the end of its post-launch "critical phase," and began moving it toward its final geostationary slot at 146 deg. E. Long.
EMBRAER WILL EQUIP ITS FOUR MODELS OF REGIONAL JETS and its two largest business jets with the CMC Electronics PilotView Class 2 electronic flight bag with a film-on-glass touch-sensitive screen and flight management system-style type line select keys. The system can display to pilots electronic charts, checklists, e-documents, weather and surveillance camera video and, as a Class 2 EFB, can be used in all phases of flight. Embraer will offer the PilotView as an option on its commercial E-jets: Embraer 170s, 175s, 190s and 195s.
VIRTUTECH INC. OF SAN JOSE, CALIF., IS COUNTING on aerospace companies and others moving to replace the use of hardware in the early testing phases of embedded software development. Virtutech's Simics 3.0 allows aerospace and avionics firms to create virtual hardware so software code designed to operate the system can be tested and debugged before actual hardware is built. Virtutech asserts that one day this is how all software testing will be performed.
The Supplier Excellence Alliance is working on a certification program based on member companies achieving a standard in supply chain performance. Members adopt a Lean Enterprise System designed to aid suppliers in efficiently meeting demands of top-tier manufacturers as they shift toward moving production lines and shorter production periods. SEA is a collection of 197 aerospace, defense and space companies dedicated to accelerating supply chain performance and increasing the competitiveness of U.S. companies (AW&ST Sept. 19, 2005, p. 51).
Aerospace consultant Jerry Grey, Malcolm O'Neill of the Lockheed Martin Corp. and Michael Yarymovych of Sarasota Space Associates have been named the three honorary fellows for 2007 by the Reston, Va.-based American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. AIAA also named 30 Fellows for contributions to the arts, sciences or technology of aeronautics or astronautics, who will be inducted on May 15.
Europe achieved a major breakthrough in its ramjet motor development with the first test firings of the Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile. The centerpiece of the weapon is its high-energy, throttleable ducted rocket motor. Ulrich Storchle, programs director and Meteor manager at Bayern Chemie Protac, and his technical director, Hans-Ludwig Besser, led the team that demonstrated the ramjet performance in flight, including the hand-over from booster-powered flight to ramjet operations at a velocity of more than Mach 2.
New German and Italian radar satellite systems to be brought into operation this year will add an all-weather adjunct to Europe's day/night intelligence satellite capability, greatly augmenting the ability of NATO and European Union forces to plan and conduct expeditionary missions jointly.
Constructing new airports is the only way to build additional capacity in the U.S. air transportation system, and new facilities such as "wayports" offer a viable, long-term remedy, suggests former FAA Associate Administrator William F. Shea. In a talk at the University of Nebraska's Aviation Institute, Shea urged formation of a national aviation commission to provide direction and vision to turn around what he terms an industry in crisis. Shea says the FAA will never solve the capacity problem if it focuses only on expanding the busiest airports.
Diamond Aircraft has established a joint venture in China to build its DA40 Diamond Star in Binzhou Dagao, in Shandong province. The Shandon Bin Ao Aircraft Industries joint venture will have a capacity to build up to 1,000 aircraft per year. The joint venture hopes to receive certification from European Aviation Safety Agency officials in the second quarter.
Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) space tug has completed an 18-day environmental test campaign, moving the new-generation freighter one step closer to qualification. The final step will involve completion of closed-loop functional tests intended to verify the compatibility of ATV flight software with the overall design.
Cdr. Michael Buchanan, commanding officer of VAQ-137, and Cdr. Anthony Calandra, commanding officer of VAQ-139, representing the first units to take the Navy's new ICAP III electronic attack system into combat in Iraq. VAQ-139 deployed first on the USS Ronald Reagan and spent three months of detached duty operating from Al Asad AB, Iraq. VAQ-137 deployed later on the USS Enterprise bringing with it the added MIDS (Link 16) data link capability.
With development hewing largely to schedule and increasingly favorable market prospects, a $1.5-billion gamble to add light- and medium-lift launch capabilities to the Arianespace model line is looking more and more like a smart decision. Coupled with the successful comeback of the Ariane 5 ECA (see p. 58), the expanded model lineup is likely to pose a formidable challenge for overseas rivals.
SES is partnering with Verhaert Space, a Belgian affiliate of U.K.-based Qinetiq, to bid for operation of the European Space Agency's ground station in Redu, Belgium. The station is expected to become a key ground segment element for the Galileo satnav system and Global Monitoring for Environment and Security network.
Thanks to his tenacity, vision and ability to coax funding from his corporation, Robert Agostino, Bombardier's Wichita, Kan.-based director of flight operations, and his team developed the Bombardier Safety Standdown into an important, world-class event that is always oversubscribed by corporate flight departments eager to learn how to improve operations. The three-day gathering in Wichita--free to all attendees, and free of any Bombardier promotion--has become so important that this year the National Business Aviation Assn. signed on as a co-sponsor, as did the FAA.
The NASA/industry team that developed and operated the Stardust comet sample return spacecraft. Specifically recognized are Don Brownlee, principal investigator from the University of Washington; Tom Duxbury, project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Peter Tsou, JPL deputy principal investigator, who conceived the Stardust aerogel sampling system; and Joe Vellinga, Lockheed Martin program manager, who led the industrial team.
The release of requests for proposals for India's multirole fighter program has been delayed by protests from Russian and U.S. contractors over India's offset policy. India's policy requires foreign defense manufacturers with contracts of more than $70 million to reinvest 30% of the total in components and services from India. Russian and U.S. contractors fear the policy, if it stands, could benefit European rivals seeking to land the 126-aircraft deal.
Capt. (ret.) G.R Gopinath, managing director and founder of Air Deccan, India's first budget carrier, created a robust concept that launched a revolution, spurring the entry of more than half a dozen budget carriers. Facing India's legendary bureaucratic hurdles, he braved all odds, including being the first to exploit unused airports in small cities and towns. Within three years, the carrier achieved the second highest market share in domestic aviation, overtaking government-owned Indian (formerly Indian Airlines).
U.S. Air Force controllers have regained contact with the TacSat-2 orbiting experimental package after a faulty ground-segment configuration broke off communications for 2.5 days shortly after its Dec. 16 launch. The mission was proceeding as planned late last week. Meanwhile, a 10-lb. NASA biology experiment that rode piggyback on the mission was performing well and returning data. Both were launched from a new commercial facility on Wallops Island, Va., on an Orbital Sciences Minotaur I rocket.
U.S. Air Force investigators say a collision between a KC-135R tanker and a Kyrgyzstan Tu-154 airliner on Sept. 26 at Manas International Airport was an accident and "not the result of any intentional conduct." The investigation board said the accident was caused by the Kyrgyz air traffic controller who cleared the airliner for takeoff without verifying that the air refueler was clear of the runway.
The new Sofia Airport has begun operations after 10 years of planning and development. The facility features a new passenger terminal and parallel runways, with a capacity for 2 million passengers per year. The project cost €135 million, with the European Union providing €45 million to aid Bulgaria's accession into the bloc on Jan. 1. The Kuwait Fund financed one of the runways
The Japanese Defense Forces' first KC-767 tanker aircraft made its initial flight Dec. 21 from McConnell AFB, Kan., which is adjacent to Boeing's Wichita facility. The 3.5-hr. flight sets the stage for the tanker's operational debut this year.
Asiana Airlines and Air China will expand code-sharing to all of their 11 routes between South Korea and China, from two. The deal includes the Seoul-Beijing services.
