Cessna and Neal Willford, project engineer for the company's Light Sport Aircraft proof-of-concept airplane, for leading the team that designed and built the LSA in only nine weeks last summer. The two-seat airplane made its public debut at the Experimental Aircraft Assn.'s AirVenture 2006 show in Oshkosh, Wis. Cessna is to be commended for recognizing the potential marketing opportunities the LSA segment represents, and for spending the money to build and fly a prototype.
The FL Group has sold Sterling Airlines--Europe's fourth largest low-cost carrier--for around $280 million to newly created leisure company Northern Travel Holding, which was created by FL Group itself, and two other investment companies, Fonds and Sund. The group also announced it has amassed 5.98% of the stock in American Airlines parent AMR Corp, becoming the third-largest shareholder. The holding exceeds $400 million.
Russia plans to begin offering satellite navigation services to domestic users via its updated Glonass system by the end of this year or early in 2008, following launch Dec. 25 of three more Glonass-M spacecraft. Launch of the trio on a Proton-K from Baikonur Cosmodrome brought the number of satellites in the constellation to 17. The system will be able to support commercial customers worldwide beginning in 2009, officials say.
The German government is considering a NATO request to deploy six Tornado tactical reconnaissance aircraft to Afghanistan. Deployment of drones is seen as a potential fallback. NATO has been suffering a shortage of assets in Afghanistan and clamoring for greater support from member states.
Economic pundits in southwest France are worried by the conjunction of the strong euro, delays disrupting the A380's production ramp up and the Airbus A350XWB's late launch. Industry officials anticipate that the A350 will restore confidence in the European manufacturer's supply chain. However, because the new long-range twinjet is not scheduled to enter service until 2013 at the earliest, it will not generate substantial workload or revenues in the near term.
Fifty years ago, Aviation Week & Space Technology began an annual tradition of recognizing individuals and teams for their inspiring achievements--and in some cases, heroics--in civil and military aviation and aerospace. Presented here is the "class" of 2007, selected by the editors of Aviation Week. Their choices are based on a rigorous nomination process that screens candidates from around the world. In addition to the seven major categories listed below, this year we are proud to introduce the Breitling Award for Aviation Heroism.
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.
