General Electric has finished tests of an advanced two-stage, "all-blisk" (blade and disk) fan and new high-pressure turbine for an F414-based advanced technology demonstrator engine at its Lynn, Mass., facility. The engine ran at 100% of maximum steady core speed and completed all objectives in 20 hr. of testing. The new fan design's 3D aerodynamic forward-swept airfoil technology provides a 10% boost in airflow and fewer parts than for current F414 engines that power the Boeing F/A-18E/F.
The European Commission has referred Greece to the European Court of Justice because Athens has failed to establish a national supervisory authority separate from its air navigation services provider. After two requests for Greece to come in-line with Single European Sky rules, the EC said last week it is taking the legal step to force action.
Rockwell Collins will upgrade U.S. Air Force Minuteman missile launch control centers with satellite communications enhancements that link strategic forces to the National Command Authority via Milstar and Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) spacecraft. Potentially worth $75 million, the technology development contract is part of USAF's Minuteman Modernization Program Upgrade. Planned modifications will ensure all Minuteman units continue to receive Emergency Action Messages.
Ron Hart "Treasure Island" Pastel on Sanded Paper 20 X 26 inches A Pan American World Airways Clipper, a Boeing 314, begins another journey across the Pacific. A young boy watches from across the bay near Treasure Island, Calif., around 1943. After 32 years of airline flying, with 25 years as a captain, Hart retired from a major U.S. airline in December 2000. His airline experience included flying the MD-11, MD-80, Boeing 757/767, 737, 707 and DC-8. The ASAA Nixon Galloway Golden Age of Aviation Award
International Space Station operators in orbit and on the ground here are finally taking off the training wheels and moving their massive spacecraft into the long-planned configuration it will maintain throughout its service life. In one of the most complex and difficult telerobotic space missions ever, ground controllers worked hand in glove with the nine astronauts and a cosmonaut on the docked ISS and space shuttle Discovery to get the station settled into its final power and cooling configuration. It wasn't always pretty.
An EADS Astrium team has begun flight testing a two-way laser data link intended to serve medium- and high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles. French armaments agency DGA, which is funding the €50-million ($66-million) project, says the optical link between a Mystere test aircraft and the European Space Agency's Artemis satellite was the first between an airborne carrier and a goestationary orbit (GEO) spacecraft.
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Declining airline profits in Asia and Europe are the first clear sign that it's becoming more difficult for carriers to grow revenues, even though the industry is expected to be profitable next year. "In 2007 we will see our first profit since 2000," says Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International Air Transport Assn. The $2.5-billion net profit comes on a $10.2-billion operating profit (flat from last year). Next year's profit and this year's loss forecast show improvement from three months ago, thanks to the drop in fuel prices.
Although the U.S. has decided to develop and control its own route to the Moon, the thrust of the new effort is distinctly different from the space-race jingoism of the Cold War era. NASA managers have publicly welcomed European and Japanese moves toward helping Russia develop an alternate plan (AW&ST Oct. 9, p. 38), and the U.S. agency has already decided to follow the international metric system on the Moon. Scientists from Europe, India, Japan and Russia are working with U.S.
Saudi Arabia's National Air Services says it will spend $2 billion by 2010 to buy 75 new aircraft to build its fleet. Airbus, Raytheon and Gulfstream were named as the beneficiaries, although no decision has been made on what aircraft types will be acquired.
South Korea has signed a contract with Korea Aerospace Industries for 50 additional T-50 and TA-50 Golden Eagle advanced jet trainers, bringing that country's order to 70. The supersonic aircraft was co-developed by KAI and Lockheed Martin to train pilots who will fly fifth-generation fighters like the F-35, and as a light attack aircraft.
ROBERT T. McCALL "Splashdown" Stone Lithograph 30 X 22 inches Splashdown is one of five stone lithographs McCall produced at the Tamarind Institute of the University of New Mexico in 1973. It celebrates our nation's last manned mission to the Moon, Apollo 17.
The University of North Dakota has begun an 18-month project to develop for the U.S. military a synthetic JP-8 fuel derived from crop oils. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded a $5-million grant to the university's Energy & Environmental Research Center to conduct research into an affordable and renewable alternative to petroleum-based fuel. The U.S. Air Force continues to conduct flight tests of synthetic kerosene developed from natural gas (AW&ST Oct. 9, p. 62).
Shuttle external tank (ET) debris analysis and concern about a possible space debris or micrometeoroid impact were issues early in the STS-116 mission. But evidence obtained by various inspections showed no hazards threaten the integrity of Discovery's thermal protection system. A final robotic inspection will still be done two days before reentry. Debris imaging from this first night launch since the Columbia accident will also affect future night flight planning.
Lockheed Martin has received $128 million from the Pentagon as the initial payment on a $256.2-million contract for three USAF C-130J-30 combat delivery aircraft and one KC-130J-30 for the Marine Corps. They are slated for delivery in 2010. That brings total C-130J orders to 186.
Tanner Research is proposing development for the U.S. Navy of an airborne countermeasures system that will disable enemy missiles by firing a spike of high-power microwave (HPM) energy into their electronic or photonic seekers. The dispenser-based guided airborne countermeasure could be similar to the standard ALE-50 towed array. Or the Monrovia, Calif.-based company could combine a proximity-fuzed, HPM warhead with an airframe like the Spike missile modified for short-range air-to-air intercepts.
Silence is a strategy, sometimes. Ralph Crosby, CEO of EADS North America, made clear during a Dec. 11 teleconference that the company has a strategy: Invest in the U.S. and contracts will come. As top company officers, Army officials and U.S. lawmakers gathered in Columbus, Miss., to celebrate EADS North America's first UH-72A delivery, Crosby said performance on the helicopter contract shows the company is ready to take on more U.S. work. But Tom Enders, EADS CEO in Europe, who attended the event, didn't provide much detail about the company's plans for a U.S. future.
Boeing's Delta II in 7420-10 configurations has been selected for the launch of the Cosmo/Skymed Earth-imaging missions next year from Vandenberg. Cosmo/Skymed is a dual-use program that includes ground stations and four satellites; it will require two launches. The spacecraft will take X-band synthetic aperture radar images of Earth for use by military and commercial customers. Boeing will buy the Delta launchers from the new Boeing-Lockheed Martin United Launch Alliance, which holds 21 launch contracts in 2007.
Investors in Continental Airlines are smiling a lot these days--the carrier's stock has more than quadrupled in value since October 2005. Shares in the new US Airways have tripled in value since the merger with America West Airlines 15 months ago. Shares in UAL Corp. (United Airlines) have doubled since bottoming out in August. And AMR Corp. (American Airlines) stock, which was trading at $1.25 a share in 2003, closed at $32.07 last Thursday, up more than 50% since early September.
The European Commission faces a difficult decision this week on whether to stick to its go-it-alone approach on emissions trading for airlines, or step back to find a compromise more palatable to carriers and foreign governments.
Honeywell is forecasting a 5% sales increase to $32.5 billion and a 13-17% increase in earnings per share in 2007, with cash flow from operations less capital expenditures of $2.4-2.6 billion. The company has repurchased $1.7 billion in stock this year and reduced outstanding shares by 5%. In the aerospace sector, the company cites its new customer-facing organization, strength in sales to original equipment manufacturers and new prospects, for its continuing positive outlook.
Russia's AiRUnion airline alliance has signed a firm contract with Sukhoi Civil Aircraft for 15 SuperJet 100 regional twinjets, plus 15 more on option. The aircraft are to be delivered in 2008-10 in 95-seat configuration. The AiRUnion deal brings the total number of SuperJet firm orders to 55, all from domestic customers.
DON CONNOLLY "Looking Back" Acrylic 32 X 32 inches Apollo 15 leaves lunar orbit and heads homeward. Connolly is principal founder of ASAA's Canadian equivalent, the Canadian Aviation Artists Assn. He was a navigator in the Royal Canadian Air Force and then began a career in art in 1979. Connolly focused on landscapes and portraits before specializing in aviation art. His work hangs in numerous museums and private collections in both Canada and the U.S.
