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.
China Southern Airlines has returned to International Aero Engines for V2500 turbofans for its latest batch of 50 Airbus A320s in an engine deal valued at $1.35 billion. China's biggest carrier has been using V2500s for 10 years on MD-90s and A320 family aircraft.
Singapore's Tiger Airways is turning itself into a franchise business like a fast-food chain, sidestepping restrictions on traffic rights in Southeast Asia and, in effect, forming an airline alliance in which the affiliated carriers trade solely under the brand of the group, not under their own names.
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The political, military and economic issues that shape a year for the aviation and aerospace industries are sometimes foreseeable, sometimes not. So with the understanding that much of what matters in 2007 will unfold as we go along, here are six issues that we can say from the outset need attention and will get it in these pages, early and often.
German accident investigators are expected to release initial findings on the crash of the Grob Aerospace SPn utility jet prototype in the coming weeks. What's already clear, though, is that the program, already fighting an uphill schedule battle, now faces further delays. The Nov. 29 crash of the second SPn prototype killed the company's chief test pilot, Gerard Guillaumaud, and has forced Grob to restructure SPn development plans. Design changes loom, company officials acknowledge. What those will be depends on the investigators' findings.
Airline insurance premiums late last month were on track to reach $1.66 billion, the lowest level in five years, according to insurance broker AON. Good safety performance in recent years, and the supply of aviation insurance, have driven premiums down.
FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Nicholas A. Sabatini, for raising the global bar on air safety. The FAA Aviation Safety organization has become the first federal agency to achieve certification to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001:2000 quality management standard as a single corporate management system. The FAA covers multiple services globally with 6,462 employees. Other agencies, such as NASA, have achieved ISO certification for separate sites.
Israel's Elta Systems has chosen India's Larsen & Toubro and Astra Microwave as offset partners to source components and software to build medium-range radars for the Indian air force. Larsen & Toubro, one of India's largest private-sector companies, specializes in design and manufacture of components and subsystems for aerospace applications. Astra develops and supplies modules for radars and supplies microwave components for the Defense Research Development Organization's Akash and Trishul missiles.
Watching L-3 Communications Holdings' new CEO, Michael Strianese, at the recent Aviation Week/Credit Suisse Finance Conference invoked memories of his predecessor, the late Frank Lanza. While Strianese was more polished--the famously blunt Lanza used to label Wall Street analysts "morons"--he won high marks from investors for his direct, no-nonsense presentation. Unfortunately, Strianese's blueprint included sales and earnings forecasts that assumed L-3 would win renewal of a multibillion-dollar contract to provide translators for the U.S. military.
Emirates Airlines is increasing its Middle East service, saying its steps will boost available regional capacity 6%. Services to Kuwait, Syria and Lebanon will be the main beneficiaries. Kuwait's recent open-sky policy has allowed that connection to expand.
Vigilant Shield 2007: A 1-kiloton nuclear blast near the Pentagon kills approximately 22,000 people. The associated electromagnetic pulse (EMP) disables thousands of vehicles in the greater Washington area, clogging major arteries. Two days later, "Topolian" bombers penetrate U.S./Canadian airspace--after several key radars are destroyed--and fire eight air-launched cruise missiles from somewhere over Canada. Four slip by U.S. and Canadian defenders, and one tactical nuclear device detonates at 2,000 ft.
Saudi Arabian low-fare startup Sama has finally received its air carrier license from the country's General Authority of Civil Aviation to operate domestic scheduled flights. Moreover, Sama's first two leased Boeing 737s are now in Saudi Arabia, ready for operations to begin.
The U.S. Navy's newly designated Northrop Grumman unmanned MQ-8B enhanced Fire Scout, which was upgraded from an RQ prefix because of its missile-firing capability, made its first flight Dec. 18 from the Webster Field annex of NAS Patuxent River, Md. The new design--with increased power, fuel and payload over the RQ-8A-- is identifiable by its four-blade main and tail rotors. The improvements serve to double mission radius and time on station over the initial model.
The Norwegian government is holding off on signing up for the next phase of the U.S. Joint Strike Fighter program, as it tries to ensure its industrial participation demands are met. JSF, the Saab Gripen and Eurofighter Typhoon are the three contenders in Norway's competition for a combat aircraft modernization programs. If Oslo signs up for the JSF production, sustainment and follow-on development program, it will agree to continued involvement with the other fighter programs to avoid influencing the competition, says Defense Minister Anne-Grete Strom-Erichsen.
Surging CFM56 business is helping Snecma ride out a downturn in its defense and communications activities and focus more on small turbojet and turboshaft engine projects.
