NEXT YEAR'S EUROPEAN BUSINESS AVIATION CONVENTION & Exhibition will be held May 22-24 in Geneva. To accommodate growth, the show will take place in two facilities in 2007--Hall 6 and Hall 7--at the Geneva Palexpo facility.
USAF Maj. Gen. (select) Paul A. Dettmer has been appointed assistant deputy chief of staff for intelligence at USAF Headquarters at the Pentagon. He has been vice director for intelligence for the Joint Staff. Brig. Gen. Ronnie D. Hawkins, Jr., has been named deputy chief of staff for communications information systems for the Multi-National Force-Iraq, U.S. Central Command in Baghdad. He has been commander of the Air Force Officer Accession and Training Schools of Air Education and Training Command, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
NASA is ready to announce major new findings about the presence of water currently emerging onto the surface of Mars. If confirmed, this would increase the possibility that microbial life could have existed recently or possibly exists now on the Martian surface. The potential seepage of ground water onto or near the surface has been a key area of investigation by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft (AW&ST Nov. 27, pp. 53-55).
France has contracted with EADS Defense & Security Systems and Thales to rebuild the armed forces strategic information and communications network. The six-year €70-million ($92-million) project, known as the PSP, will entail creating a shared network for the general staff and the national reconnaissance office, and ensuring interoperability with NATO forces that would enable France to take over an allied strategic command.
New Zealand has found a way around the aircraft industry's habit of winning contracts with competitive prices and then "charging like the Light Brigade" for spare parts: it's bought an extra NH90 transport helicopter from Eurocopter simply as a source of spares. The helicopter--or, rather, the set of parts needlessly assembled as a helicopter--works out to be NZ$10 million ($6.8 million) cheaper than buying the same parts separately, the Defense Ministry told a parliamentary committee Nov. 23.
The very light jet is an idea whose time has come for both Embraer and CAE, which are venturing into the small-jet training arena for the first time. Under an agreement signed in October, Montreal-based CAE (which holds a 49% stake in the joint venture) will design and build an undetermined number of Level D full-flight simulators for the Embraer Phenom 100/300 very light and light jet line. The Brazilian manufacturer, which has a 51% stake, is developing a customized training program for pilots, mechanics and air dispatchers.
Finnair has exercised its last four options for Embraer 190 aircraft, which will bring its fleet to 20: 10 Embraer 170s and 10 190s. Two aircraft will be delivered in 2008 and two in 2009 under the deal valued at more than €100 million ($132 million). The first 190, part of the original purchase made in 2005, should be delivered this month. The aircraft largely serve as feeders to the carrier's long-haul routes.
Ryanair has increased its share in Aer Lingus to more than 25%. Europe's leading low-fare carrier has launched a takeover bid for Aer Lingus, but the Irish network carrier has rebuffed the offer.
Airbus is clearly flailing, trying to deliver the revolutionary A380 in the midst of corporate turmoil. They will likely succeed and have a flagship product that is advanced beyond its competition. The question remains as to why Airbus is trying to build the A350XWB, an aircraft that, in the end, will likely be not quite as good as the Boeing 787 and will be shipped at the earliest many years later. Boeing has designed a plane every bit as revolutionary as the A380, and will almost certainly dominate the market if they can build as many as they can sell.
The proposed $8-billion private takeover of Qantas Airways is gathering strength, with the bidders clearing the hurdle of public acquiescence from the government. As the private equity bidders led by Texas Pacific Group and Macquarie Bank negotiate with Qantas management and delve into the Australian airline's books, the government is responding with only stern words to satisfy concerned voters, stopping well short of saying it will use its powers over foreign investment to block the deal.
In a few years, there may be transmitters so small they can be spray-painted onto a surface, UAVs one-tenth the size and cost--but with several times the capability--of current designs, and disposable electronic warfare systems that are cheaper to replace than repair. That's all part of the future--much of it in the next 5-15 years--of electronic warfare (EW), say top BAE Systems officials who are mapping the company's technology investments.
Bob Sobey has been named program manager for the Bell-Boeing CV-22 in Amarillo, Tex. He was deputy director of the Chinook program at Boeing Rotorcraft. Sobey succeeds Charlie Griffin, who has been appointed Bell Helicopter V-22 program manager.
A strong late fall storm forced cancellation of more than 250 flights out of 1,000 scheduled departures at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Nov. 30, but all runways and roadways remained open. Freezing rain throughout the afternoon required deicing of outbound jets, which further slowed operations. Weather delays at Philadelphia, New York and airports in the upper Midwest also had an impact on DFW's activities.
The crash of Grob Aerospace's second SPn light jet prototype is likely to set back plans for certification next summer. The all-composite aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff, killing the two pilots. The aircraft joined the flight test program in September.
As the holidays near--and even though Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has resigned--wary program officials in the Pentagon and industry are preparing for a third annual surprise budget slashing. The White House and Pentagon are finalizing the second Fiscal 2007 supplemental appropriation request, which is expected to come in between $130-160 billion.
New avionics features and a redesigned cabin set Raytheon Aircraft Co.'s Beechcraft Premier IA apart from its predecessor as well as the competition. It had been five years since I flew the Premier I, and it was time to assess the latest version of the company's small-cabin jet. The Premier IA's chief competition is Cessna Aircraft Co.'s Citation CJ series jets, especially the CJ3.
James Halsell has been appointed vice president/program manager of the Alliant Techsystems-led ARES I Upper Stage team, Huntsville, Ala. He is a former astronaut and was assistant director for aircraft and flight crew operations for the space shuttle program.
ONE SIGN THAT THE U.S. MAY BE ABLE TO KEEP UP with the growth in traffic is a "controller workload concept demonstration" being conducted by the FAA. The agency's chief operating officer, Russell Chew, mentioned this simulation at an Air Traffic Control Assn. conference last month. When controllers in the exercise were given the sorts of integrated automation tools that the JPDO envisions for NGATS, they were able to handle the growing traffic volumes expected in the next 10-20 years, but without them it proved to be an impossible task.
Gordon Wishart has become Tucson, Ariz.-based regional vice president-aircraft acquisition and sales for TAG Aviation. He has been a sales executive with Avpro Inc. and Bombardier Learjet.
Australian low-fare carrier Virgin Blue and Hawaiian Airlines are forging an interline bond just as Qantas's low-fare offshoot prepares to start flights from Melbourne and Sydney to Honolulu at the end of December. Virgin Blue customers traveling to Hawaii from Australia can check their bags straight through to Honolulu. Hawaiian flies three flights per week between Sydney and Honolulu with continuing service to Kauai, Maui and the Big Island. Passengers on the Sydney-Honolulu flight also have access to nine U.S.
Regarding the Washington Outlook item "A Perfect Storm" (AW&ST Nov. 6, p. 25), JPMorgan's Joseph Nadol, 3rd, shouldn't be surprised if the new Congress provides more military contracting oversight if he and the rest of the industry regard such work as "interference," rather than its constitutional obligation. Interference is needed if that's the attitude the industry has toward oversight of spending of my tax dollars.
