Gazpromavia, the aviation arm of giant gas utility Gazprom, has struck a deal with Turbomeca to jointly maintain Turbomeca turboshaft engines at a plant in Ostafievo, near Moscow.
Arabsat's Badr-4 (Arabsat 4B) is set to be launched Nov. 8 by an International Launch Services Proton M booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The EADS Astrium-built spacecraft will provide broadcasting and voice/data services in the Midde East, North Africa and parts of Europe.
David Groen, who is president/CEO of Groen Brothers Aviation Inc. of Salt Lake City, also will be chairman. He will succeed his late brother Jay Groen.
The booming commercial sector was strongly evident at this year's Air Show China, held at Zhuhai from Oct. 31 to Nov. 5. Airbus and Boeing continue to court Chinese airlines and industry, with the latest move being Airbus's decision to begin license production of A320-series aircraft in the country. This is possibly one opening gambit as the two manufacturers begin to examine strategies for their next generations of narrow-body aircraft.
Former U.S. Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet has been appointed an independent non-executive director of U.K.-based Qinetiq Group plc. He is now a professor at Georgetown University in Washington.
Echoing North Korea's flurry of July 4th missile launches, Iran fired several ballistic weapons on Nov. 2, including the country's longest-range Shahab-3 and the shorter-range Shahab-2. The exercise, dubbed "Great Prophet," came in response to naval exercises--some as little as 20 mi. outside Iran's territorial waters--by two dozen countries.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT CO. RECEIVED ORDERS FOR 112 NEW airplanes worth nearly $1 billion during the recent National Business Aviation Assn. convention. Among those were deposits for the Hawker 900XP and Hawker 750, which were introduced at the show. The 900XP, with a mid-size cabin, is scheduled for FAA certification in mid-2007, followed by initial deliveries in the third quarter. The twin-engine jet will be powered by the Honeywell TFE731-50R engine, and is projected to have an IFR range of 2,800 naut. mi. with six passengers and two pilots. Its price is $13.9 million.
China is in the midst of a critical period of testing an "indigenous" version of the Russian Su-27 Flanker, known as the J-11B, with propulsion, radar and weapons system integration underway. The effort is emblematic of Beijing's efforts to recast its capabilities for the 21st century as its military and associated defense-aerospace sector undergoes its own revolution in military affairs.
Pierre Reville has been appointed executive vice president-operations and Yves Melisse executive vice president-sales and marketing for Sabena Technics. Reville was senior vice president-component services and logistics, and Melisse vice president-sales for Europe and North America, both for Air France Industries.
Canada's MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) will provide rendezvous and docking of the Rocketplane Kistler entry in NASA's Commercial Orbital Space Transportation competition, as well as unpressurized cargo systems for the reusable two-stage-to-orbit spacecraft. Other MDA contributions are expected as NASA milestones are set, the firm says.
Citing financial problems, Cypriot budget airline AJet (or Alpha Jet)--formerly known as Helios Airways--announced plans to cease operations within the next few months. The carrier changed its name following the August 2005 crash of a Helios Airways Boeing 737-300 that killed all 121 people on board. The 737 lost pressurization, which led to the debilitation of the flight crew and passengers and the subsequent crash.
The initial flight of the first production Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, scheduled for December, will launch an intense, six-year, 12,000-hr. test phase due to end in late in 2012. The flight may help quell concerns from international partners about program delays and cost growth.
The FAA's consideration of an Age 65 rule for pilots, increasing the current limit by five years, has drawn its first comments from airline industry heavyweights--Southwest Airlines' Chairman Herb Kelleher, CEO Gary Kelly and COO Colleen Barrett. In a letter to the Southwest pilots' union, the trio argued that the FAA can maintain "current training, safety and medical requirements" well beyond age 60, and that the U.S. should fall in line with an International Civil Aviation Assn. Age-65 rule to be adopted Nov. 23. Earlier, 12 Republican senators said the U.S.
ALAKAI TECHNOLOGIES CORP. HAS INTRODUCED A DIGITAL flight data recorder (DFDR) designed specifically for the Cirrus Design SR20 and SR22. Priced at $4,999, measuring 6 X 7 X 3 in. and weighing only 3.5 lb., the unit monitors engine aircraft performance in real time and records 61 parameters. A company official says discussions are underway with various airframe manufacturers to adapt the DFDR. The FAA does not require flight data recorders in general aviation aircraft having fewer than 10 seats, chiefly because of the high cost associated with the technology.
The growth of U.S. regional airlines has come to a screeching halt in the past year, and without some significant cost reductions, some regional carriers may lose the cost advantage they've held over their network partners.
Charles Elachi, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., has been named one of America's Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report, in collaboration with the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Christophe Didier has been promoted to Rio de Janeiro-based director of sales and affairs for Latin America and the Caribbean from sales manager for South America for Delta Air Lines. Farehk Jahangir has become London-based director of sales and affairs for Europe, Middle East and Africa. He was a sales executive for Virgin Holidays.
Lockheed Martin has received a $1.23-billion contract modification for F-22 Raptor stealth fighter Lot 7 long-lead procurement. Boeing won a $151.9-million contract for war replacements of AH-64D Apache Long- bow attack helicopters. Work on both contracts is to be completed in 2009.
Years before ADS-B became a top priority at the FAA, UPS installed the equipment on its flight decks. And the package carrier plans to build on this foundation in 2007 with major advances on its Boeing 757 and 767 fleet. The FAA is fortunate to have a big U.S. airline pushing ahead aggressively with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast because getting other carriers to buy new avionics will remain a key challenge for the agency. The UPS effort may encourage others to follow suit, once the benefits of such operations are demonstrated.
It takes leaders dedicated to new possibilities for an air carrier to become an early adopter of innovative technology such as ADS-B--and this has been the case at UPS.
In its first-ever initiative to provide commercial pilot training abroad, New Delhi-based Aerostar Aviation is partnering with FlightSafety Academy of Vero Beach, Fla. Eight students will be sent each month starting this month for a 40-week training course to complete a 225-hr. course leading to a multi-engine rating. (In India, a 200-hr. course leads to a single-engine license.) CEO Air Marshal (ret.) A.J.S.
Rockwell Collins' net income rose 25% from a year earlier to $138 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, the fourth quarter in the company's fiscal year. Quarterly sales were up 10% to $1.06 billion. For the full fiscal year, the company posted net income of $477 million, a 20% increase, and sales of $3.9 billion for a 12% increase. Organic sales growth was 10%.
The Pentagon is finding itself in unfamiliar territory as it attempts to design a competition for aerial refueling tankers, and its acquisition czar wants to "get all the elements that could potentially be a competitive issue on the table" to make the final outcome as protest-proof as possible.
