Astrobiologists have simulated the chemistry that formed organic material in the atmospheres of Saturn's moon Titan and the early Earth, gaining insights into the processes that may have produced the organic material that fed early life here. By beaming an ultraviolet light into a gas sample made up of methane and nitrogen, as is found in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon, researchers from NASA's Astrobiology Institute produced aerosols that they were able to measure and analyze to gain a better understanding of in situ data returned by the ongoing Cassini/Huygens mission.
A 75% decline in sales and sudden evaporation of profits would trigger a panic attack in most chief executives, but not Geoffrey Hedrick. He hasn't cut research spending or laid off a single employee.
I would disagree with Harry Riblett when he says "the accident rate for 'puddle jumpers' has been less than stellar" (AW&ST Oct. 23, p. 6). Q Series, Saab 340 and ATR aircraft have safety records that far exceed those of most mainline models.
TAP Air Portugal is buying the country's smaller, regional operator Portugalia under a €140-million deal. It also is spending another €4 million to buy the 6% share Portugalia holds in the Groundforce handling company.
Selex's Sistemi Integrati unit has received a €44-million ($56.2-million) contract to modernize seven ATC centers in Turkey. A main center capable of monitoring Turkey's entire airspace is slated to be established in Ankara, while six local approach centers are to be readied in Istanbul, Izmir, Antalya, Dalaman, Ercan and Bodrum. Those in Istanbul and Izmir are being configured to serve as backups to the main center.
In October, capacity growth outpaced traffic at Air France-KLM, which depressed load factor, although yields continued to grow. The load factor for the carriers remained at 81.4%, led by Asia routes where traffic increased 10% on a capacity expansion of 9.7%, resulting in a load factor of 88.4%.
With the Boeing 787 expected to enter service in mid-2008 and Airbus 380 delays creating a delivery logjam, customers are now focusing on the 787 and the new 747 stretch as the ultimate in "VVIP" aircraft.
Denmark's defense minister this week is expected to signal the country's intent to sign up for the production sustainment and follow-on development phase of the Lockheed Martin F-35.
China appears to be considering development of an aircraft-carried satellite launch vehicle, similar in general concept to the U.S. Pegasus or Russian Burlak. A model of a design was on display at Air Show China 2006, which was held earlier this month. The three-stage system would have a launch weight of 13 tons and a 110-lb. payload. The aircraft type that would carry the launch vehicle has yet to be specified.
The FAA has certified the Cessna Citation Mustang personal jet for flight into known icing conditions. Type certification was achieved Sept. 8. Cessna anticipates certification by EASA before deliveries to European customers begin in the third quarter of 2007. There are 21 Mustangs in production. Plans call for delivering 40 airplanes next year, followed by full rate production in 2008. The Mustang is sold out through mid-2009.
Air Canada has increased overall capacity in Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The additional flights will be operated by Air Canada and Air Canada Jazz. The airline is increasing the number of seats to destinations it serves in the Atlantic Canada area by more than 16%, or more than 10,000 seats per week, compared with last winter.
Finnair suffered a double-digit slide in third-quarter operating profit compared with last year, blaming low ticket prices and high fuel costs. President and CEO Jukka Hienonen says structural changes underway at the airline should result in more attractive results by the third quarter of 2007, buoyed by an increase in traffic, particularly business travel.
Rumsfeld may be gone, but budget realities mean his acquisition approach is likely to continue. Key transformation efforts--the Army's Future Combat Systems, the Air Force's unmanned aircraft and Joint Strike Fighter and the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship--seem secure, in the view of many Wall Street and think-tank defense analysts. Defense-company stocks could drift upward over the next few months because Wall Street still expects a "strong" Fiscal 2008 defense budget, now far along in the planning process, says UBS Investment Research analyst David Strauss (see p. 10).
Pratt & Whitney and Bombardier are among Canada's biggest corporate spenders on research and development, according to a new list compiled by Research Infosource, a business intelligence company. Pratt & Whitney Canada's C$472-million ($418-million) investment in R&D last year put it fourth on the list, behind Nortel Networks, Bell Canada and Magna International. Bombardier ranked ninth, with R&D expenditures of $187 million. Two other aerospace companies made the Top 100: CAE Inc.
European and other Western aerospace companies continue to flock to China. Last week, Thales opened a maintenance center in Beijing. Initially, the center will serve spectrum control systems supplied for communications applications. Earlier, Turbomeca started a joint venture with Beijing Changkong Machinery, a unit of aerospace giant AVIC II, the country's main helicopter manufacturer. When it opens for business in October 2007, the venture will assemble and test fuel control and hydromechanical equipment for turboshaft engines.
The degree of trust exhibited by pilots during a performance is merely an extension of what the entire Blue Angels team practices every day, whether in the air or in the hangar.
Boeing began flight testing its Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) on Oct. 10 using a low-power solid-state laser as a surrogate for the high-energy chemical oxygen iodine laser later planned for the system. The chemical laser will be fitted in a rotating turret in the belly of the aircraft--a modified C-130H--next year for flight testing against ground targets. Meanwhile, the chemical laser achieved "first light" in Sept. 21 ground tests that are continuing this fall. Boeing is developing this next-generation laser weapon through a U.S. Defense Dept.
Tom Berghan (see photo) has become site leader of Crane Aerospace & Electronics' Redmond, Wash., facility. He was a production/materials/lean manager and internal consultant for Genie Industries, also in Redmond.
China is no exception to the aerospace fervor for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) of all shapes and sizes, at least in model form. This year's Air Show China, held earlier this month, saw China Aviation Industry Corp. I companies display a range of air vehicle designs from several of its companies including a full-scale simple pusher-prop UAV to models of high-altitude long-endurance (HALE ) UAVs. A Chengdu Aircraft HALE design similar to Global Hawk (left photo) shared display space with the Anjian (Dark Sword) unmanned combat air vehicle concept (right photo).
Boeing has completed its second successful liftoff at Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., since the facility's inauguration earlier this year as home for Delta IV missions requiring polar and Sun-synchronous orbits. The Nov. 4 launch carried the U.S. Air Force/Lockheed Martin Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F-17 payload (AW&ST Oct. 30, p. 18). It was the seventh mission for Delta IV since it began flying in November 2002 and its first direct insertion. The vehicle was in a simple "medium" configuration without strap-on boosters.
Outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wasn't exactly Mr. Popularity at the Pentagon, and the brass is looking forward to the arrival of former CIA Director Robert Gates to replace him. "I think there will be a coming together again of the military and civilian leadership in the Pentagon that was estranged under Rumsfeld and [Stephen] Cambone [undersecretary of Defense for intelligence]," says a senior U.S. Air Force official. Cambone is still around, but the military is looking forward to "a far more collegial style" with Gates in Rummy's old office.
The Kremlin is opening the door for Western companies to take greater than a 25% stake in local aerospace businesses, dependent on a case-by-case approval by President Vladimir Putin. The 25% ceiling has proved a barrier to collaboration, thwarting several promising efforts. These include the failure of the Eurocopter and Mil joint venture on the Mi-38 heavy-transport helicopter, which unraveled in 2005.
Aurora flew its GoldenEye 80 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for the first time Nov. 4, in a 30-sec. mission. Company officials tout this as the first flight of a ducted-fan UAV using a heavy-fuel engine. The UAV is being developed under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Organic Air Vehicle program. The 150-lb. aircraft is 65 in. tall and is equipped with a video camera, infrared camera and a laser range finder/tracker/designator. The aircraft flies quietly and can transition to and from horizontal flight using movable wings.
david axe, military editor for Defense Technology International (DTI), goes on patrol with a British commander in Iraq who is making radical changes in how his forces cope with security threats and local relations. peter buxbaum, a veteran defense and homeland security reporter based in Washington, reports in our Tech Watch column how the failure of the U.S. Defense Dept.'s costly Joint Simulation System development program has led to some positive outcomes.
