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.
Raytheon has received an FAA experimental airworthiness certificate for its third unmanned aircraft--a 10-ft. wingspan, 9-ft.-long design called Cobra. It is a first for unmanned aircraft of that small size class. Company officials say the idea is to provide cheap, reliable, quick-to-build unman- ned aircraft systems with network-centric intelligence-gathering and surveillance capabilities.
This electro-optical spot image of a U.S. Navy Los Angeles-class submarine in dry dock at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is one of a group taken from the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that recently were declassified by the U.S. Navy. The submarine was photographed from the UAV while it was flying at more than 60,000 ft. Global Hawk executed four missions for the U.S. Navy's 2006 Rim of the Pacific exercise. The UAV's standard integrated sensor suite was used to snap this image.
Italy's defense budget plan for next year will see the first real increase in spending in several years, allowing the military to shore up important modernization programs. But the gain will not be enough to support some of the military's main intelligence and surveillance aspirations. In fact, the basic 2007 budget submission itself is doing little to reverse declines that have affected the military since 2003, showing only a 2% rise. As in past years, the spending proposal represents about 0.82% of gross domestic product.
TAM has placed an order for four Boeing 777-300ERs, with options for another four. Previously an all-Airbus customer, the airline also took on immediate capacity by leasing three MD-11s from Boeing. Delivery of the first 777 is planned in mid-2008, while the MD-11s will enter service within the next six months. TAM will operate the aircraft in a three-class configuration with about 370 seats.
Montreal-based simulator-maker Mechtronix Systems Inc. and Minnesota-based flight simulation software specialist Aerosim Technologies will produce the full-flight trainer (FFT) used by Boeing subsidiary Alteon Training for its Multi-Crew Pilot License program, set to enter beta testing in Brisbane, Australia (see p. 48). The Aerosim-Mechtronix FFT resembles the Boeing 737-800 that Alteon's MPL course is built on.
CIT Aerospace, which manages 300 commercial, regional and business aircraft, has ordered five Boeing 787-8s for delivery beginning in 2012. The deal raises Boeing's orders and commitment count to 455 for the 787, which is to enter service in May 2008.
US Airways may consider the Boeing 787 as part of its long-term fleet plans even though the carrier is a launch customer for the Airbus A350. The airline previously expected to take delivery of the first A350 in 2012, but with an impending extensive redesign, that schedule likely will slip. President Scott Kirby last week warned Airbus the A350 order "is up in the air and we can consider other alternatives."
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) is going to be out of a job next year, even if he wins re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives next week. That's because his time is up as chairman of the House aviation subcommittee.
The Italian government has given a go-ahead to Piaggio Aero Industries to upgrade the finance ministry's P166-DPI maritime surveillance aircraft. The green light followed successful acceptance of a prototype. The overhaul of the aircraft includes the installation of the Galileo Avionica Atos lightweight mission system.
Scott Selle has been named president of EADS North America's Frederick, Md.-based Fairchild Controls Corp. subsidiary. He was director of component aftermarket services for Honeywell Aerospace.
Three-term Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) is running for re-election as an "independent Democrat" after losing his party's primary in August, so even if he succeeds, his influence in the new Congress remains in question. Impacts ripple across the submarine business, eastern Connecticut's biggest employer. If Lieberman wins as expected, and if Democrats control the Senate, he could head the Senate Armed Services airland subcommittee and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
The U.K. prerequisite that it be able to "independently" support and verify stealth aspects of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is high on the agenda for crucial meetings between senior British and American officials and industry executives.
