The high achievements of the STS-121 Discovery mission will, barring future problems with the shuttle, lead to formal approval of a final space shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope (AW&ST July 31, p. 27). The powerful combination of robotics and extravehicular activity (EVA), along with the beauty of human spaceflight, is highlighted in images here from both the International Space Station and Discovery during the mission at 220 mi. altitude.
A Spectrum 33 very light jet crashed shortly after takeoff on July 25 from Spanish Fork, Utah, killing two test pilots. Glenn Mayben, director of flight operations for Spectrum Aeronautical LLC, and Nathan Forrest, vice director, had just lifted off for a post-maintenance test flight, when the twinjet rolled sharply to the right. At approximately 90 deg. right wing down, the wingtip hit the ground and the aircraft cartwheeled, breaking up.
Clemens Borsig has been appointed to the supervisory board of Lufthansa. He is chairman of the supervisory board of Deutsche Bank. He succeeds Josef Ackermann, who has resigned.
Northrop Grumman Chairman/CEO Ronald D. Sugar, this year's chairman of the Aerospace Industries Assn., and AIA President John W. Douglass recently met with Aviation Week & Space Technology's Editor-in-Chief Anthony L. Velocci, Jr., and Business Editor Joseph C. Anselmo to discuss the industry's future. Excerpts follow: AW&ST: These are favorable times. What is the industry doing to take advantage of them?
Carey Matthews, Vice President Flight Operations (XOJET Inc., Sacramento, Calif.)
The Honeywell RDR-4000 radar being integrated on the Airbus A380, the Boeing C-17 and possibly the 777-300ER (AW&ST July 10, p. 71) certainly is a technology that will migrate to other aircraft rapidly. For the first time, a radar will provide pilots a vertical profile of a cloud, projecting a much more accurate picture of the intensity of a storm cell. It's a treasure trove of information, allowing a pilot to avoid traditional radar traps such as hail, which has little reflectivity, and improve detection of turbulence and wind shear.
Link Simulation & Training has introduced its Helcatt product line of helicopter simulators. The technology utilizes advances in helmet-mounted display, networked simulation and the capability to reconfigure a simulator cockpit to represent multiple types of rotary wing aircraft. According to Link Simulation, the Helcatt system is scalable and can be configured to function as a single, fixed trainer, be networked with multiple fixed, reconfigurable simulators or operate as a mobile training device housed in a 53-ft. trailer.
A European effort to overhaul its air traffic management system is calling for shaking up the continent's ATM framework and the potential creation of a single authority to design and manage the new system.
Boeing has reached firm configuration on the 777 Freighter, which is based on the 777-200LR airframe and is powered by General Electric GE90-110B engines. Firm configuration means the company has defined the airplane's overall capability and it sets in motion the detailed design phase. Detailed designs will flow to Boeing and its suppliers in phases, but the program expects to have 25% of the drawings released by year-end. "Drawings" is an old-fashioned term, of course, because these are all Catia 3D computer releases.
Detroit Metropolitan Airport contributes more than $7.6 billion annually to the Michigan economy, says a report by the University of Michigan, with more than $2 billion attributed directly to passenger air travel and air cargo revenue. In Wayne County, where the airport is located, economic impact in 2005 was $3.8 billion and earnings were $704 million, supporting 16,309 jobs.
HELICOPTER MANUFACTURERS AND OPERATORS HAVE until Oct. 23 to comment on an FAA Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that calls for revising FAR Part 27 and Part 29 regulations on airworthiness standards for Normal and Transport Category rotorcraft. The FAA says certain parts of the rules do not reflect safety levels attainable by modern helicopters. Changes would involve increased levels of safety for performance and handling qualities. Comments can be sent to [email protected].
Static electricity generated on the dry surface of Mars by the periodic dust storms that blanket the planet may have built up corrosive oxidants in the soil over time to concentrations that would kill off "life as we know it," according to one of the team of researchers that reached the stark conclusion. If true, the finding could reshape goals and strategies for exploring the Red Planet, and pose previously unexpected hazards for eventual human explorers.
With certification complete, GOL, Brazil's low-fare carrier, has taken delivery of the first 737-800 using Boeing's enhanced short-runway landing and takeoff capabilities. The aircraft is the first of 67 -800s that GOL has on order; deliveries extend to 2010. GOL sparked the enhancements to meet requirements of operating from runways shorter than 5,000 ft. The improvement will help the airline expand capacity on its most profitable route in Brazil, Sao Paulo-Rio de Janeiro, says GOL Vice President-Technical David Barioni. Rio's Santos Dumont Airport has a 4,300-ft.
The Aug. 8 rollout of the Boeing 737-900ER at the company's Renton, Wash., factory has gained additional momentum with the firm order by Continental Airlines of 12 of the high-capacity single-aisle transports. Continental is the first customer in the Americas and the first flying a two-class layout to take the aircraft. Continental converted 12 of 24 aircraft in a nonspecified order it placed last month for 737s along with 10 787s. The sales raise Boeing's firm order booking for the -900ER to at least 75.
A Lockheed Martin Atlas V will launch NASA's planned Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission. Boeing's Delta IV also competed for the late-2008 launch, which will go from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 41. The mission will use an Atlas V 401 configuration with no solid rocket boosters to augment the 1-million-lb.-thrust Russian-built RD-180 engine in the core vehicle, and a Centaur upper stage powered by the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RL10 engine.
Boeing Co.'s hiring of a retired general in possible violation of revolving door rules is not subject to further federal prosecution in the Air Force tanker scandal--despite what a top Justice Dept. official thinks. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty tells a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that the department still is looking into the defense contractor's hiring of an unidentified Air Force general less than a year after he left the Pentagon. The panel is reviewing how Boeing reached its $615-million settlement of federal civil and criminal charges.
Singapore Airlines Engineering Co. has become the first maintenance and overhaul center to join Boeing's Integrated Materials Management program. That means Boeing will manage the SIA Engineering's total expendable spare parts inventory. Boeing's other IMM contracts are all with airlines.
Arinc and partner iRex Technologies are introducing the paper-free cockpit concept to the general aviation market with "eFlyBook," a portable, electronic-paper-based document viewer.
South Korea has winnowed its short list of candidates for its E-X airborne early warning and control aircraft to one with the announcement that Boeing has been selected as the only qualified supplier. Its 737 AEW&C, a variant of the design sold to Australia as the Wedgetail and to Turkey, was competing with Israel Aircraft Industries' Phalcon phased-array radar mounted on a Gulfstream 550.
Dan S. Barbee has been named general manager of the Facilities Div. at The Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, Calif. He was director of public office buildings for the City and County of Denver.
The U.S. Army plans to approve production of additional Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (Gmlrs) unitary rockets manufactured by Lockheed Martin. The weapons consist of a 196-lb. warhead integrated onto the Gmlrs rocket, which is designed to have a range of 70 km. In April 2004, Lockheed received a $108-million contract for low-rate initial production, and more deliveries are scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2006 and for 2007. Gmlrs received accolades from Army commanders during an offensive at Tal Afar in Iraq.
Huang Cheng Eng has been named chairman/director of Singapore Airlines Cargo. He has been executive vice president-marketing and succeeds Fock Siew Wah.
AgustaWestland has joined MD Helicopters in protesting the U.S. Army Light Utility Helicopter contract award to EADS North America with the EC-145, which is to be designated the UH-72A. The U.S. Government Accountability Office is slated to rule on the complaint, which alleges errors in the source selection process, by Nov. 8. AgustaWestland offered a version of its AW139, while MD Helicopters bid its Explorer. The production program is valued at about $1.7 billion.
Cord Sterling has been named vice president-legislative affairs for the Arlington, Va.-based Aerospace Industries Assn. He has been military legislative assistant to U.S. Sen. John Warner (R-Va.).
BAE Systems sales of Atlas Elektronik to ThyssenKrupp and EADS has been completed. The deal is worth 145 million euros. ThyssenKrupp will initially take a 60% stake, with EADS later integrating its maritime electronics business into the operation. That will leave Thyssen holding 51% and EADS with 49%.
